Hands-On Preview The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript Developer: Kheops Studio Publisher: Tri Synergy Genre: Adventure Release Date: TBD Platform: Hands-On Preview by Randy Sluganski May 5, 2006

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My first thought upon hearing that there was to be a Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript game was, naturally, how in the heck can they hope to compete with the blockbuster success of The Da Vinci Code novel, film and console game? Well, after having spent a few hours exploring through a good portion of the game, it stands strongly on it’s own as a wonderful - and highly entertaining - historical companion piece.

Whereas Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code has created controversy with its lure of apparent genuineness and religious controversy, Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript was developed in partnership with Chateau du Clos Luce (formerly the Manoir du Cloux), Leonardo da Vinci's last residence and takes place in the year 1522. It is meant to be genuine in every aspect as the period reconstruction has been carried out with an authenticity to historical detail in collaboration with specialists including the current owners of the Chateau du Clos Luce landmark.

Now I hear you grumbling, “Hey, this sounds like an edutainment title,” but believe me, even though The Forbidden Manuscript is rooted in historical detail, it is about as far from the Cryo edutainment games of yore as is imaginable.

You play as Valdo - a disgraced apprentice of Francesco Melzi, who is himself a former disciple of the late Leonardo Da Vinci – and you have received a mysterious letter asking you to uncover one of Leonardo’s lost codices. Out of work, the money is tempting so off you go to the Chateau du Clos Luce.

The game is played in the first-person and the graphics are absolutely sparkling, there is simply not another game on the market with such gorgeous graphics (but then, we would expect nothing less from Kheops). Movement is controlled with the mouse and is good old point-and-click. The voice-acting is surprisingly smooth - French to English localizations are too often either emphatically overacted or heavy-handed with the accents – as are the accompanying sound effects.

Most impressive though are the puzzles as they are almost all based on actual concepts or inventions of Da Vinci. For example, very early in the game you find a note hidden by Leonardo, but the strange script renders it unreadable, hmmmm…. Actually, if you are an armchair Da Vinci scholar, some of the puzzle solutions may be immediately familiar.

One thing that could be implemented better is the inventory system. There are well over one hundred different inventory items and it can be confusing to scroll through all of them. It would help to have been able to categorize items.

Finally, there are two things that make this game truly unique. First, is that Valdo has access to articles of clothing and can change his wardrobe. Now this isn’t some Barbi dress-up game, but instead can be used to your advantage in certain spots. But whether or not you use this option – and in many cases there are multiple solutions to a dilemma - leads to what ultimately distinguishes Forbidden Manuscript from other games for at the top left of the screen are two barometers that keep track of your moral choices – both good and bad – as you make your decisions. For example, early in the game you are too give a sealed letter to the mistress of Chateau du Clos Luce, but should you break the seal, read the letter and then reseal it, or should you just give her the letter as intended, with no knowledge of its contents? The choices you make will eventually not only influence which of four endings you will see, but also subtlety alter the course of the game which in turn leads to the one thing that has been largely absent from the adventure genre – replay value.

What could have been a cheap attempt to ride the coattails of The Da Vinci Code, is instead a surprisingly enjoyable excursion into the past and should be a pleasant surprise for every adventure gamer who enjoys a well-crafted, great-looking adventure game.