Here’s a strange
sort of game that I could write three different reviews for. Secrets
of the Luxor is divided into three sections, and the three parts
are so profoundly different in tone, ambience, and player enjoyment
that I’m a bit puzzled as to how to review the game as a whole.

First
things first. In this game you play a present-day archeologist who’s
trying to get back into the fabled Luxor pyramid. You’ve already
done some exploration down in it, and you’ve made some tantalizing
preliminary discoveries. Unfortunately for you, however, your access
to the pyramid has been frustrated lately because of military action
around the site.

DYING EVERY FIVE
MINUTES, HAVING A WONDERFUL TIME

The game begins in your
Cairo hotel room, where you await a message from a mysterious man
named Dr. Osiris. A character a bit like a cross between L. Ron Hubbard
and Attila the Hun, Osiris is a scientist who’s invented a new
and popular religion based on old Egyptian beliefs. Is he on your
side or not? You don’t know, but you eagerly open up his letter
anyway.

In it is a passcode and
keycard to get past the military guards and back into the pyramid.
And so your adventure begins!

If
all I reviewed was the first third of this game, I would put it on
my top ten list of adventure games. This is the game you’ve
been waiting for if you want to play Indiana Jones and really have
the experience of creeping around a dangerous, unpredictable, and
mysterious old Egyptian tomb. If you can imagine Myst in
ancient Egypt with tons of hilarious ways to die, you’re getting
close to the idea.

I also must say that this
game has the most entertainingly funny manual I’ve ever encountered.

During the first level
of the game you have to solve a series of interconnected puzzles,
gradually opening up a dozen spectacularly beautiful rooms far beneath
the pyramid. This part of the game was simply pure joy.

The puzzles are quite challenging,
and are mainly mechanical and translational in nature. For an experienced
gamer, the challenge level may be just about right. And I’ve
never played a game with as many amusing ways to die, complete with
appropriately gross sound effects! In fact, there is even a way to
die (which I will not spoil) before leaving your hotel room!

OOPS, I THINK WE
TOOK A WRONG TURN AT ALBUQUERQUE

After
fully opening up the tomb area, you move on into the Crypto-Egypt
area, and the game marks an abrupt change in tone. In the twinkling
of an eye, you realize you’ve gone from playing a game about
ancient Egypt to a science fiction game! Now, I like science fiction
games a lot, but I don’t pick up a game with a name like Secrets
of the Luxor if I feel like playing Cydonia or Rama.
I found myself wandering around rooms that looked like space ship
command bridges and thinking, “Wasn’t this game called
Secrets of the LUXOR?”

This second level is also
beautiful, it must be said, and also consists of a series of tricky
puzzles that gradually open new rooms up. However, by this point you’re
feeling a bit like you’ve missed some important information
from the backstory. What’s going on? You wonder. Ah, aliens
in ancient Egypt. Interesting concept, I guess. But if you play through
Part II of this game expecting to eventually be rewarded with answers,
you’re in for a big disapointment.

If level two was odd an
off-putting, level three is a real trial. You’ve been catapulted
300 years into the future (don’t ask), and you find yourself
in the middle of a huge round fortress that consist of several concentric
rings that can be rotated independently from one another. Most of
this level consists of solving the devilishly difficult problem of
spinning the rings in the right manner so that you can get to the
center of the fortress.

The
challenge was difficult, and entertaining to a degree. But I kept
wondering what had happened to the story. Finally, after solving the
maze and the relatively easy puzzles that followed, you’re abruptly
thrown into the endgame. In the endgame you meet the evil Dr. Osiris,
and he babbles on about a plot to blow up the sun, and I found myself
thinking, “Why are you talking to me as if I’ve actually
had a story to follow?” What was worse, the problem to be solved
in the endgame was ridiculously easy, and the game then came to an
abrupt end. Sure, the final cinematic sequence was impressive and
beautiful, but it didn’t mean anything.

Now, don’t get me
wrong. I’m not saying that all adventure games need to have
a strong story. But it’s a big mistake to make a game that depends
so heavily on a story that never gets delivered.

Beautiful graphics, thrilling
first third of the game is off-put by the second and third parts of
game; puzzles in search of a story. Recommended for its spectacular
Egypt section and tough, chewy puzzles throughout.

Final Grade: B

System Requirements:

Mac

• 68K or PowerPC
• 256 colors or higher
• System 7 or later
• 5MB of RAM
• 8MB of available
• Double speed CD-ROM

WINDOWS

• Windows 95 or 3.1
• 486 or higher
• Double Speed CD-ROM
• 8Megs or RAM
• 8 bit sound card or
  higher
• sVGA 256 colors or higher

This
review is copyright Ray Ivey and Just Adventure and
may not be republished elsewhere without the express written consent
of the author. Republication of said review must also contain a link
back to Just Adventure.