Akella is a Russian software company based in Moscow that specializes
in the development, publishing and distribution of computer games.
They currently have five in-house development teams, a publishing
house, a distribution center, a localization team and a quality assurance
department that all together employs
over 140 people.

Hotel “At
a Lost Climber”: Inspector Glebsky’s
Puzzle is without a doubt a strange title for an adventure
game, but some of that may be owed to meaning that is lost in translation.
Hotel is based on a science-fiction story
by Russia’s
Strugatsky
brothers and Boris Strugatsky is
actively involved with the creation process.

While the Strugatskys are known for their science fiction, their
stories focus more on people and their problems then spaceships and
advanced technology. While their name may not be familiar to our
North American readers, the Strugatskys are the spiritual leaders
of Russian science fiction and have been read by generations of fans.

Hotel will be a 3rd person
point-and-click adventure. The characters will be 3D against a
2D-renedered background and the developers are
promising ‘Syberia-like’ graphics (which seems to be
the new standard for all new adventure games).

The hotel will be inhabited
by at least 15 different characters, each with their own unique
story and personality. Much like the classic
The Last Express, the gameworld will be based on a ‘living
world’ concept as characters will have their own activities
to attend to in the game in real time.

What is most interesting about the game concept is that the developers
also mention Colonel’s Bequest – A Laura Bow Mystery as an influence.
So it appears as if we can expect an Agatha Christie type mystery
set in a real-time futuristic hotel.

We’ll have a lot
more about this promising game soon at Just Adventure.