The
year is 1517. The Aztec culture dominates most of the territory that is now Mexico.
Their language, religion, and traditions have spread throughout Central America,
while their emperors are both feared and venerated. While troops of Aztec warriors
keep the territories under control, Aztec merchants provide luxury products, clothing,
foodstuffs, jewelry, and other everyday items to the populace. Merchandising and
trade do not go unnoticed by the emperors, however, as tax collectors collect
taxes and tribute everywhere.

The center of government and commerce for
the Aztec culture is the capital city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, where the Aztec
architecture, art, and culture was most prolific. When the Spaniards, led by Cortes,
reached Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1519, they marveled at the splendors but were undeterred
in their objective to conquer the Aztecs. In just two years, they annihilated
the Aztec civilization, leaving behind only sparse reports from the chroniclers
of the time.

Cryo’s latest edutainment game, as those before it, offers
three modes of gameplay: the adventure game itself, an exploration mode in which
you can visit the sites and simply “look around,” and an encyclopedia
mode where you can search through the “authenticated” documentation
and refresh your memory or learn about the Aztec civilization.

The encyclopedia
mode of gameplay reveals fascinating historical information about the following
aspects of the Aztecs.

• The Empire: The origins, government, laws,
  and heritage of the Aztecs.
• The Society: A look at the social order of
  the Aztec culture, the warriors, priests, and merchants.
• Religion: The
  gods, including the two principal mythical kings, Quetzalcoatl, the plumed/feathered
  serpent, who represented the divinity of civilized, sedentary, refined beings
  and symbolized the renewal of the earth’s bounty and fertility, and Tezcatlipoca,
  the jaguar/smoking mirror, who was a warrior god, deceitful and who some say used
  his powerful spells to conquer Quetzalcoatl.
• Mexico-Tenochtitlan: The
  capital city, its architecture and palaces.
• Civilized Life: The language
  (Nahuati), writings, arts and crafts of the Aztecs.
• Agriculture: Food
  and entertainment.

The Story’s the Thing

In the adventure
game itself, you play a young huntsman named Little Serpent who, when out hunting,
finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. By chance, you observe the
murder of a nobleman, and before he dies he gives you information that will prove
to be both mysterious and dangerous. The dying nobleman also gives you a strange
necklace and an admonition to seek out the poet Tlatli, who lives in the marketplace
district of Tlatelolco. The warriors responsible for the murder accuse you of
the murder, but you run away before they can arrest you.

Upon returning
to your village, you discover that your parents have been taken away as hostages,
and you soon realize that the only hope for freeing them and proving your innocence
is to uncover the identities of the persons responsible for the nobleman’s murder.

At the same time, a mysterious illness has afflicted the country, and doctors
seem powerless to find the reason or the cure. Some of the lords and religious
leaders are suggesting that the devastation brought on by the illness is the result
of actions taken by the gods, who are unhappy with the emperor.

What has
the murder of the nobleman got to do with the strange illness? Is there an unlikely
connection? You only have a few meager clues, so you must be able to use them
properly.

It is here that they story begins, and Little Serpent embarks
on a journey of adventure and intrigue that will keep you on the edge of your
seat. You will need to use your wits to escape or avoid perilous situations. You
will need to choose your friends wisely in order to learn the identity of and
expose the real traitors. The story unfolds quickly, and the pace of discovery
and excitement never wanes. This is the best story development of any of the edutainment
games from Cryo to date and, as such, you will “enjoy the adventure.”
The story receives an A+.

The Gameplay

The game uses
the familiar point-and-click interface, where you find hot spots, identified by
a change in the cursor icon, then use the left mouse button to move to, act/take,
speak to, listen/overhear, or get information about a character, object, or place
in the game–very comfortable and convenient.

The right mouse button is
used to call up the inventory. You then can select an inventory object and use
it in the game environment in the usual way that we are all familiar with.

Right-clicking
not only brings up the inventory, but also some other useful features, as follows:

• The Codex: A journal or record of important events, conversations, or
  threads in the game that can be referred to as you measure and reflect upon your
  progress.
• The Map: Allows the player to more easily travel or “jump”
  between the five game locations.
• Documentation: You can access the information
  on any subject in the documentation mode at any time.
• See: Select an object
  in the inventory and place it on the eye icon in order to obtain a full-screen
  view of the object. Allows you to read parchments and poems that are key to the
  story’s progress.
• Return: Used to return to the main menu.

There
is one unique feature of the gameplay that some may appreciate, while others may
not–it is the built-in “Omni-Expert” mode. This feature provides guidance
or hints at “the most complex moments of gameplay,” whether you need
it or not. So while you are wandering around or simply staying in place, you may
get a message that nudges you along in the direction that the game wants you to
go in.

The main menu is also typical in that it contains the primary functions
for the game. You can choose to play the game, the exploration mode, or the documentation
mode, as explained earlier. There is a choice of two save modes: automatic (the
computer does the saving at certain predetermined times) or manual (you save when
you want to). Also, you can load previously saved games, resume the game that
you are playing at the point at which you left it, or exit from the game. You
can also bring up an options screen that will give you the opportunity to adjust
the speed of character movement and scene changes, activate or deactivate the
music, and turn on/off the display of subtitles.

The gameplay interface
should be a comfortable and convenient one for any adventure game player, whether
novice or experienced, and all of the features seemed to work without a problem,
so I will give gameplay a rating of A.

The Graphics

At
the risk of repeating myself from previous reviews of Cryo games, the graphics
are magnificent. As with previous Cryo historical adventure games, Cryo uses Omni
3D graphics with 360-degree panning that is very smooth and easy to control. The
reconstruction of the Aztec world, as typified by Tenochtitlan Square, the merchant’s
quarter of Tlatelolco, the craftsman’s quarter, the village with its floating
gardens, or the aqueduct at Chapultepec, is breathtaking and realistic to the
point of being approved by expert historians. The character movements are a little
bit stiff but quite similar to what you would expect to find in any well-made
adventure game today. The colors are vibrant with little or no pixelation. The
animations were first-rate and always provided me with an enhanced feeling of
being part of the environment that I was exploring. All of the above, plus no
“bugs,” lead me to give the graphics a score of A+.

The
Music, Sounds and Voice Acting

Well … I suppose there’s always room
for improvement, and in the case of Aztec, it’s evident that improvement
is warranted in the area of voice acting. Aztec was undoubtedly made first
in other European languages and then translated to English. While the use of Cryo’s
“Omni Sync” has spared us from any discomfort over lip-synching, it
can’t cover up for the voice acting, which is the singular weak point of this
game. The voice acting and the phrasing of some of the language used in the game
is pretty dreadful. Those of you who know me are probably shocked right now that
my normally positive attitude toward adventure games would allow me to be this
critical. But … I have trouble relating to any conversation between characters
in a game when the initial words are “I kiss the earth.” Might be a
cultural problem on my part?

Although the music and sounds of the game
are adequate, there are no memorable aural experiences that I came away with,
as I did in another Cryo game, Faust. The enjoyment of sounds and music
in Faust may have been attributable to the involvement of Arxel Tribe,
which would account for the different experience with Aztec.

If
and when Cryo becomes more focused on reaching the U.S. audience, I trust that
they will look at this area of the gameplay experience and accept my criticism
as constructive, so that we will see improvement in the future. However, for Aztec
I was disappointed in the attention given to the music, sounds and voice
acting, which deserve a C.

The Puzzles

Okay, now we can
get back on track with the positives of Aztec, because the puzzles are
integrated into the game with logic and excellence. You will need to keep your
thinking cap on at all times, but the answers are always logical and generally
right in front of you. The progression of the story always relies on solving the
puzzles, and that is as it should be, so everyone should be comfortable with the
puzzles. The only dreaded maze that you will encounter is actually a very simple
one, where you must move your canoe through canals that separate the floating
gardens near the village as you escape from pursuing warriors trying to capture
you. Oh … there is a need to use your hand-eye coordination on two occasions
when you are required to aim and fire a blowgun. Fortunately, no one is firing
back at you either time.

I think that the puzzles are always logical, thoughtful,
and complex enough to keep your brain in the game, which is one of the primary
reasons for playing an adventure game, and Aztec delivers in this regard.
For those who don’t object to a little nudge, there’s the built-in Omni-Expert,
which will minimize the frustration. I am giving the puzzles a rating of A.

My
overall rating for Aztec is an A. In spite of my disappointment with the attention
given to the music, sounds, and voice acting in Aztec, this is a very good
game that everyone should enjoy. The strengths provided by an engrossing story
line, excellent graphics, and integrated, logical puzzles far outweigh any criticisms.
If you received Aztec for Christmas, you’re probably enjoying it by now.
If you didn’t get Aztec for Christmas, treat yourself and buy it now.

System
Requirements: P166 Processor
32 MB RAM

8X CD drive
8 MB available on hard drive
2 MB graphics card
16-bit
color
Sound card
Direct X 6.0 or higher (supplied with game)