In
the Beginning

Whether we believe that Moses was solely responsible for
writing the chronological record of the events that we know as Genesis or not,
Biblical creationism is yet another of those topics that elicit diverse opinions
and theories from historians and scientists.

Genesis comes from
the Greek word for origins, and in the Bible it refers to God’s creation
of Earth and the universe in six days. Starting with bringing into existence a
watery, formless planet (Earth) and separating the light and darkness on Day 1,
the atmosphere was created on Day 2, the dry land, oceans, and vegetation on Day
3, the sun, moon, stars, and other planets on Day 4, water creatures and birds
on Day 5 and land animals, man and woman on Day 6. Some say that God saved his
best creation for the last.

However, Genesys, the game, is not about
creation, but rather about what mankind has done with God’s great gift of life
and universe. Genesys takes us on a journey through the ages of mankind’s
discoveries, to view important past developments and inventions that have brought
humanity to the third millennium wondering about our future expectations. The
premise of Genesys is that by revisiting the great historical eras of the
past, we can learn from our evolution and gain insight into understanding where
we are heading in the future.

For those of us who can identify with the
term “senior citizen” and those who are film buffs, you will be pleased
to find that Genesys is narrated by Jeanne Moreau. Now 73 years young,
Jeanne Moreau was born in Paris, appeared in her first film in 1948, starred in
dozens of movies in France and Hollywood, and became known for taking on very
challenging roles with an extraordinary emphasis on portrayals of women of intelligence
and emotion rather than glamour.

Edutainment’s the Thing

Genesys
is actually not so much about providing the player with a story-based adventure,
but more about making a historical presentation of real or plausible occurrences
that happened throughout the major periods or ages of history. As such, unlike
its predecessors, Genesys is an edutainment game that tilts more heavily
toward the education content of the game.

Jeanne Moreau becomes our guide
through five major worlds of human progress and discovery by setting the context
in a progression of beautifully animated introductions to these worlds. Starting
with the Prehistoric Age, we are subsequently taken to the Age of Ancient Civilizations,
the Middle Ages, the Industrial Age, and finally the Present Day.

As you
move through these ages, you will be impressed by the detail and accuracy of the
historical facts that are presented in the production process. The characters
are all filmed in period costumes in 3D and then embedded in 2D sets that have
been constructed with graphical precision as fully representative of the scenes
and historical times that they depict.

In addition to the historical scenes
that you will explore and the characters that you will question or listen to,
there is a very comprehensive historical database of fact sheets that are not
only fascinating to read but also play an important role in providing you with
critical information that you will need in order to progress through the game.

Entertaining the Enigmas

Embedded into our guided tour of
these five ages are 16 enigmas that must be solved in chronological order. From
the earliest forms of developing useful tools, to the invention of writing and
on to the present-day use of microcomputers, the player is confronted with educational,
yet entertaining, enigmas that must be solved.

In order to solve the enigmas,
the player must investigate scenes that contain characters and objects to interface
with. There are typically up to three scenes for each enigma that must be explored,
and the object is to collect into your inventory characters and objects from the
scenes that can be used to solve the current enigma. The player can also listen
to commentary from or between characters in the scenes that provide valuable insight
into the historical significance of the times or furnish useful information about
the contents of the historical database.

Along the way you will visit many
interesting locations, such as China, Egypt, Africa, Europe, and America, where
you will discover the key steps in the evolution of human societies.

Not
all of the objects that you require in order to solve an enigma will come from
the scenes, because you will also need to collect objects that are embedded in
the historical database. This will encourage you to explore the database and take
advantage of the rich and fascinating offering of historical information that
resides there.

Once you have collected all of the necessary objects and
interacted with the characters, it will be time to solve an enigma. This is accomplished
by accessing what the game calls a “mystery screen.” The mystery screens
are often animated and require the player to properly place the objects that have
been collected in the inventory. The number of objects to be collected and placed
on the mystery screen varies, but it usually includes about 10 to 20 items. The
mystery screens are, in fact, puzzles of a sort in that they require a certain
amount of logical thinking in order to solve them. Sometimes, solving one mystery
screen will take you to yet a second mystery screen. In any case, solving these
enigmas is always fun and educational.

When you have solved an enigma, you
will be prompted to click on the mystery screen, and that will take you forward
to the next narration by Jeanne Moreau, who will then introduce the next chapter
in the game.

The Interface

Genesys is played from a
third-person perspective, but keep in mind that you don’t actually control or
move any of the characters. The player’s only interaction with the game’s screen
is collecting objects and placing objects in the scenes or making a character
talk. These interactions are accomplished by using your mouse.

By moving
your mouse to the top of the game screen, you can access snapshots of the scenes
that are available to you and the mystery screen. At the bottom of the game screen,
you can access the inventory and three functions buttons. The Back button returns
you to the previous screen that was last activated. The Quick Move button provides
the player with fast access to the historical documentation, allows you to print
a document, and has a search function. The Optionsbutton brings up the main menu,
which has new game, save game, load game, volume adjustment, credits, and exit
game functions.

Those familiar with the previous Index + games Crusader
and Vikings will
recognize the simple interface functionality, and everyone will find it a comfortable
experience to point and click his or her way around and through Genesys.

A
Spectacular Graphical and Auditory Presentation

As is to be expected
with any adventure game developed and produced in France, particularly any game
associated with Index +, the graphics and animations in Genesys are wonderful.
A balanced blending of video, 3D, and 2D will leave you staring at the screen
in awe of the beauty of the rendered backgrounds and the stunning realism of the
period characters that move across or within the scenes on the screen.

The
sound effects are always true to the object or thing that is making a sound (e.g.,
the rumbling of a locomotive or the ignition of an incandescent lamp), and the
original music of Yan Volsy is captivating and especially representative of what
you would expect to hear in each of the historical periods or in the geographic
locations that you are observing in the scenes.

From the Beginning to
the Conclusion

Genesys is the third historical adventure game
from Index +. This one is from their Wanadoo Edition production company and following
after Crusader and Vikings.

As previously stated, Genesys
will appeal to those gamers who enjoy edutainment games. But please remember
that unlike most other historical adventure games, Genesys is about 70%
educational and about 30% entertainment.

Clearly, the emphasis in Genesys
is on the voyage into the history of humanity and an almost philosophical
link to the future whereby the message being delivered throughout the game is
to wonder or suggest what the future has in store by looking back into the past.

It
is when I had completed all 16 enigmas that the message turned a bit sour for
me. As a conclusion to the evolution of progress through the Ages up to the Present
Day, Jeanne Moreau professes that today’s problems of overpopulation, human rights,
drug use, etc. prove that humanity has a long way to go.

Now, I can certainly
go along with these points, but what followed was a menu of challenges for mankind
that seem worthy but idealistic and had a little too much of a socialist taste
for me. The challenges were presented as:

• Healthcare for all (worldwide
  governmental)
• Rid the world of hunger (worldwide governmental)
• Establish
  a unified worldwide Code of Ethics
• Live in harmony with the environment
  (worldwide governmental)
• Provide equal education for all (worldwide governmental)
• Share
  all wealth equally (worldwide governmental)

At this juncture, what
had been a wonderful romp through the history and discoveries of mankind and a
game with beautiful graphics and sounds became somewhat sullied by political opinion
statements, which I feel (whether one agrees with them or not) were inappropriate
and unnecessary.

For the collective edutainment experience and historical
enjoyment of Genesys, in spite of my displeasure with the ending …

Final
Grade: B

Genesys can be obtained on the Internet from the game
website in Europe or in the U.S.A. from Playing
Games Interactive.

Minimum System Requirements:

PC:
Pentium
166
16 MB of RAM
Thousands of colors
16-bit sound card
4X CD-ROM drive
Windows
95 or 98

Mac:
Power PC or G3
16 MB or
RAM
Thousands of colors
4X CD-ROM drive
System 7 or higher