The Legend of the Prophet and the Assassin is actually a sequel
to a little-known title–Pilgrim–that has appeared on our “Ten
Best Games That (Almost) No One Has Ever Played” list. Since Pilgrim
was never released in North America (though it can now be purchased here),
there was little point in marketing LOPA as Pilgrim 2. Instead,
and this is where it gets really confusing, the events of LOPA occur “many
years” after the story of Pilgrim, and LOPA itself is the first
chapter of a two-part game. If you’re not yet lost, then read on, for LOPA
is, if nothing else, a journey into the eternal enigmas presented by life
regardless of the century.

Though LOPA is historically based, it
is not an edutainment game. It instead focuses on morality and ethics wrapped
in a cocoon of thirteenth-century value judgments. Tancrede de Nerac, a Knight
Templar, has deserted the Order to create his own personal fiefdom comprised of
highway robbers and desert people. He becomes known as As-Sayf, “the Scimitar,”
and acquires a reputation as a fearless, and feared, leader of men. After years
of a nomadic existence and saddled with a heavy conscience, As-Sayf learns of
a man named Simon de Lancrois, a prophet who has constructed Jebus, the ideal
city. After five years of wandering, As-Sayf arrives at the gates of Jebus and
finds it in ruins. He now vows to exact vengeance upon the false prophet Simon
for leading him on a wild goose chase. Thus the backstory has been established,
and the game begins as we find ourselves at the locked gates of the ruined city.

The
Legend of the Prophet and the Assassin was written by prominent author Paulo
Coelho and delves into issues of spirituality and ethics that are practically
unheard-of in the gaming community. For this reason alone LOPA would come
highly recommended, even though the limitations of twenty-first century gaming
attempt to bury the complexities of the thirteenth-century Orient.

Striving
for the scope of a Lawrence of Arabia, LOPA instead limits its lofty goals
by restricting movement. Though it is on two disks and contains five acts, LOPA
is a very short game that at times feels claustrophobic. Wonderful cinema-quality
animated cutscenes advance the story from a third-person viewpoint, but the interactive
first-person playable sequences are often confined to a small area that cannot
be left until all of the puzzles or enigmas in that area have been solved. This
not only decreases the difficulty of the game, but also diminishes any replayability.

LOPA
features a charismatic cast of characters who have life breathed into them
by wonderful voice actors. Dead-on lip-synching and facial animations provide
an almost intimidating realism. As-Sayf has a deep, resonant, authoritative voice,
as would befit any leading man. Qamar the astrologer, Kahn the tyrant of Jerusalem,
and numerous others are presented in all of their ugliness and quirkiness. These
people are not meant to be idealized Fabios, instead they are presented in all
their ugliness–faces beaten by the weather are so realistic you can almost smell
their sour breath. And speaking of ugly, when a game’s graphics excel, any inconsistency
is sure to stick out like a prostitute in a monastery, and that is case with one
of the few women in the game, a, uh, prostitute in a tent. Her awkward body structure,
and a head of hair that looks like a mouse habitat, led me to ask LOPA’s Executive
Publisher, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, about this woman. He confided that Arxel
had not had a suitable female model on which to base the character–a problem
that will be corrected for any sequels.

If you have ever seen Gunga Din
or Lawrence of Arabia, then the soundtrack of LOPA will evoke
memories of these classic desert movies. Performed by John Leach, it is broad
and sweeping and stirs emotions of adventure and danger. Though LOPA is
at its core an old-fashioned point-and-click adventure, it has been developed
on the Faust engine and allows for 360-degree vision of the surrounding
scenery. The problem, though, is that all of this technology, this breathtaking
musical score, makes the player want more–more freedom, more opportunities to
investigate. Instead, the player is trapped in predetermined areas that many times
can only be explored and solved linearly. This serves to render any puzzles as
self-contained, and often the biggest obstacle is simply pixel-hunting for an
overlooked item. The puzzles are straightforward and logical and occasionally
even humorous (Camel dung? Whatever would one do with camel dung?). But this is
one of those games where if you’re stuck, you’re stuck, and there is no place
else to explore while you attempt to think your way through a puzzle.

The
Legend of the Prophet and the Assassin is a game that will encourage you to
think and to question the values of its main character. You do, after all, play
as a thief, as a knight errant who proposes to seek peace but has no qualms about
fighting and killing to obtain a goal. There are even times when thievery will
be required to obtain an inventory item. Nor is this a game that will insult your
intelligence–I had to look up the meaning of more than one word. Yet even as
the game builds to a crescendo, as you hope for As-Sayf to experience an epiphany,
at the very end you are left feeling disillusioned and dry-mouthed even after
a victory over the Ghouls and a revealing dream sequence. LOPA can only
be recommended with the following caveat in mind, for it, like this review, is
… to be continued.

Final Grade: B-

If you liked The
Legend of the Prophet and the Assassin:
Play: Pilgrim
Read:
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Watch: Lawrence of Arabia

System
Requirements:Windows 95/98/00
Pentium 200
32
MB RAM
290 MB free on HD
Soundblaster
Mouse