What
do the 19th Century, the moon, drooling aliens, and a rooster have
in common? They’re all part of Kheops Studio’s newest
offering, Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne.
The creators of Return
to Mysterious Island and The
Egyptian Prophecy have created a quirky first-person
point and click adventure with some surprising twists.

It all begins as the three
of Verne’s heroes depart from his novel, From the Earth
to the Moon, by actually landing on the moon instead of falling
back to Earth. You’ll play as Michel Ardan, a French adventurer
who must piece together the fate of his companions, Barbicane and
Nicholl, as he explores Earth’s satellite.

Michel awakens to find
himself in a space cannon, the interior of which is outfitted in true
19th century style. Rich, velvety fabrics line the walls the cushiony
interior, antiquated brass fittings and pipes supply the naively simple
needs of the occupants, and a well-stocked cabinet overflows with
tin food cans and an indulgent cask of wine. One wonders what poor
Jules would make of the stark, antiseptic reality of space travel,
with its stainless steel and rations. However, I digress….

After
an unoriginal but short-lived bout with amnesia, Michel discovers
his companions, Barbicane and Nicholl, haven’t fared as well
as he has. The only witness to the events is a rooster, and he’s
not talking- or is he? Come on, you know you’re burning to how
a rooster fits into things. Like I said, this game is quirky- and
what’s more quirky than a rooster on the moon? Stranger things
have happened, and they certainly will by the time you finish this
game.

One thing I really enjoyed
about Voyage is the unique puzzles. There
are several that involve catching objects or using a meter to judge
distance as you jump. It requires just enough hand/eye coordination
to be interesting, but not enough to frustrate the dexterity-challenged
(i.e., Yours Truly). There is also plenty of combining to do in this
game. Fruits, plants, colors, sounds, and numbers all come together
to achieve a plethora of results.

For
anyone who was intrigued by the puzzles in Myst,
but lacked the OCD characteristics needed to complete the game, this
is for you. Yes, you’ll be working with alien numbering systems
and languages. No, you won’t be required to fill an entire ream
of paper with obscure symbols and notations, thus running the risk
of having family members call the Men in White Coats upon discovery.
Instead you’ll have a log that conveniently keeps track of key
bits of information, current agendas, and combinations you’ve
already created.

There is, in fact, so much
in-game help I became very smug about not needing a walkthrough. Between
the insect spy, utterances by the main character during key parts
of the game, and hints included in the log, I thought there might
be too much help. My arrogance was, however, short-lived. I paid the
price with several days’ worth of slow or no progress, spurring
a desperate flurry of internet searches and visits to gaming forums.
If you find yourself stuck after feeling smug, don’t say you
weren’t warned.

One contributing factor
to the unexpected difficulty in the game is that there are often several
different ways to achieve the same goals. This is a mixed blessing,
offering more freedom and a dash of confusion. Combine this with the
ability to earn intelligence points for many of the puzzles, and you
have a game with definite replay value. This is a good thing, because
I found the world of Voyage to be a very
charming place worth revisiting.

Much
of that charm is due to the artwork, which remains true to the romantic
ideals threaded through Jules Verne’s work. The colors are intense
yet somber, and the mechanical devices are at once sophisticated and
quaint. I wouldn’t say the graphics are earth-shattering (or
moon-shattering, as the case may be), but they are lush and dreamy,
bordering on psychedelic.

The vibrantly colored plants
on the moon have characteristics you’ll come to know quite well,
but you’ll also work with more sentient beings along the way:
the Selenites. These are the lunar beings that inhabit this dreamy
landscape, and they’re just as quirky as a rooster on the moon.
While they have large heads and long limbs, they appear to have no
bodies! Just try picturing that image without going mad, but I swear
it’s true. They also lead very boring lives that consist largely
of eating out of suspended tubes and waiting for you to ask questions.
The Selenites speak in musical tones rather than words, so part of
your challenge will be to find an instrument of communication.

Once you learn an ability,
such as speaking Selenite, an icon will appear in your Inventory Menu.
This inventory system has an unusual feature which I found to be more
clunky than helpful: the transit area. This is an area where all collected
items go before you can place them in your inventory. It takes just
one click on the auto button to put them into place, but I found this
to be an unnecessary extra step.

All
in all, the game is very easy to understand and navigate, once you
get your bearings. It has the usual cursor that changes to indicate
actions and movement. To me, this cursor looks like a chicken foot,
but I could be mistaken. Movement from one area to another is a smooth
transition, and it’s easy to see exactly where you’re
going.

So far we have pleasing
graphics, an easy interface, and unique puzzles… but what about
the down side? The only issue I had was that the game occasionally
got tedious, but this could simply be a result of being stuck for
so long. I wouldn’t really call this an exciting adventure,
but more a relaxing and sedate journey. It’s a chill game. Still,
I think it’s worth exploring, especially if you’re a Jules
Verne fan, which is why I give it: B+

Final Grade: B+
(find
out more about our grading system)

System Requirements:

• WINDOWS® 98/ME/2000/XP
• Pentium® III 800
  MHz
• 64 MB RAM
• 64 MB DirectX®
  9 Compatible Video Card
• DirectX® 9 Compatible
  Soundcard
• 16x CD-ROM Drive
• Keyboard, mouse, speakers