“I
am Rebecca Wolfe. I am 26 years old and hold a doctorate in History. My
father, Jonathan Wolfe, is a historian and one of few who knew of and
studied the legend of 'Malathedra'. He was a loving father and instilled
in me a passion for history. As his interest and knowledge grew, his
passion became an obsession, and he was soon recognized as one the world's
foremost experts on Malathedra and it was not long after I left for
college that he set off to find the lost city.
I went
on with my life and all was well until I received a letter. It was from
Culuco Island in the Caribbean, and it was from my father.
Dear Rebecca,
I’m on the brink of a vital clue, the pieces of the puzzle are about to
fall into place, and I would like you to be here with me when I discover
it. Please come. I am staying at the Bread and Board Inn in Port Placid.
Love,
Jonathan Wolf
So says Malathedra.com and so
begins your quest. Arriving at Port Placid, it’s first things first; the
Inn cannot be far, and father awaits.
The Lost City of Malathedra
is an independent game with its heart in the right place. Four hours or so
of gentle puzzling await you should you decide to disembark from the ferry
and trudge up the beach to the Bread and Board Inn. Along the way you will
make a few friends, lose a few others, and discover how an immortal
civilisation can go missing. And why.
EDI have previously released Morning’s Wrath, a
fantasy RPG that our own Nickie described as a charming trip into
nostalgia. I didn’t play that game, but a “trip into nostalgia” could just
as easily apply to this game. It lacks the big end of town production
values, and its simple graphics add to the old time feel, but it does pack
a bit of good-natured fun and an over-the-top plot into its retro chassis.
Puzzling about
It’s a straightforward game that would suit a novice
player, and a prologue will get you started should you choose not to skip
it. Find and use a limited number of inventory items to solve most of the
conundrums. Towards the end you will need to rely on a little more than
simply using the correct item, but the clues are reasonably prominent. I
thought in fact the first part of the game offered the most challenge.
Once Ivy, a fellow treasure seeker, joins the scene, things seem to bowl
along at a steady pace - although it’s always a matter of personal
experience.
There are no spoken words throughout the game, all
dialogue being read. You can “fast forward” as soon as you finish reading
or go at the pace of the game. As near as I could tell, most of the
dialogue tree options remain available should you wish to revisit any of
your conversations.
The musical score can at times be quite grand. It is
generally well done, helping set the mood and tone of the various goings
on. These are quite varied, ranging from a collapsing tiki bar and an
agitated dancing jellyfish, through to gruesome death and cataclysmic
destruction. As Rebecca was told more than once, there are good reasons
why lost cities get lost.
Getting around
The Lost City of Malathedra
is third person point and click, and just be prepared to click a little
more often than normally. Rebecca didn’t seem to always want to walk as
far as the cursor indicated, and seemed to need to walk a certain distance
in some directions (usually after exiting a building), before she would
walk where you wanted her to go. Plus she had a tendency to walk into Ivy.
As well, you need to “walk to” an object or person before you can interact
with it/him/her. All of which means more clicking.
You will get a map early on, which you use to visit
other locations on the island. It's reminiscent of the earlier Monkey
Island games. Locations will be added as you progress through the game.
Clicking and then holding on an object or person with
whom Rebecca can interact literally “spins up” a set of three icons, which
in essence means you can choose to “look”, “talk” or “take”. Occasionally
the “take” action will be something else, albeit similar - rummage
through, touch, poke etc. Very simple, and very easy to manage.
Right click brings up the inventory, and moving the item
to the game world closes the inventory. The item then remains available
for use until you put it away, always a useful characteristic, I think.
Thinking ahead
A little icon at the bottom right of screen brings up
the menu. Saving is a matter of simply selecting the appropriate menu
item, and the game also autosaves at certain points. Whilst the autosave
feature suggests you might be able to die (there are some explosions and
cave-ins which occur), I didn’t ever come to an untimely end and I rather
think the game is just being helpfully cautious.
There are no mazes or music puzzles, but one puzzle does
use colour. Whilst they could be more distinct (why don’t colour puzzles
ever use sharp contrasts instead of pastel shades) it isn’t too difficult.
All in all, I had a pleasant morning looking for the
Lost City. It seems to clearly be made by adventure game fans with other
fans in mind. Set your sights at the right level, and you too might have a
similarly pleasant experience.
The Lost City of Malathedra
can be purchased via download at
Ethereal Darkness Interactive.
December 2008
design copyright ©
2008
GameBoomers
Group
