Ark Of Time

Sony PlayStation PS1

In his quest to find a missing professor, journalist Richard Kendall travels to the Rum Cay islands. There a fabulous adventure awaits him. The unsuspecting journalists is taken to several famous and mysterious places like Stonehenge, Easter Island and Ahaggar. He might even discover Atlantis!. As a sport journalist, you'll have to investigate about the disappearing of a cultural expedition team, sent underwater in the abysses of the Atlantic Ocean to find any traces of Atlantis: starting from the Caribbean, you'll have to travel the world to follow the signs and find the missing Professor's team. As far as I can recall the first computer game that had a story based around the fabled lost city, Atlantis, was Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (that was a few years back now). Now there seems to be a rush of titles centred around this general theme with the release of Timelapse, Atlantis: The Lost Tales and also this game, Ark of Time. Ark of Time is much closer in design to Indiana Jones in that it is an inventory based, third person perspective adventure, as opposed to the other two which are first person perspective, have limited inventories and more abstract puzzles. However, like Timelapse, Ark of Time links Atlantis strongly with other ancient and mysterious cultures of our world. Hence we are presented with a theory, or story might be a better word, pondering the origins of Stonehenge, the Easter Island monoliths and the Mayan Pyramids. The game begins in London when the reluctant Richard is given an assignment to investigate the disappearance of Professor Caldwell an eminent Atlantologist (is there such a word, it sounds good anyway). Pretty soon he is winging his way to the Carribean, obviously his very first step into the wide blue yonder, to start chasing up clues. Then it's off to numerous other fascinating locations all of which are pinpointed on a world map and can be accessed with a click of your mouse button, which makes long distance travelling very easy. There's lots and lots to do in this game, and many detailed screens to explore. It's deceiving at first, as it starts off relatively simply, but later the puzzles do get more complex and even the most experienced of adventurers will occasionally slip up. Amongst other things, there are mysterious objects to find and use in equally mysterious locations, a convicted assassin to exonerate, plenty of characters to interact with, a logic type process of elimination problem, and some fun puzzles at the end to open doors and escape your rather precarious predicament. It will keep most players well and truly occupied.