Aura: Fate of the Ages

Nobody publishes as many adventure games as The Adventure Company, and it’s at it again with Aura: Fate of the Ages. Hardcore adventure fans can rejoice, as there are more mysterious sigils to rearrange, switches to toggle, and strange worlds to explore. But before you rush down to your local mall wearing your excited grins and brandishing your $20 bills, get ready to claw your eyes out and growl expletives at your computer screen.
Aura’s plot starts out vague and confusing and never manages to recover. Umang, your “bright” hero is generic and unimpressive, saying little else besides “Hello” and “Thank You.” His grand task is to (sigh) save the world by collecting artifacts that allow rings and tetrahedrons to do powerful immortalizing magic, and making sure they stay out of the evil clutches of Durad, the supposed enemy mastermind or something. The story has its moments of unintentional humor, but Aura redeems itself with dramatic and interesting graphical design, mixing beautiful color, metallic formations, and natural landscapes which are all laced with ingenious, multilayered puzzles worthy of Mensa.
Veterans will enjoy passing the time with masochistic enigmas spanning multiple rooms and even worlds; beginners will be lost, confused, and bored. Sometimes when you get stuck the answer means backtracking and having an impeccable eye for detail; getting from one puzzle to the next due to little impetus to figure out the nearly nonexistent mystery plot leaves the puzzles as their own reward.
Aura is not about exciting story, interesting character development, or trippy music: it’s a crack fix for puzzle addicts. The temptation to reach for the walkthrough is there, as the game leaves little in the way of clues and hints, and is only fun for the enthusiast who can’t wait for Myst IV.

This article originally appeared in Computer Games Magazine #167