The Egyptian Prophecy

Hit-or-miss publisher The Adventure Company has launched its latest in point-and-click joy, The Egyptian Prophecy. You play as Maya, the daughter of Heriman, envoy of Pharaoh and Paser, which is how she introduces herself to everyone. Pharaoh is getting older so, petitioning the gods, he requests they prolong his life, which they will do as long as he is able to erect The Finest Obelisk Ever.
The task is muddled up in typical Egyptian fashion: every step of the way there’s a curse, or a diseased Architect, or the Nile’s busted, or something. You’re in charge of fixing it because your clairvoyant abilities enable you to see what others miss. The game’s puzzles are intuitive and contrivance is kept to a minimum, which really helps give impetus to continue until you’ve saved Pharaoh and ended the game. You actually care about moving the story along because the characters are diverse and the NPCs are interesting. It’s a winning formula that’s really fun to play.
The mythology and lore are integrated beautifully; the art direction is good, though the graphics are a bit dated. You get to meet important gods in ways that don’t destroy all suspension of disbelief, which maintains a sense of adventure and reward. Surprise twists are remarkably well integrated, only adding to the gameplay.
Rather than spending an hour clicking around at every possible object, The Egyptian Prophecy includes a good interface so that your interactions with the environment are clean and ratiocinative. It’s very short, and can be beaten in a matter of hours, but at $20, it’s an excellent buy as it is inspired, and engaging.

This article originally appeared in Computer Games Magazine #165