Luxor: Quest for the Afterlife

More of the same: That’s the immediate impression returning fans will get from Luxor: Quest for the Afterlife, latest in the popular Egyptian-themed action-puzzle series. In an unexpected twist, this installment mostly focuses on peripheral features, adding a cool narrated storyline, roving targets to pursue and collectible artifacts. Therefore, while still impressive in its own right, the game’s nowhere near as much of a leap forward as its immediate predecessor.

Don’t be discouraged, however. Kicking off with a bang in the form of catchy cutscenes complete with suave voice-overs and subtle, but engaging animations, the title instantly commands one’s attention.

Apparently, assassins have desecrated the tomb of Queen Nefertiti and Akhenaten, preventing their spirits from enjoying eternal repose. Charged with recovering the canopic jars these fiends have stolen, you must pursue the culprits across an attractively-rendered campaign map that spreads throughout half a dozen exotic lands including Persia, Syria and Egypt.

Happily, additional cinematic plot updates periodically punctuate the tale, adding incentive for forward progress. In addition, for the first time ever, to meet the game’s cast of characters, you’re given the option to take user-selectable branching paths through the adventure. Naturally, doing so requires that you complete multiple self-contained scenarios to progress down each road.

Actual play itself follows the same formula as in previous outings. Armed with a horizontally-movable “falcon winged shooter,” which lies at the bottom of the screen, you’ll left-click to fire orbs of varying hue at advancing chains of colored spheres. (Right-clicking lets you swap your current choice of ammo out for a differently-shaded alternative.) Place three of more similarly-adorned balls adjacently, and they disappear from play. Additional spheres then roll forward to fill created holes or objects of similar color instantly magnetically come together when they bookend such a gap.

Use careful aim, or resulting combos, to make a trio of matches, and collectible power-ups – area-clearing fireballs, time-slowing devices, crackling lightning bolds, clouds of vapor that paint multiple spheres a single shade – rain down from the sky. Finish a stage, and point-awarding jewels or ankh coins (tradable between stages at the shop for power-up-improving performance upgrades, new shooters and alternate ball sets) can also be retrieved. The ultimate goal being, of course, to prevent rolling balls from reaching the endpoint of tracks that weave under buildings, through holes and around other 3D objects that obscure your view or prevent shots from landing.

Sadly, while the action remains spry as ever, there’s little new to report in terms of additional play modes, an expanded arsenal or supporting bonuses. True: You can occasionally battle on-screen opponents to push treasure into your coffers and fresh extras do help in terms of sorting colors or letting you see where to best place shots.

And yes, as you advance, you do collect pieces of artifacts like the Eye of Horus, Cow of Hathor and Sphinx, which, when recovered, let you keep spot hidden goodies, prevent enemies from running away and unlock puzzle mode options. But really, periodic sequences where you assemble artifacts by arranging broken pieces in silhouettes or the need to track down jar-bearing baddies notwithstanding, such additions feel more like token filler than must-see game-boosting enhancements.

Along the same lines, great as featured aesthetic elements look, and slick as backing tunes (including subtle drumbeats that let you know when potential failure looms) prove, quite a few audiovisual assets are recycled throughout the tale. Playing through classic, onslaught and scarab swarm (wherein lots of small, sphere-chain-pushing scarabs flood your monitor) challenges, you’ll notice that many scenes, i.e. dockside views and starry nighttime skies appear several times.

More so than any previous entry in the series, the odyssey feels like an attempt to quickly churn out a new, half-baked sequel in time for the holidays. Given that its forerunner, Luxor 3, was released a mere 7 months back, these suspicions may not be far off the mark.

Regardless, let’s be honest: Describing this as one of the Luxor franchise’s less compelling outings is like labeling a specific volume of Encyclopedia Britannica not quite as comprehensive as its peers. In other words, even with the aforementioned knocks against it, Quest for the Afterlife can’t help but still tower over the competition. As such, collectors, completists and newcomers alike will find the game a welcome addition. More discerning players and longtime series vets should take note, however: Compared to earlier outings, this jewel of the Nile doesn’t shine quite so bright.

Review by Scott Steinberg
Gamezebo, Inc.

Alex Gordon

Treasure hunter Alex Gordon gets more than he can handle when he and his sister, Alice, discover a strange amulet buried in a cave on the island they’re exploring. The amulet shatters into five pieces, which awakens the island’s natives who capture Alice. To get her back, Alex must find the amulet pieces that are now scattered across the island and return them to the head native in this action platforming game.

Alex Gordon is a side-scrolling action game similar to Supercow or Turtle Odyssey. Using either the keyboard or mouse, the goal is to get Alex to the end of the level by jumping on platforms, climbing ladders and ropes, avoiding spikes and other hazards, and either dodging enemies or stomping on their heads a la Super Mario Bros.

There are five stages in the game with a total of 50 levels, along with 15 bonus stages where the goal is typically to collect as much treasure or as many coins as possible within a given time limit.

One of the game’s big plusses is that there are multiple goals for each level. Besides collecting coins and stars and discovering secret areas, the game also keeps track of how many monsters you’ve destroyed and how long it took you to finish the level. You can always replay individual levels to try to beat your time, collect all the stars, or defeat all monsters. Stars can be used to unlock extra levels, and you can spend coins on buying stuff for your retirement island such as a boat, beach house or better landscaping (this feature has nothing to do with the game, really, but it’s a fun diversion).

The level design of Alex Gordon is straightforward in comparison to the classic platformers. From obstacles like falling spikes and crushing ceiling traps to underwater levels, dangerous lava, fireball-spewing plants and Alex’s “wall-climbing” ability, there’s nothing Alex Gordon offers that hasn’t been done before. Levels can eventually start to feel repetitive and stale owing to the fact that there’s not a whole lot of creativity to their design. The story and dialogue also feel trite, and the ending is a bit of a let-down.

That said, Alex Gordon is also significantly less difficult than the vintage platformers, and as a result, is also less frustrating. There are no boss battles, and levels are peppered with arrow signs to point you in the right direction as well as frequent checkpoints so that if Alex loses a life you can start from the most recent checkpoint instead of having to redo the whole level. (You will start from the beginning of a level, however, if you lose all your lives).

The game also makes an effort to be cute: the Alex character is a brawny cat doing his best Indiana Jones impression, and an eclectic group of enemies includes fat beavers wearing Viking helmets, rock-chucking hippos, kamikaze birds and aggressive little tortoises that resemble the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Checkpoints are represented by Lucky, an excitable fan who wears an “I Love Alex” T-shirt.

So in spite of having a bit of a “been there, done that” feel, Alex Gordon nevertheless offers solid controls and generally well-balanced gameplay, which translate into a decent and playable casual platformer.

Review by Erin Bell
Gamezebo, Inc.

Gold Rush: Treasure Hunt

There’s never been a better time to get rid of a certain precious metal, with its value higher than ever. Happily, according to pleasing new action-puzzler Gold Rush – Treasure Hunt, there’s never been a better time to find it as well. Having ventured deep within the title’s computerized caverns, we concur: While not the most frantic or captivating of its breed, the game nonetheless proves fun and challenging, especially when enjoyed in short spurts.

Guided by the ghost of Prospector Jack – doomed to haunt certain shafts due to his greed – you’ll venture deep within caverns filled with fabulous rewards, and equal danger. The goal: Find gold nuggets, which, when returned to the mustachioed specter, cause him to tell more of his tale and further one’s progress.

Storyline largely takes a backseat to actual play though, with the outing a basic mouse-mashing brainteaser at heart, akin to nothing so much as the 16-bit (read: Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis) mindbenders of yore. Still, there’s a cool campaign treasure map to travel along, multiple mines to visit and an overarching coin-collecting goal to keep you engaged throughout.

As for on-screen action, veteran gamers will find that, superficially at least, it resembles nothing so much as Namco’s venerable classic Mr. Driller. Each stage essentially consists of a downward-scrolling cave inhabited by blocks of various color. These squares tumble downwards according to the laws of gravity, falling to close in gaps when lower-situated peers are removed. They’re also automatically drawn together, filling in any intervening spaces, when located adjacent to one another.

Your goal: Keep stacks from reaching the top of the screen. Doing so is as simple as clicking on groups of three or more similarly-colored squares, which – when highlighted – disappear, causing the blocks above to come tumbling down. Keep at it long enough to clear a trio, quartet or more of gold nuggets, which appear after descending long enough, and the stage ends in a brilliant flash of scintillating light.

If the setup all sounds a bit too straightforward at first, remember – several details make your repeated trips deep into the earth more appealing. Think playfields which scroll faster the further you get; obstacles like rock formations, breakable granite blocks, rising gas bubbles and side-mounted shelves; bonus multipliers and row-smashing or time-adding power-ups; and treasure chests that can be reunited with keys for cool bonuses, just for starters.

A pleasing 100 individual challenges – which demand you clear X many blocks, reach a certain depth or accuracy rating, or remove all squares from the screen to open containers hiding Jack’s precious loot – also entertain. Still, much as all the basic “simple to learn, hard to master” elements are in place, the tale never grips you quite the way the best coin-operated classics do.

Nevertheless, when experienced in brief, bite-sized sessions, the epic proves a great way to relax and unwind. While it’s tiresome watching canned animations play every time you select a pickaxe and drill or open a new chest and waiting for boards to advance (right-click to access new rows of blocks faster), there’s definitely a simple, addictive quality to the outing that’ll keep you coming back. Little touches like a fast-paced, swashbuckler movie-style soundtrack and stones which tumble one by one down sloped embankments help add charm. Even if, that is, this isn’t the sort of all-consuming diversion, a la Tetris, that’ll have you dreaming up new gameplay strategies in your sleep.

As finger-tapping desktop mindbenders go, you could certainly do better, or worse. Sitting slightly ahead of the curve though due to excellent polish and balancing (not to mention novel concept), however, Gold Rush – Treasure Hunt proves well worth its weight in, well, you know…

Review by Scott Steinberg
Gamezebo, Inc.