2008's Call of Atlantis rebooted for Nintendo DS

This combo game that includes Match3, Hidden Object and Reverse Hidden Object challenges originally developed for the PC in 2008 is getting a chance for a new life in its incarnation for the Nintendo DS released this month.

A fascinating journey through the ancient lands of Rome, Greece, Troy, Phoenicia, Babylon, Egypt and Carthage awaits you. Collect seven mysterious power crystals, cool the wrath of Poseidon, the god of Atlantis, and save the hidden continent of legend.

Features:

- The game where old mythical stories meet modern time game play.
- The match 3 game that was enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people on the PC.
- A unique mix of Match 3, Hidden Object and Adverture.
- 66 enchanting levels, unlimited game play

I see that it is still available for PC download from Amazon too for only $6.99 and has garnered an average review rating of 4.5 stars out of 5.  Not bad!!

     

Slitherine teams with History Channel to release History Egypt:: Engineering an Empire

I see Slitherine, the company that released "Legion", "Gates of Troy" and "Field of Glory", has teamed up with the History Channel to produce "History Egypt: Engineering an Empire".  

"HISTORY™ Egypt Engineering an Empire allows players to build their own empire from its foundations to the height of its power. Acting as the leader of a territory from the Egyptian Empire, players manage all aspects of its rise, from economic growth to political power, the development of armies, and expansion into other regions by war and diplomacy.
Empires are controlled from three main views: the Campaign Map shows the entire game world, including mountains, forests, coastlines, oceans, rivers, cites, and armies. The City Map gives players an overview of the structure and role of a city within the empire, and provides a basis for economic decisions. The Battle Map is to be used when diplomacy has run its course or when a city is being attacked, resulting in turn-based combat.
All nations, cities and armies were carefully researched to ensure historical accuracy. The game is accessible for new users, while offering deeper gameplay for expert players." - Slitherine

I noted with particular interest that they are releasing an iPhone version of the game.  I checked out the graphics and they are rather modest so an iPhone version could be a worthwhile download.  More and more I find I am turning to my iPhone to pass the time when I am waiting for doctors, airplanes or automotive services.  The only thing that looks a little odd is when I am playing iFishing and I am either casting my line or setting the hook since both actions require the appropriate physical action with the iPhone to activate its accelerometer functions.  The other day I was waiting to see a specialist and was happily fishing away on my iPhone when he finally walked in.  He greeted me and asked me what was the problem and I replied " But..I've got a fish on!!"

If you preorder the game, Slitherine will enter you in a drawing for a copy of the History Channel DVD "Egypt: Engineering an Empire".  The drawing will be March 25, 2010.

     

Cleopatra Riddle Of The Tomb

By: John Breeden

Game Industry News Editor

There has recently been quite a few puzzle adventure type games that start out in Europe and eventually get ported over to the U.S. market. Cleopatra Riddle Of The Tomb is one of them. However, unlike most of these efforts, this title actually does not do anything wrong. It offers about ten hours of mostly enjoyable gameplay.

The game is set in Ancient Egypt and surprisingly, is historically accurate. Most games figure everything set in Egypt should have hieroglyphics when in fact at the time of Cleopatra, Egypt had long-since been conquered by Alexander The Great. As such, puzzles here use the Greek alphabet. This little twist, positioned right near the start of the game, lets players who know figure out that Cleopatra is going for realism as well as enjoyment.

You play an astrologer working under a master named Akkad, who in turn works directly for Cleopatra. You also happen to be in love with Akkad’s daughter Iris. The game begins when you show up for work and both Akkad and Iris are missing. Given that Cleopatra has launched a civil war against her brother/husband Ptolemy which is tearing up Alexandria at the moment, this is not too surprising. (Although I did not know that Ptolemy was both brother and husband to that crazy Cleo, so that was a bit of a shock.)

At its heart, Riddle Of The Tomb is a puzzle game, more so than an adventure game. You basically can walk around with impunity (in other words not worrying about getting killed) until you hit a puzzle that needs to be solved. Unlike a really difficult puzzle game where you have to figure out what a puzzle is, here it’s pretty easy. When you hit a wall, sometimes literally, you have found a puzzle.

The game does a good job of easing you into the whole puzzle solving adventure. The first puzzles involve trying to find out where you master and girlfriend have gone (or were taken).

The puzzles themselves are fairly diverse and range from combining objects in your inventory to conducting basic research on Egyptian culture to discover, for example, what order to place statues for the ceremony to weigh the soul of a dead person. Almost all the puzzles are connected to Egyptian lore in some way, which adds a nice touch to the atmosphere.

Ankh: Heart of Osiris

After a wild party at Pharaoh's pyramid, young Assil accidentally dumps holy urns and gets himself a death curse - there he also discovers the precious amulet Ankh.

Only Pharaoh can save Assil - however not only is it impossible to get an audition, but Assil also has another problem: Osiris, God of the Underworld, is after the Ankh.

Features
At last a new humorous Point&Click-Adventure in state of the art 3D-graphics with attention to detail.

A funny and romatic story in a mystical and inspiring setting.

Numerous original localtions and characters create an immerging atmosphere that will amaze you.

The puzzles are always integrated to the gameplay - forget frustrating logical puzzles that have nothing to do with the game.

Self-explaining, uncomplicated interface, fair difficulty-level and above all: black humour in abundance!