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Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy
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Score: 75%
ESRB: Everyone 10+
Publisher: Encore
Developer: Kheops
Media: DVD/1
Players: 1
Genre: Adventure
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Graphics & Sound:
I am no stranger to point-and-click adventure games, as any longtime reader should know by now. Most of them tend to blend together, which unfortunately, is inevitable considering the fact that they all share the same gameplay style and essentially change out the theme. Well, while Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy fits the pattern of "standard point-and-click adventure," I have a feeling it will stand out, but not necessarily in a good way.
At least the graphics look good and really sell the 19th Century France feel. The streets are dirty, the walls are cracking and the characters and environments all simply feel right.
Sound's not bad either. Voice acting is pretty solid and dialogue never feels out of place, which is always good in a game like this since there is always a good bit of talking. |
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Gameplay:
While Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy doesn't have you playing as the legendary soothsayer, you do play as his daughter as you try and uncover the secrets behind one of Nostradamus' last and most cryptic prophecies that foretells the death of France's royal family. Of course, the catalyst for this is the fact that the royal family members are starting to die off.
As Nostradamus' daughter, you will have to mix potions, talk to people and investigate crime scenes, because the officials that have already looked at the places have done a horrible job. The problem is, most people don't really react to women well and won't give her a straight answer. So what's a woman-before-her-time supposed to do? Why dress up as her brother, act all macho and get the truth out of the people, of course.
The game's inventory system takes on a fairly unique look and becomes a pretty comprehensive tool. Not only will it contain the massive amounts of objects that you will collect throughout your journey, but also all of your investigatory tools, a pretty complete list of your conversations, details about your wardrobe (a must for any 19th Century cross-dresser), and a logbook to keep your recipes, maps and obituaries in. Needless to say, you will be spending a lot of time in this menu trying to figure out exactly what is going on and who is killing off the royal family. |
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Difficulty:
Okay, so the visuals aren't bad, and the story is fairly sound. So what makes Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy stand out, and not necessarily in a good way? Well, it's the complexity of the puzzles. Like I said earlier, this isn't my first rodeo, so I tend to be fairly good at these games and can generally get through them without too much of a problem. Here though, it gets really hard to know exactly what you need to do in order to solve your various objectives.
Right off the bat, you need to make yourself up to look like your brother. When you go into his room, there is a picture of him that you can use to figure out exactly what you need. Or at least it seems that way. Instead, the game goes ultra-realistic and forces you to not only gather a wig and clothes, but also face paint and a corset. On top of that, if your wardrobe isn't quite right, you won't fool anyone. This is just one early example of the convoluted series of things you will have to do in order to make progress. Let's not even get into the hunting game that's involved with getting into your brother's safe. |
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Game Mechanics:
On top of the all too detailed puzzles, Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy also suffers from the classic pixel-hunting issues that plague this genre. While the environments look really good, it's too good in most places, making it hard to know what you can and cannot click on. And of course, when you do find that right item, the screen-area you have to click in order to interact with it is pretty conservative. So when you are trying to gather an unknown number of items to make yourself look like a man, having to pixel-hunt only makes matters worse.
So is Nostradamus worth the purchase? Well, it's a tough game that can keep you busy for a while. If you don't mind the amount of tedium that goes along with that, then look into it. The story is interesting enough, but you could easily get frustrated at the game. |
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-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows XP SP2/Vista, Pentium III 800 MHz processor, 64 MB RAM, 16x DVD-ROM drive, 1.6 GB HD space, 800x600 16-bit color display, DirectX 9.0 compatible 3D video card with 64 MB of video RAM, DirectX 9.0 compatible 16-bit sound card
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Test System:
Alienware Aurora m9700 Laptop, Windows XP Professional, AMD Turion 64 Mobile 2.41 GHz, 2 GB Ram, Dual NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS 256MB Video Cards, DirectX 9.0c |
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