Egypt III

Egypt III, known as The Egyptian Prophecy in North America, is a 2004 graphic adventure game developed by Kheops Studio and published by The Adventure Company. The player must solve an array of ancient riddles that will help a dying Pharaoh survive and restore Egypt to glory. The game is the third and final game in the Egypt trilogy, following Egypt 1156 B.C. and Egypt II: The Heliopolis Prophecy. In 2010, Microïds released an adaptation of the game, split into parts, for the Apple iPhone.

Egypt III
Developer(s)Kheops Studio
Publisher(s)The Adventure Company
Designer(s)Laure Nollet
Programmer(s)Matthieu Chopin
Artist(s)Franck Letiec
Jean Lamoureux
Writer(s)Laure Nollet
Alexia Lang
Composer(s)Olivier Louvel
Benoît De Mesmay
Platform(s)Windows
Release
  • NA: March 30, 2004
  • EU: May 14, 2004[1]
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

Plot

At the age of sixty years, Pharaoh Ramesses II asks the Oracle of Ammun to extend his reign; the God accepts, at the condition that a majestic obelisk is built before the Shemu season comes. But despite initial progress, the construction suddenly stops and Pharaoh sends one of his priestess, Maya, to investigate.

Development

Following the 2002 bankruptcy and liquidation of Cryo Interactive,[2][3] many of its key assets were purchased by DreamCatcher Interactive to form that company's new European branch. Two development teams, including the one behind Cryo's Egypt series, were among these acquisitions.[4] DreamCatcher subsequently revealed Egypt III in April 2003, under the name The Egyptian Prophecy in North America and Egypt III: The Fate of Ramses in Europe.[5] It was among a slew of announcements by the company in preparation for the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).[6] Initially, Egypt III was developed internally by DreamCatcher Europe.[7][8] However, in the summer, DreamCatcher Europe shuttered the game development divisions it had carried over from Cryo.[9] Adventure Gamers later noted that Egypt III "seemed destined for cancellation".[10]

A group of those laid off from DreamCatcher Europe, led by Benoît Hozjan, proceeded to found the independent developer Kheops Studio.[9] According to Hozjan, most of the team had already been involved in Egypt III before its development was interrupted, and Kheops received a contract from DreamCatcher to complete the game.[11] Jeux Video noted that Egypt III had "quietly resumed development" and was nearing completion by January 2004.[12]

As Cryo had done for Egypt II,[13] Kheops worked with archeologist Jean-Claude Golvin to increase historical accuracy.[14] Unlike its predecessors, it was not created in collaboration with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux.[15] Egypt III was targeted primarily at casual gamers.[16]

Reception

Andrew Plotkin of Zarf thought the game contained a thin story backed by copious amounts of educational historical information.[17] Slydos of Adventure-Archiv thought it was entertaining, though not innovative.[18] GameBoomers praised it for not being too long or difficult, mainstays of the genre.[19] Tap-Repeatedly reviewer Toger deemed the game a "nice little diversion".[20] WorthPlaying recommended the game to Myst fans.[21] Steve Ramsey of Quandary noted that the player doesn't need to have played the game's predecessors in order to understand the plot.[22] Dan Ravipinto of Adventure Gamers criticised the game's cluttered environments and slow interface.[23] Jeux Video thought the short and easy game would offer a pleasant Egyptian adventure for the player.[24] Game Chronicles thought the game would only receive acclaim or interest from fans of the adventure game genre.[25]

References
  1. Egypt 3 release information at GameFAQs
  2. Fahey, Rob (July 23, 2002). "Update: Cryo Living on Borrowed Time". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on February 16, 2003.
  3. Bouteiller, Jérôme (October 3, 2002). "L'éditeur de jeux Cryo en liquidation judiciaire". Clubic (in French). Archived from the original on July 5, 2019.
  4. Bronstring, Marek (March 7, 2003). "The Adventure Company Europe". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on October 23, 2005. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  5. Calvert, Justin (April 30, 2003). "Egyptian Prophecy announced". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 16, 2004.
  6. Calvert, Justin (April 30, 2003). "The Adventure Company E3 lineup". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 12, 2004.
  7. "The Adventure Company to Showcase Exciting Line-up at the Electronic Entertainment Expo" (Press release). Toronto: The Adventure Company. May 2003. Archived from the original on March 25, 2006.
  8. Sulic, Ivan (April 30, 2003). "Many New Adventures". IGN. Archived from the original on November 29, 2004.
  9. Fallen Angel (August 9, 2005). "Benoit Hozjan for Kheops Studio". Adventure Advocate. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.
  10. "Kheops Studio - Benoît Hozjan". 14 November 2006.
  11. Hoopy (August 24, 2006). "[Kheops Studio] Interview de Benoît Hozjan, co-fondateur et directeur". JeuxVideoPC (in French). Archived from the original on December 6, 2007.
  12. "Egypte 3 fait dans le surnaturel". Jeux Video (in French). January 23, 2004. Archived from the original on August 3, 2004.
  13. "Interviews". Cryo Interactive. Archived from the original on November 17, 2002.
  14. Staff (March 23, 2004). "Interview Egypt III: The Egyptian Prophecy - The Fate of Ramses". PC Pointer. Archived from the original on August 3, 2004.
  15. Staff (August 9, 2004). "Interviews >> Benoit Hozjan Kheops Studio". Adventure Island. Archived from the original on February 27, 2007. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  16. Manos, Dimitris (March 2004). "Previews; Egypt III: The Fate of Ramses". The Inventory. No. 13. Just Adventure. pp. 2, 3. Archived from the original on November 15, 2006. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  17. "Mini-Review: The Egyptian Prophecy: The Fate of Ramses". www.eblong.com. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  18. slydos. "Egypt 3 - Egyptian Prophecy - Review English". www.adventure-archiv.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-08. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  19. Jenny100. "The Egyptian Prophecy Review". www.gameboomers.com. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  20. "Four Fat Chicks -- The Egyptian Prophecy Review". www.tap-repeatedly.com. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  21. "PC Review - 'The Egyptian Prophecy'". WorthPlaying. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  22. "The Egyptian Prophecy: The Fate of Ramses Review by Quandary". webarchive.nla.gov.au. Archived from the original on 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2017-03-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  23. "The Egyptian Prophecy review - AdventureGamers.com". www.adventuregamers.com. 29 April 2004. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  24. "Test Egypte 3 : Le Destin de Ramses sur PC". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  25. "Game Chronicles - Review". www.gamechronicles.com. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
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