By Dale Farris, Vice President
Golden Triangle PC Club
July 2004

Game Overview

"In the hallways of the ancients, the Keepers have existed forever." The legend also claims that whoever unites the rings with the artifacts of the parallel worlds will achieve great power and immortality. In unique worlds of dreams and reality, magical, mechanical, and ethereal lands, take on the quest to find the artifacts cleverly concealed throughout the lands.

Four parallel worlds await you on your journey:
The Ademika Valley, The Mechanical World, The Isoteric World, and lastly, the Island of Unity, each with different environments to explore, challenges to encounter and a variety of indigenous puzzles to solve. Lose yourself in this fantastic and rich adventure, uncover the smallest details, collect information, solve the enigmas, and unravel the saga of intrigue, exploration, and treachery that is AURA: Fate of the Ages.

In Aura, you assume the role of Umang, a young student of the wise man Arakon. Arakon believes that Umang is ready for the trials of achieving the highest knowledge, the knowledge that will lead him through the great Ages of his people and all the fame and glory that goes with it. Unfortunately, in the process of doing this, Umang gets swept up in a revolt brought on by the wise men, and is tasked by Arakon to retrieve a series of magical artifacts from these great Ages.

Summary of Features

First-person puzzle exploration game

An original, fantasy-based, mass appeal, unique, and original storyline

Mouse driven, with an intuitive point-and-click interface

Unbelievably realistic and beautiful pre-rendered graphics and environments

Original orchestral musical score and immersive ambient soundtrack

Inventive and original puzzles

Stunning graphics and beautiful cinematics
 
Wholly intuitive direct control interface - fresh gameplay with mouse navigation for full control of the character

A thrilling experience with realistic characters and a compelling storyline

Numerous puzzles of varying complexity - environmental, tactile, auditory

Gripping, graphical adventure that captures the imagination

Full-screen immersion in breathtaking graphics

Totally recreated settings in detail

Beautifully drawn backgrounds, objects, and characters

Interesting plot

Minimal inventory interface for objects to use

Aptly created sound effects and background score add impact

Game Play

Aura is genuinely a most beautiful game to play, and it is filled with awesome cinematics that run after you click on various objects, buttons, doors, levers, or other items that your character is interacting with. These beautiful cinematics are the reason why the game will load at least 2GB of data onto your hard drive. These full motion video sequences will also tax your video and sound hardware, especially your RAM, so be sure you install this game on a system with at least the minimum requirements. Aura is one of those beautiful games that will just perform much more better if you load it on a higher end system that has more video RAM, a faster CPU, more RAM, and a newer sound card.

The game is played totally with the mouse, and you maintain the forced first-person perspective throughout the game. In one short sequence however, you do see your character, Umang, which is neat.

The game presents all the classic adventure game features that adventure gamers cherish, including many, many puzzles to solve. In fact, in my opinion, the main focus in Aura is solving puzzles, as in-between these complex puzzles there is very little walking around, interacting with non playable characters, or looking for objects. While you do all these typical adventure game things, the game really does ratchet up the number and complexity of the puzzles.

In Aura, you are meandering around many beautifully designed, originally imagined worlds you have never before seen. These dazzling displays are the strength of Aura, and represent how beautiful adventure games can be if the designers are allowed enough freedom to create their wildest dreams. These stunning worlds really do keep your interest in the game, and the full motion video cinematics are visually stunning. Trouble is, many of these wonderful cinematics come at the high price of first having to solve the game's many complex puzzles. However, once you do figure out what is going on and you complete the puzzles, the game presents you with some of the most visually awesome video cinematics ever seen in any adventure game.

You use the mouse to move your character around, and Aura is a classic point-and-click adventure game. Once you stop moving, then the game allows you full, 360 degree panning all around your present location, up and down, back, and all sides, providing literally a full spherically designed environment that surrounds each location. In some cases, you must use this full panning feature in order to find and pick up required objects that must be used elsewhere in the game.

The music is electronic, new-age style, and is not intrusive as you play the game. The game also contains a couple of music puzzles that will require you to have a good sound card and speakers to decipher the different sounds. As you move through the game environments, occasionally as you click to move forward or backward, the game will load full motion video files that show you quickly moving through the scene, as when you need to walk up or down a rather large spiraling staircase. Thankfully, this means you can avoid having to click the mouse over and over again to move your character up or down this large staircase.

The non playable characters are cleverly designed and visually colorful, although the voices of these characters sounded unprofessional to me. It seemed that the developers might have had a hard time finding the right persons with the appropriate voices for these characters, as many times these dialogues sounded amateurish.

While the game seems to present a 3-D world, this seemed to me to come across quite flat on my screen, and in many cases it was very difficult to see any depth in many of the screens. This must have been as a result of the decision to pre-render most all the screen layouts you see in the game. While definitely beautiful and dazzling to see, these layouts are all flatly displayed and it is many times very difficult to find the right "hot spot" to click on in order to move your character into another screen.

The inventory is brought up at the click of the right mouse button, and the inventory does not fill up with numerous unnecessary items. You will only be able to click on items that must be used in the game, instead of running across red herrings, or items not required to further progress the game, as is the case in some other adventure games. The items will be identified when you move your mouse over them in the inventory. Also, in some instances it is a bit difficult to know where exactly you are to place an item, but whenever a spot needs an item, then you will see the "hot spot" mouse cursor that lights up indicating that something needs to be placed there. Aura also has a couple of spots where you can indeed "die," so it is important to remember to always save your game.

The Puzzles

Aura is filled with complex puzzles, and the designers have done a good job of integrating these puzzling situations in the nature of the world you are in. These are not the most devious or difficult of all time, but these puzzles are indeed quite complex and not necessarily for those who are easily frustrated. In some situations, solving these puzzles means you will want to first remember to save your game, before you try to solve the puzzle, as some of the puzzles that involve moving or sliding around buttons or other devices may get so confusing that it may be best to just reload the last saved game, and start all over again from the beginning.

I found many of the puzzles to be so complicated that I had to resort to help in the walkthrough guide I found on the Internet to get through some of them. This is just my own personal lack of patience, as these puzzles can be solved, but in many cases figuring out the underlying logic to some of the puzzles might require a bit more time than some gamers are willing to invest in the game. Also, some of the puzzles seemed more of a Rube Goldberg approach to making something happen, instead of just simplifying something down to finding and pressing the correct button. Instead, you will find yourself running into puzzles that cannot be deciphered until you find other puzzles that are linked together, and figuring out the other puzzles that finally allow you to solve that last puzzle. This puzzle complexity is typical for most adventure games, and I suspect many expert, die-hard adventure game fans will delight in this high degree of puzzle complexity.

About The Walkthrough Solution Guides

I urge anyone interested in this neat game to also consider getting a copy of the solutions guide. In this game, the guide will really come in handy, because of the need to be sure to find all the NPCs and open up all the dialogue, and especially in finding out how to solve the game's many complex puzzles. Once you do solve the puzzles, the game provides some of the most stunning, full motion video sequences you will ever see in any adventure game. These beautiful cinematics help make up for the very demanding puzzle solving.

In my case, I always work with adventure games with the official walkthrough, because I just do not have all the extra time to try and puzzle out the correct combinations of either objects or puzzle solutions. I just have too many other things to do. In Aura, I was especially amazed at the beauty of the game, and could focus more on this as I used the guide to help get through the many puzzles, and not get bogged down too much in figuring out the puzzles.

In my situation, playing with a walkthrough means I can concentrate on moving the game plot along, and most importantly, open up all the wonderful scenes and action that the coders have worked so hard to include in the game. Without a walkthrough, I just feel I am not getting my money's worth out of the game. Also, I always appreciate having the help to get through the game so I can savor all the impressive screens and animated cut-scenes, as was the intent of the game creators.

What makes this issue even more relevant here is that DreamCatcher seems to realize this, as evidenced by their always wise price points for their games and their solution guides. You end up with a total investment that means you will be better assured you can get through the game and not end up spending an excessive amount of time with the game. So, no, I don't think using a walkthrough solution guide is any indication of any lack of skill or abilities, but instead, a more appropriate way to invest minimal time with an adventure game, that ends up much more likely to be a fun experience.

Game Saves

You can save your game at any point, a feature always appreciated by adventure gamers. In this game, you really should save often, because you can indeed "die" in a few spots in the game.

Targeted Customers

With Aura, the Adventure Company has produced a beautiful adventure game with a unique storyline that will appeal to all fans of the adventure game genre.

System Requirements

P-III 800MHz or equivalent processor
Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP
64MB RAM (128MB recommended)
2GB free hard disk space (2.5GB recommended)
16x CD-ROM drive (24x CD-ROM recommended)
32MB RAM DirectX 8 / 9 compatible 3D video card (or higher)
DirectX 8.1

Install and Setup

The game should install and set up with no problems, and the game will load at least 2GB of data onto a machine. The game comes on 3 CD ROM discs, and the game disc number one does need to be placed in the CD ROM drive in order to play the game.

Uninstalling the game involves the use of the games uninstall feature in its folder on the Start, Programs menu.

I loaded the game on a Win XP Pro machine (P III-850, 256MB SDRAM) that had a Creative Labs Annihilator 2, 32MB video card (an nVidia GeForce 2 GTS board), and a Creative Labs Live X Gamer! sound board, and the latest drivers for each. An HP CD RW 9200 drive served as the CD ROM drive. The mouse and keyboard were both PS/2 connections. I also had already installed the DirectX 9 files. My machine also had an internal Zip 250 drive, standard floppy, one 8-port USB hub, a Logitech Wingman Extreme joystick, standard microphone, Cambridge Soundworks DTS 2000 speaker system, and a NIC board connected to SW Bell's DSL modem.

Note that this system is certainly not a high-end, state-of-the-art configured system. If you have a higher end machine, with a better video and sound card, more RAM, and a faster CPU, this game will definitely be even more impressive. On my system, although the game did play, there was noticeable blocking of the characters and the environments, as my video card was not powerful enough to display the very rich, detailed environments and character faces that high end systems will display.

This was most noticeable when clicking to zoom into some of the game's many complex puzzles. Instead of seeing the puzzle devices, I saw a blur of fuzz with no distinguishable characteristics of any kind. All I could see was the active mouse cursor, the active icon, that indicated that I could click on something, or move something, or pick up something. If it were not for a walkthrough I found, which included super pictures of these close-up puzzle solving stages and numbers superimposed on the graphics, I would not have been able to know where to click the active icon and what to do with it. Since all I could see was just the active icon, the walkthrough guide enable me to blindly click through these totally unclear screens. I suspect this problem was probably due to my loading this latest game on my now relatively very old system. Even when I tried to change the video settings to higher and lower resolutions, and from 16-bit to 32-bit color, these changes did not clear up these close-up puzzle solving screens. I am guessing that on machines with newer and better video cards, these problems will not occur.

Price

$19.99 (Super Bargain)
$  9.99 the official strategy & solutions guide (a great bargain also)

Minimum System Configuration Requirements

P-III 750MHz processor (P-III 1.2GHz recommended)
Windows 98, 2000, ME, XP
128MB RAM
1GB free hard disk space
DirectX 8.1 GeForce2 64MB video card
(GeForce4 Ti 4200 or equivalent recommended)
DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card and speakers
8x CD-ROM Drive
Keyboard controls
Supports analog gamepads and joysticks

If you run the game on a higher end system, you should not experience any performance problems. In addition, the game will just be even more impressive with a higher end video card and more RAM.

About The Adventure Company

The Adventure Company, a division of DreamCatcher, is a leading publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment devoted exclusively to releasing titles geared towards adventure gamers. The Adventure Company is committed to publishing games that deliver maximum value on multiple platforms including, PC, Playstation2 computer entertainment system, GameCube, and Xbox.

About Dreamcatcher

The Adventure Company’s parent, Dreamcatcher, launched its first title in 1996, with a small band of people who believed in providing customers with quality entertainment software at affordable prices. Since that time, DreamCatcher has become one of the most successful small-sized publisher in the entertainment software industry, and was the fastest growing publisher in 2000, growing over 800% according to PC Data. DreamCatcher Interactive was listed in Profitguide.com's article: Canada's Fastest Growing Companies 2002, and ranked #5.

In 1996, DreamCatcher Interactive launched their first title and since then, they have become a very successful publisher in the computer game entertainment software industry. In my opinion, one of this company's strongest assets is their dedication to provide customers with high quality entertainment software at very affordable prices. Some of the best interactive computer games now on the market come from DreamCatcher.

Bringing to market titles that are affordable, without jeopardizing content quality, is another significant factor that helps distinguish this company from the many that flood the market with countless game titles. DreamCatcher thrives on innovative marketing strategies, solid retail and developer partnerships, and on providing excellent customer support that is well above industry standards.

A new partnership with Her Interactive has enabled DreamCatcher to now sell the super games in the Nancy Drew series, including Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill, Nancy Drew: Stay Tuned for Danger, and Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion. Check this link to read a review of these Nancy Drew Interactive Mystery Adventure Games.

Dracula: The Resurrection and In Cold Blood are two current games for the PC that will soon be released for the Playstation, and DreamCatcher also plans to release more games in the future for the Playstation 2 and the GameBoy Color platforms.

Necronomicon ($19.99) and The Legend of the Prophet and the Assassin ($19.99) are two of DreamCatcher's newer games that should also prove to be successful titles in their long list of super adventure games.

Other super games from DreamCatcher Interactive include Traitor's Gate, The Messenger, Riddle of the Sphinx, Jewels of the Oracle, Jewels II, Egypt 1156 B.C., Odyssey, TimeScape, Ancient Conquest, Beyond Time, Beyond Atlantis, Lightbringer, Legend of Lotus Spring, Nightlong, Seven Games of the Soul (also sold in Europe as Faust), SafeCracker, The Forgotten, The Sacred Amulet, and Time Machine.

All these are similarly designed adventure games, and all are priced very reasonably, the most expensive being $29.99 (In Cold Blood), with most around $14.99, and many even priced at $9.99, which I think are super prices for these super games. At the time of this writing, I have purchased and played nearly all these games, and these reasonable price points have always gotten my attention.

I think these affordable price points represent a very important strategy of DreamCatcher that has helped them achieve their success. When you consider the very expensive proposition to invest in the coding and other very expensive costs to develop and produce a computer game today, I think it is quite remarkable that this company markets their products at such a reasonable price.

I also think it is important to remember that DreamCatcher is still very much in the business of producing quality computer games, something many other companies can no longer attest to since they have gone out of business. What is even more remarkable, in my opinion, is that at the time of this writing, DreamCatcher Interactive remains wholly owned and self-sufficient, and has not yet been absorbed by a larger company.

So, with the easy on the pocket-book price of the game, and the also minimal price of the solution guides, you have the makings of a winner in the hotly contested battle for our limited disposable income and free time to invest in playing computer games. DreamCatcher Interactive is certainly a company worth watching and supporting.

Contact Information

DreamCatcher
The Adventure Company
5000 Dufferin Street
Toronto, Ontario
M3H 5T5
info@dreamcatchergames.com

You can also order from other retailers or online vendors.