Egypt III

''Egypt III: The Fate of Ramses'' (), 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 2010–2012, Microïds released an adaptation of the game called ''Egypt: The Prophecy'', split into parts, for the Apple iPhone.

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. 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, 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. DreamCatcher subsequently revealed the game in April 2003, under the name ''The Egyptian Prophecy'' in North America and ''Egypt III: The Fate of Ramses'' in Europe. It was among a slew of announcements by the company in preparation for the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Initially, the game was developed internally by DreamCatcher Europe, but in the summer, DreamCatcher Europe shuttered the game development divisions it had carried over from Cryo. ''Adventure Gamers'' later noted that the game "seemed destined for cancellation".

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

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

Reception

The game received above-average reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.

''WorthPlaying'' recommended the game to ''Myst'' fans. Dan Ravipinto of ''Adventure Gamers'' criticised the game's cluttered environments and slow interface. ''Jeuxvideo.com'' thought the short and easy game would offer a pleasant Egyptian adventure for the player. David Caviness of ''Game Chronicles'' thought the game would only receive acclaim or interest from fans of the adventure game genre.

References

External links

''Egypt 3: The Egyptian Prophecy''
at Microïds
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2004 video games
Adventure games
Egypt (video game series)
Kheops Studio games
Microïds games
Point-and-click adventure games
Single-player video games
Video games based on Egyptian mythology
Video games developed in France
Video games featuring female protagonists
Video games set in ancient Egypt
Video games with pre-rendered 3D graphics
Windows games
Windows-only games