Adventure at the Chateau d'Or Preview

Paris. The mere name inspires images of love, romance, art, and the history of the country of France. Now you can add one more inspiration to the list… The Adventure at the Chateau d'Or.

The Adventure at the Chateau d'Or will be the first release from Karma Labs Inc., a company founded to produce interactive entertainment software. Raised on computer games from the days when the adventure genre reigned supreme and also being a bit of a history buff, I was delighted to have the opportunity to preview this upcoming title.

The time: Modern day France. The place: The Chateau of an eccentric lost Duke who has studied the history, philosophy and science of Paris, France. The mission: To help the Princess Heir, the niece of the Duke, to solve the mysteries of the Chateau and the mysteries of the cryptic message sent to her by the Duke himself.

As you might have guessed, many of the challenges and puzzles of The Adventure at the Chateau d'Or revolve around the history of France. There are three main missions in the game and a multitude of mind-bending puzzles to solve along the way - including encounters with the visage of the Duke himself. Satisfyingly, and not always the case in adventure games, the puzzles are all related to the plotline of the game and enhance the experience of the game. The pre-release version gave me the indication that the puzzles were neither the insultingly easy, or the ever-dreaded, ridiculously hard variety which sends gamers dejectedly to the cheat books.

One of the most appealing aspects of the game: The seamless integration of history knowledge into gameplay. Created to appeal to gamers who have not only a love for the adventure genre, but also to incorporate fascinating elements of the history of Paris, the final product will definitely appeal to those looking for the "thinking" man or woman's game. In the beta version, I had the chance to learn about several different topics throughout the people and places that would shape Paris over time.

Don't feel like revisiting your history classes? The Adventure at the Chateau d'Or also gives you controls which allow you to adjust not only the difficulty of your puzzles during the game, but also to adjust the knowledge level that must be acquired by the Hero (yourself) in order to win the game.

"Chateau d'Or" translates to 'Gold House' in English. Visually, this game lives up to the promise. From the very beginning, you cannot help but notice just how well the graphics bring this spectacular palace to life. From the fountains and foliage of the courtyard areas, to the subtle, rich shadings of the library, to the extravagant feel of the grand hall - playing this game and touring the various areas is like getting a first-hand glimpse into the opulence of the palaces of times past and present.

Navigation is easy and straightforward. Your primary tool in exploring the realm of the Chateau is your mouse. The control panel, which includes any other options used during gameplay, can be summoned by using the spacebar and will remain active as long as the cursor remains on the lower part of the screen. An additional feature is the H.I.M. (hero's information manager), which includes a miniature map of the grounds that will display your location and will also index any information you have collected in your travels.

Karma Labs, Inc. created an original score specifically for this game, and they did a great job matching the music to the moods of the settings and rooms. There is also a fair number of different tracks as you move along - so you're never listening to the same piece of music for an extended period of time. The vocals and sound will not be finalized until the official release - but if the standards kept so far are any indication of the final product, I am certain they will not disappoint.

The projected release date at e-tailers for The Adventure at the Chateau d'Or is Mid-November.

Karma Labs Beta Release
Minimum System Requirements:

Pentium CPU or faster
Windows 95/98/2000/NT
16 bit color graphics display
Direct X compatible sounds border
8x CD-ROM drive (Final version will support 2x CD-ROM drives)
Quicktime