The Badger has been hibernating a bit lately, if you hadn’t noticed, and very rarely does a game concept pique The Badger’s intrigue enough to get excited about an upcoming game. When I learned the Auryn Quest was being released for the PC, I was pretty darn excited. Michael Ende’s novel, not as conventionally well known as the 80’s movie, was a complex and fertile playground for an adventure title. At least that was my hope. I mean, what’s more exciting that getting so deeply into a story that you become part of it. It’s this facet of fantasy especially that makes computer and console gaming even more lucrative – you can read and interact with the story. So what happened to Auryn Quest?

Auryn Quest revolves around, as you’d expect, the Auryn, the magical amulet that symbolizes and protects Fantasia (Fantastica in the book). The Auryn has been stolen, and it’s up to you, Atreyu, to return the Auryn to the “Childlike Empress.” If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll recognize the overwhelming threat to Fantasia in the game – the Nothing. You’re racing against time – retrieve the Auryn before the malignant Nothing consumes the entire land!

According to the game description, Auryn Quest has set its sights on the lofty goal of being an Action/Adventure title. This really appealed to me. In the beginning when all we had were King’s Quest and Space Quest (which are legends in their own right), we got used to the slowly paced and intellectually challenging adventure field. Roberta Williams was an icon to women gamers everywhere and built most one of the successful gaming software companies of all time. Then, as computers got better and faster, our tastes sometimes got pulled into action. What better way to blend the best of both worlds than blend action and adventure?

Unfortunately, Auryn Quest missed to boat on both genres. Firstly, too much of the action revolves around jumping. Aaaiiieeee. You want to know what makes it worse? You have to do it in first person view with very little control over your views. So take the area of games like Tomb Raider that people absolutely despised – repetitive jumping, and you’ve already got a hole to dig out of from step one. The controls also lack flexibility, with the only main control you are able to change is to invert the mouse movement that manipulates your up-down view. However, things like the W,S,D,A directional controls are set in stone.

For an adventure game, the graphics are better than average, but even so are very plain and somewhat boring. The creatures seem a bit on the graphically primitive side, although the settings do manage to look pretty. Unfortunately, a lot of the landscape is bland and it doesn’t do much to make up for the repetitiveness of the game. The cut scenes are okay, but they just don’t seem to evoke the grandeur and magnificence that should befit a fantasy game.

Speaking of simple and repetitive, your main goal is to walk around and collect these little yellow globes called “energy balls.” You’ll need to collect at least half of the existing energy balls in a field to progress past the field. It wouldn’t be so bad if that wasn’t also the requirement to save the game. There are no save options for Auryn Quest (something you’d expect more out of a console game), so you MUST keep playing until you have the five or you lose your progress. But, be forewarned, if you’re bored and you’re just trying to get through the game, don’t move too fast – you’ll have to come back and collect ALL the globes from all the fields that you missed before you can complete the game. This is not a prospect most people will enjoy.

Puzzles? What puzzles? You know, for a game that’s had such an ardent following for so long – obviously literate people who had an appreciation for Ende’s complex work – the puzzles couldn’t be easier. It’s almost like the game was targeted towards the same audience that the movie was targeted for – either young or ‘dumbed-down.’ I liked the movie, don’t get me wrong, but even Falkor the good luck dragon probably couldn’t help this game’s almost non-existant puzzles out. It’s just jumping and trying to remember your way through the extensive-twisty turny levels.

The Badger has decided to return to the burrow. Another disappointment for a book turned game.I personally enjoyed both the book and the movie for The Neverending Story, even with the disparities between the two. Michael Ende disowned the movie, feeling that the movie did not stay true to his message. I think he would agree that Auryn Quest missed the mark as well. If the completion of the series is dependent on the success of this first installation, as I understand it is, it isn’t likely that “The Real Neverending Story” will come to pass.

Gameplay: 5
Boring. Auryn Quest’s action focuses on jumping and memorizing rather bland levels. Auryn Quest’s adventure doesn’t even have a handful of puzzles; puzzles that are one of the very foundations of a good adventure game. Throw in a stringent save game system and a platformer like “have to collect ‘em all” aspect and there just isn’t a lot to motivate most action/adventure gamers.

Graphics: 6 
Better than average for and adventure game, but mainly in the environmental “stills” arena still aren’t anything to make you go – wow!

Sound: 6
Sound is ambient enough for a fantasy title, but it still isn’t anything you’d want to add to your soundtrack collection

Difficulty: Medium
Puzzles are too easy and the repetitive jumping is hard because jumping sequences are almost always aggravating. You can’t save unless you complete the field, and because the “action” is so boring, it makes the game seem too long.

Concept: 4 
The concept of basing an adventure game on The Neverending Story is primo! However, the poor execution that fails to create the beauty and intrigue of what a Fantasia should be really becomes a major let down.

Multiplayer: N/A

Overall: 5
The Badger can only feel one thing about Auryn Quest’s name sake is correct. It may be based on The Neverending Story, but the only thing it feels like is a never ending string of boredom and disappointments.