A point-and-click adventure. We direct the actions of Richard Kendall, a journalist who unexpectedly gets a chance to report on his life. He is to find the British researcher and archaeologist Caldwell, whose expedition has disappeared in the vicinity of the Bermuda Triangle. Travellers supposedly tried to find the ruins of the mysterious Atlantis.
Ark of Time is a classic point-and-click adventure game. One of the oldest Italian dev teams, Trecision, is responsible for its development. Other titles from the Italians include the adventure game The Watchmaker, and football simulator Puma Street Soccer. In 2003 the studio was disbanded.
Story
In the summer of 1997, the expedition of Professor Caldwell, an archaeologist known in the scientific community (who is also accused by many colleagues of having a looses screw or two), disappeared without a trace. Other members of the expedition evaporated along with him: scientific coordinator Helen Milton, businessman Mr. Blower, who financed the whole venture, and his nephew Simon. The circumstances of the disappearance are mysterious, and the last known position of their ship indicates the vicinity of the Bermuda Triangle. There are also rumors that they were close to finding the legendary city of Atlantis.
During the game we play the role of a sports reporter of a London newspaper, one Richard Kendall. Our hero has always wanted to be treated as a serious journalist, but he did not think that his first big scoop would be to chase halfway around the world after a lost expedition, which in turn was chasing the most probably non-existent ruins. During our adventure we visit many locations around the world, from the British capital, through the Caribbean, Stonehenge, Easter Island, and old English cathedral, sunburned desert, to the lost city in the depths of the ocean, of course.
Mechanics
Ark of Time uses proven gameplay elements borrowed from adventure games developed by LucasArts. The interface is not based on the verb grid, but is limited to the lower inventory bar and indicates the player the key points of the location using white backlights. The game consists mainly of exploring subsequent levels, conversations with encountered characters, collecting objects from the immediate environment of the characters and combining them with each other in order to solve subsequent puzzles. Often, important objects are collected by the hero well in advance, which forces tedious trecks between distant locations. For example, the loom acquired in the Caribbean is used on the Easter Island, and in the meantime, we are still in the desert, busy looking for a poison to take care of the rat residing in London, which is blocking our progress in that part of the world. After overcoming subsequent challenges, we find tips related to professor's whereabouts and progress through the story.
Technical aspects
The game boasts excellent 3D visuals and bases the backgrounds of its locations on their real-life counterparts. However, the visuals do not stand out in terms of style. In the audio layer, the dialogues of the characters are slightly off compared to the other sounds.
Last updated on March 23, 2020
Ark of Time Summary
Platforms:
PC Windows February 28, 1997
PlayStation 1 July 1, 1998
Developer: Trecision
Publisher: Project Two Interactive BV
Age restrictions: none
