Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy

"This game ROCKS, and everything in it is made of ROCKS, and...just go buy it."

Wow--where has this game been all my life? I try to keep effusive praise out of my reviews, because it sounds corny and fanboy-ish. But I've got to say that this is one of the coolest games I've ever played, and I can't believe I didn't buy it sooner. This is the game I've been wanting to play ever since I finished the first Tomb Raider. If you were fascinated by Tomb Raider's mysterious and beautiful environments and enjoyed unearthing magical treasures, you will love this game. It's more Tomb Raider than Tomb Raider was. This is deep third person adventure on a massive scale with graphics and environments that will make your jaw drop.

The game is divided into two very different parts. In one part you play as Sphynx, and in the other, the Mummy. The two characters each offer different styles of play, and the player alternates back and forth between the two characters during the game. The majority of the game is played as Sphynx, and takes place in a massive world chuck full of secrets for Sphynx to unravel. The Mummy's parts could be considered side excursions, and are not near as long as Sphynx's parts. The Mummy's parts focus on the accomplishment of a singular goal via puzzle solving, and since he's locked up in an evil castle, his world isn't near as large as Sphynx's. Sphynx's massive adventure entails puzzle solving, combat, exploration, minigames, side quests, and a vast plethora (I love using that word) of other good stuff.

In the beginning, gameplay with Sphynx is tedious and slow. This is probably the main reason the game never really caught on. The game seems to present the player with a dead end at every turn. It's not exactly an action-fest. But give the game some time, and Sphynx's parts open up to the point that there is TOO much to do. Seriously, I've never played a game that gave me so many different options as to where I could go and what I could do. This is a sad testament to the attention span of most gamers. They probably played this game for half an hour, decided it's boring, and gave up on it. If a game is not a total action thrill ride from the first second, it gets thrown by the wayside. But if you are willing to put a little time and patience into this game, you will be richly rewarded.

Sphynx's portions of the game are the definition of non-linear. The game is simply huge, both in terms of gameplay and environments. There are so many different activities for Sphynx that he can't possibly have access to all of it at the beginning. That is the main reason the beginning of his adventure seems a little slow. Once you start completing challenges and unlocking things, you'll have a plethora of gameplay options to choose from. The Mummy's parts of the game don't fall prey to the unique pacing problem of Sphynx's, because as I said, his purpose is to solve puzzles for the accomplishment of specific tasks. Most of his puzzles are pretty straightforward and I didn't find much challenge in them. However, they are great fun.

Regarding the style of game this is, there seems to be a unique breed of action/adventure game spawning out in the developer world that is characterized by certain common elements. These common elements are exemplified in games like Kya: Dark Lineage and Beyond Good and Evil. Sphynx & the Cursed Mummy shares a lot of elements with these games. There are absolutely massive environments to explore. There are minigames in which you lay your money on the line. There are signs scattered throughout the environments which give you interesting tidbits of information. There is money collecting by smashing things. There are shops where you can buy useful items. There is even the animal saving/collecting thing that seems to be finding its way into this special breed of game. Sphynx can capture or buy rare animals and monsters and donate them to a local museum which specializes in animals. I don't quite understand what the fascination is with animal populations in these games. It sounds like a weird Japanese idea. I'm not knocking the idea, I just think it's kind of strange that it's become so popular. I think I would call this new breed of game the Save the Animals Action/Adventure. What do you think?

The game looks absolutely gorgeous. I can quite honestly say I don't think I've ever played a more beautiful game. The visual impact is phenomenal. The large, impressive environments, the amazing architecture, the colossal statuary, the pick-my-jaw-off-the-floor lighting effects and the ancient Egyptian theme all generate a mood of awe and majesty. The color palette is so rich that I had to turn the color setting down on my tv. Textures are so rich in detail and so convincingly bump mapped that you just want to stare at them. Must...become one...with the texture...(drool). The game abounds with all kinds of nice decorative touches that really bring this fantasy world alive. The many objects you collect look just like they should in this kind of game: beautiful, shiny, sparkly gold things covered with gems that make you tingle all over and poop yourself. And the game makes sure you can oogle at your newfound object for as long as you want before Sphynx stashes it in his underpants. I know a lot of players bash collecting, but I absolutely love this kind of stuff, especially when it is objects this beautiful. You just have to see the game in action to understand how gorgeous it is. I really didn't think graphics this good were possible on the PS 2.

Regarding other graphics-related issues: Sphynx's animations are great. Smooth and kinetic. His movements convey energy and strength. I especially like his climbing animation. Very catlike and graceful. His model is very detailed and he's got the mysterious, "who is that masked man" thing going. Don't know what the deal is with Sphynx having a tail, but at least it's well hung :) One minor annoyance: there is no first-person look. I can't believe they didn't put a first person look mode in a game so beautiful. You do sort of have a first-person look after you acquire the blowpipe, if you can look past the big orange targeting reticle. For the most part, the camera gave me no problems, but there is one annoyance with the camera that also plagues the camera in the Jak and Daxter games. The camera often has trouble maneuvering around environmental obstructions, and this means sometimes you can't get it behind Sphynx or the Mummy. Even the snap camera button can't override environmental obstacles, something which has always mystified me, since Insomniac was able to do it so well with the camera in the Ratchet and Clank games. At least Sphynx and the Cursed Mummy HAS a snap camera button, a luxury which a lot of games do not allow the player. The game even allows the player to use the R2 button to lock the camera on the bosses in the boss battles, which is pretty cool. The menu screen is stylized to fit the theme of the game, with a papyrus motif in which everything is colorfully notated on scrolls. I totally dig it.

Now on to other issues besides the graphics, like...load screens! I remember those! The game is chuck full of load screens, something that may irritate many. They're not very long, however, and I'm sure it's a decision Eurocom had to make to give us such impressive graphics. I got really used to sitting through load screens during my Tomb Raider days, but until I saw them again in this game I didn't realize how they are becoming a thing of the past. Seamless gameplay and enormous environments are standard elements in games now. Eurocom gave us the enormous environments, but not the seamless gameplay. Personally, I'll gladly take the load screens if they will allow me to have graphics this beautiful.

Control is perfect. No problems with either character. Sphynx's double jump is of the freestyle variety, meaning you can hit the jump button at any time during a normal jump to make him double. It doesn't have to be at the top of the jump. It took me a while to figure this out as I died multiple times during one platforming sequence. Sphynx has a double jump power slam move with his sword which, although it looks flashy and sounds powerful, is not. In fact, it isn't any more powerful than just a regular sword swing. Why give us the fireworks if you're not going to give us the punch, Eurocom? Combat with Sphynx is simple, with no annoying combos to memorize. The game has a really cool feature in which you can assign up to three of Sphynx's combat-related items to the R1, L1, and triangle buttons. However, the interface for using combat items that are not assigned to one of the three available buttons is a bit clunky. In the heat of battle, when milliseconds count, you've got to hit a direction on the d-pad, scroll up/down to the item you want, and then hit the square button. Seems easy, but try doing it with a psychotic humanoid cat chasing you down with six inch claws. Yeah.

The combat doesn't pick up with Sphynx until you are quite a ways into the game. One thing I really didn't like about the boss battles is that Sphynx has to run from the enemy for most of the duration of the battle. No, I didn't just play them that way--you HAVE to run, a lot, or you're just going to die quickly. In addition to not being fun at all, I thought this was out of character for Sphynx, who is a brave, confident warrior who lets nothing stand in his way. When I'm in a boss battle, I want to fight, not run like a damn pansy. Thankfully, there is a button assigned to keep the camera locked on the boss while you run your pansy ass off around him/her/it. This little tidbit about the combat leads me to my next observation...

The game's difficulty curve is very odd. For me it was pretty much smooth sailing for the first ten or eleven hours of play, and then...BAM!!...the difficulty level shot through the roof. I don't mean a little more challenging, I mean a lot, to the point that it's unfair. I refer mainly to the combat in Sphynx's parts of the game. Yes, I've read the faqs in which people say you can just hack and slash your way through the enemies. Sure, if you want most of your health depleted and then have to face that boss battle with a quarter of an ankh. The enemies are all very different and all require different strategies to beat. Some of the battles require a high degree of situational awareness against multiple enemies, and it can get frustrating. There is one point in the game where you will acquire a small statuette that allows you access to a large area beyond some lava falls. [ I haven't given anything away here. The game tells you when you first approach the falls that you need a statue thingy to proceed. ] Once you have placed this statuette and access is granted, the difficulty level takes a huge leap. From here on it's a different ball game. You'll want to make sure you know Sphynx's combat moves well, and become adept at using captured monsters against your enemies. This is the point at which I began to get frustrated with the game. Every gamer has had the experience. A game transforms itself from fun to frustrating, and you have to rise to the occasion. It wouldn't have been so bad if the game had ramped the difficulty level up gradually, but as it is, you're thrown from the frying pan into the fire rather abruptly. Part of what makes the combat so frustrating is that Sphynx often faces two different kinds of enemies with very different attacks. Defending yourself against two completely different types of attack while also trying to go on the offensive is...let's just say it can be a major pain. I take a lot of hits and I die a lot. But this game has so many great, redeeming qualities that you shouldn't let the difficulty of the combat sway you against it.

Let us delve into the game's audio. No voiceover for characters, just text. I thought it was a bit weird at first, but I quickly adapted to it. Characters do make little noises when you talk to them which give you a sense of their mood. I really didn't miss voice actors at all. The game's music is nicely done but very non-intrusive, meaning you won't notice it a whole lot. I would have liked the music to be a little more bold. It would have coupled well with the beautiful environments.

To be honest, the story lost me about half an hour into the game. I don't mean I didn't like it. I mean I don't understand what the crap is going on. I've got a very general idea of the purpose of my adventure, but the details are beyond me. Just remember: Set is evil. Set is a very bad boy and needs a time out. I learned that from playing Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. If I hadn't played that game, I probably wouldn't even be able to tell you THAT much about the story.

I've said almost nothing about the Mummy's sections of the game. The puzzle sections with the Mummy are a blast. He is trapped in an evil castle, and serves as a detective of sorts, exploring the castle and uncovering whatever secrets he can find. The modus operandi of the Mummy's puzzle solving is that he's already dead, so he can actually use the many traps and torture devices that fill this evil castle to get to places that no living creature could. It's a great idea and is the most unique feature of the game. It's hilarious how you have to torture this poor guy to solve puzzles and find secret objects. I'm tempted to tell you all the things you can do to the Mummy, but I'll let you find that out for yourself. The Mummy's parts move right along. I haven't yet been seriously challenged by any of his puzzles, and I'm quite a ways into the game. I may just be imagining things, but it seems to me the Mummy's parts of the game are even more beautiful than Sphynx's.

Nightfall's bottom line: this is an amazing game and it more than passed the rental test for me, meaning I bought it after I rented it. A big thumbs up, way up! But it may not be every gamer's bag. For you people who require every second of your games to be filled with intense action, complex button combos and edge-of-your-seat suspense, the beginning of Sphynx's adventure will bore you to death as you run from place to place trying to figure out what to do next. For those of you who have the patience to delve into a very deep adventure, and like collecting shiny magical objects in gorgeous, colorful environments, give this game a try. There are some brilliant puzzles and some of the minigames and challenges are great fun. This is one of those games that may displease some not because it's a flawed game, but because it's just not their cup of tea. But I can't help but love this game. It gives the player so many things to do, and such beautiful environments to do them in. Don't expect to finish this game as a rental (unless you have that rent-a-game-for-three-months thing). It's enormous in scope, although I'm sure there are the usual idiots out there who will say they finished it in like five hours. To complete this game 100 % would require some serious game time. About the possibility of a sequel...hmm, I don't know. Although this game certainly deserves one, it never got caught up in the Hype Machine which so unjustly determines the fates of game franchises. If a game doesn't get the Hype, it doesn't sell enough units, which means it doesn't get a sequel. Which is total BS. Do yourself a favor. Throw a big middle finger to the Hype Machine, and go buy this game. You won't be sorry you did.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/16/04