Curse: The Eye of Isis

"Decent, but nothing else."

Do you like survival horror games? How about traditional adventures? Well then, you may be tempted to pick up Curse: The Eye of Isis, Dreamcatcher's budgetastic entry into those genres. While it's not terrible, you can do better for even this small amount of money.

The story for this game is almost an afterthought, involving an ancient Egyptian artifact that a collector and a strange ninja-like thief both have their hearts set on. This artifact, the Eye of Isis, carries something of a curse, that turns people into zombies and takes the form of a yellow gas that depletes your life. Some may call that a cheap way to keep you from going where you're not supposed to, but I call it an acceptable way to keep you on track.

Combat is fairly straightforward, with a few weapons of both melee and ranged variety. You can target specific areas of enemies, which makes combat a bit more interesting, but you'll probably end up bludgeoning most enemies with a stick or something. You'd think they'd eventually learn to deal with the ol' whack-strafe-whack, but it remains surprisingly effective.

Inventory is limited, but your save point and magic item box are both contained in a travelling Egyptian named Abdul, so it never causes too much concern. Puzzles range from simple (give the glasses to the man that says he wishes he had his glasses) to annoying (find this item, with no clue where it is, in a large and complicated ocean liner). There are two playable characters who you switch between at set points, but they don't play any differently from one another. The heroine, Victoria, usually only has to solve one puzzle... and it's the same puzzle three times.

The most apparent aspect of this game is that there's really nothing special about it. The story is useless, the characters aren't complicated, the action is unsatisfying, and the scares are nonexistent. The graphics and sound are also nothing to write home about, except perhaps for a haunting voice calling the main character Darien's name towards the end. It's acceptable, average, passable entertainment in every way. If that's enough for you, good, but if you have a limited budget or limited gaming time, it's hard to justify playing this.

Survival horror and adventure games on the Xbox are few and far between, so if the Xbox is your only system, this could be worth a look. If not, there are other games like Fatal Frame, Resident Evil, and The Longest Journey that will satisfy your gaming appetite much more satisfactorily. Even on the Xbox, you can play Silent Hill, Syberia, and Broken Sword 3. If you've already finished them, though, this isn't necessarily a waste of money. Just don't expect anything too memorable or scary.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 03/22/05