Reviewed: January 28, 2004
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
THQ

Developer
Eurocom

Released: November 10, 2003
Genre: Action
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen

9
10
8
8
9.1

Supported Features:

THQ seems to be on a roll with their platform games. About a month prior to Sphinx a little island native name Tak worked his Juju on the console crowd and now we have perhaps one of the most wildly original and creative buddy-games to date. Designed by Eurocom, a proven developer with a substantial library of hits, Sphinx combines traditional platform action gameplay with a wonderful background story that sets the stage for some of the most ingenious levels that take us on a wild romp through ancient Egyptian mythology.

Sphinx features:

• Play as the ice cool adventurer Sphinx or his hilarious sidekick, the Mummy
• Sphinx has multiple cool weapons including his magical blade, capture beetles, possession spells, ice darts acid darts and bouncing darts!
• Acquire new special abilities as you progress through the game
• 5 huge worlds to explore, each one as diverse and rich as the previous
• Featuring approx 150 characters all superbly modelled
• 50 enemies characters to overcome
• Deep game with a compelling storyline
• 15+ abilities plus interactive environments to test those abilities
• Series of exciting of mini games

After you are introduced to the gameplay through a few easy opening levels that consist of some jumping puzzles and environmental interaction the game shifts gears and characters and puts you in the royal robes of Tutankhamen. The gimmick here is that Tut is just a young boy and while snooping around the palace he uncovers a sinister and evil plot to overthrow the pharaoh and ends up captured and turned into a mummy.

For the first part of the game we bounce back and forth between our two heroes until they are brought together by circumstance to fight the ultimate evil. Despite the epic nature of the plot the story is rather simple and so are the movies that appear between the various levels. It’s just enough story to keep you interested in the characters, but the quality gameplay is what will keep you coming back.

The game is classic action-adventure but the added elements of earned skills, gradual upgrades, returning to previous levels to explore newly accessible locales, is all platform stuff and it all works great in this game. You are gradually eased into the game and as you learn new skills the game design encourages you to use and master these abilities. You actually learn the game by playing it.

Our two characters are quite diverse in their skills, which creates two very unique types of gameplay. Sphinx is all about combat, running, jumping, and everything that is “action”. He can use a sword or fire darts from a blowgun. He climbs, has a double-jump, can use a shield, and even learn special powers and attacks. As he learns new abilities the enemies and the environment adapt to test those skills.

The Mummy is the direct opposite. He is rather weak and frail looking by design but since he is already dead he can take a real beating. He cannot use weapons so he must rely on stealth to navigate levels. His levels are also more puzzle-driven. The Mummy can get flattened paper thin and slip through bars or catch on fire then run around trying to extinguish the flames. Catching on fire or getting shocked with 10,000 volts is not only fun to watch, but also an intregral part of many puzzles, and figuring out how to keep the pain going for as long as you can is an ironic challenge. So while Sphinx is the man of action the Mummy is the “brains” of the duo.

Whether you are fighting or sneaking through the levels you will get to enjoy one of the finest control schemes ever created for an action game. The sticks control movement and the free-floating camera. The movement is analog so you can control the precise speed of the character. The face buttons are context-sensitive to the gameplay so their functions vary based on your situation. The button diamond is shown in the upper-right corner of the screen so you always know what button does what.

Combat is great fun thanks to a surprisingly intelligent camera system and some awesome collision detection that borders on perfection. There will never be any visual doubts on whether you are connecting with your sword or hitting that distant target with a dart. Some of the more intense combat can get a bit hectic and I would have liked an optional target-lock mode so I could circle strafe. The battles seemed rather two-dimensional but great fun nonetheless.

Puzzles range from very simple to some very challenging brainteasers that may stump a few experience gamers. Some are as simple as finding a key or a lever to open a door while others will have you manipulating pieces of the environment to redirect light beams or stepping on lighted pads in a certain sequence to open a door.

The game is loaded with special effects that include realistic lighting, colored lighting like flickering torchlight, shadows, amazing water, reflections, and just about everything else in the next-gen graphical handbook.

The characters are always the stars in games like these and Sphinx and the Mummy just ooze personality, both in their creative design and their wonderful animation. There are nice subtle touches like Sphinx’s wagging tail or the Mummy’s tattered bindings. The Mummy is also the victim of plenty of cruel and admittedly funny punishments. Not since Voodoo Vince has a video game character suffered so much cartoon abuse.

Eurocom polishes the Xbox version with HDTV support for widescreen and 720p progressive scan to make this game leap off the screen. This is a truly stunning achievement in visuals and one of the best-looking action games of 2003.

The real killer is that there is no spoken dialogue in Sphinx and this is a travesty of epic proportions because not only do these characters ooze personality in their design and facial features, the dialogue is very well written and just cries out to be heard. Of course I would have hated to hear this game poorly read, but the entire time I played this game I kept trying to fit popular voice actors with the characters. It became an obsessive distraction, and I almost wish they would release a speech pack for Xbox Live.

The Xbox delivers a quality 3D mix using the Dolby Digital capabilities of the Xbox. The sound effects all come from the proper direction and the environmental effects, wind, birds, water, crackling flames, grinding stone, all surround the player and bring the vivid imagery to life.

The story is linear and so is the gameplay. There are no diverging plot branches or alternate endings and you cannot pick which character to take through a level so once you have finished the game you won’t likely be returning to Egypt anytime soon. Even so, this is a quality piece of software and at only $39; the designers should be rewarded with a purchase.