Faust
Face temptation in this new adventure game from Cryo.
"A devilish adventure game constructed as seven stories around the theme of Temptation", inspired by the legend of the man who sold his soul to the devil?
So, it's French then?
Save Our Souls
Yes, Faust is a new adventure game from French publisher Cryo. Members of the team behind it, Arxel Tribe, have previously worked on a whole range of classic adventure games including the "Alone In The Dark" trilogy and "Prisoner Of Ice", as well as the more recent "RING".
The storyline is as strange as you would expect given that kind of pedigree. You play an elderly man by the name of Marcellus Faust, who is the guardian of an abandoned amusement park "on the borders of Heaven and Hell".
During the game you will face temptation at the hands of the demonic Mephistopheles in a series of seven seperate episodes as you struggle to save the souls of seven other characters, and ultimately your own.
The characters whose souls you will be duelling over are an odd bunch as well. They include a pair of Siamese twins, an alchemist, a painter who dreams of being Casanova, and a man who is in love with a ghost.
Audio Visual Treat
As you can see from the screenshots, the graphics are gorgeous - 24 bit colour, high resolution, full lip-synching, 360 degree spinny rotatey™ scenes...
The engine uses a mixture of pre-rendered and real time graphics to drive the game, as well as featuring over 40 minutes of elaborate computer generated cinematics that Cryo promises will approach the quality of CG movies like "A Bug's Life".
The music hasn't been skimped on either, and to help add to the atmosphere Faust's soundtrack will feature a whole range of well known artists from the period the game is set in, including John Lee Hooker and Marvin Gaye!
It's hardly surprising then that the game is set to come on no less than four CDs, and a DVD version should appear soon afterwards as well. At last - something to use this damn DVD-Rom drive for other than watching movies!
Conclusion
The French have a well deserved reputation for designing games that tread a fine line between the pretentious and the innovative, and Faust looks set to continue that tradition.
We'll have to wait until mid November to see which side of the line it comes down on...