The Cameron Files: Pharaoh's Curse

The Good
Alan P. Cameron is back. This time he is asked by Moira MacFarley to join her in Egypt where she is working at the Cairo Antiquities Museum. Moira uncovers an Egyptian artifact and accidentally releases an ancient curse. When Cameron gets to Cairo, he finds Moira missing and very strange things happening at the museum. He also finds out that the Germans are here to steal whatever it is she has found.

Pharaoh's Curse uses a similar interface to that of Secret of Loch Ness, Cameron's previous adventure. A single Egyptian-like cursor allows you to walk in any direction, but changes to something else when you move it over a certain object, and you can interact with that object. Just like Loch Ness, the screen moves around if you move the mouse. I'm used to this as I had plenty of time to get familiar with the interface from the last game.

As well as this, you get a similar inventory to the one you last had. One feature that I found useful is Cameron's notebook. Once a cut-scene has been played, that scene gets stored in your notebook, and with the click of a mouse, you can watch the cut-scene again. This is quite useful if you really enjoyed watching the cut-scene. The save/load feature has been improved. Now you can save up to 16 slots, saving you from overwriting important parts that you didn't want to in the first place.

I couldn't help but notice that the graphics have slightly improved. Unlike the last game, there are light and shading effects. An example is where you look up to the sky at the very start of the game, and move the view around so that the sun is glaring in your face. Since Pharaoh's Curse is Egyptian-like, I expected that each important room that you go to would have wall paintings that were common to the Egyptian era. Turns out that I was right. Toward the end of the game, you 'll see plenty more where that came from.

One of the highlights of this game would be exploring the Wonder of the Nile and looking out onto the Nile River to see a huge orange rock in the background. There is so much to do on the cruise ship, such as breaking into other people's cabins while they are out and collecting stuff relevant to the investigation and analyzing them for clues. You have to wander around on this huge island, and when you get halfway to the top of a cliff, you are faced with a marvelous view of the ocean with a sailboat in the distance.

The music is quite common with the Egyptian era, and most of it reflects well to the situations that you face. The sound effects are appropriate to the actions that you perform, such as moving shit and opening and closing doors, chests, etc. The puzzles are easy to solve, as long as you know what you are doing. Some puzzles are timed, and mainly require you to get to a location as quickly as you can or run away from someone. I had a fright when I opened a door on the ship, only to see a mummy before me, and it threatened to kill me if I didn't do something about him. There is also a puzzle similar to the get-out-of-the-water-before-time-runs-out puzzle from the last game.

Most of the characters offer you help in your travels, and some are quite amusing to listen and watch. I particularly liked the fat German dude that raves on about how he is going to find treasure before anyone else does. Pharaoh's Curse runs completely from the hard disk. That means that you are not required to insert CDs during the game. You are only required to insert one of the two CDs before you start playing, and all of them during installation. No biggie, this.

The Bad
Again, when you save a game, there is no way to enter a description. It would have been useful if you give each slot a meaningful description, when you are about to run into a situation or when you are at a new location.

Your notebook cannot display more than four pages of cut-scenes at once, and you cannot flip between pages. Also, when you are in a room with sounds in it, and you decide to view a cut-scene, the sound is still heard in the background.

Also, the ending is much too short. It is even shorter than Loch Ness

The Bottom Line
Pharaoh's Curse has a similar interface to that of its predecessor, but with more features added to the mix, most notably the extra save slots and the ability to watch cut-scenes again. The graphics have improved and the music is a joy to listen to, especially when the Egyptian theme is relevant. You will get used to the characters, even though some of them are out to get you. During your investigation, you are faced with many puzzles, both standard and time-based, but most of them are easy if you know what you are doing.

The Good
P.I. Cameron once again digs into mystery and intrigue in Pharaoh's Curse, which is much better than his previous adventure, Loch Ness. He is supposed to meet Moira McFarley, his Loch Ness acquaintance, in Egypt where she is working at the Cairo museum. Evidently Moira has uncovered an unusual archeological artifact and caused an "ancient evil" to be released. Not only is Moira missing, but several other very strange things have happened at the museum. And then, he discovers that the Nazis are here to steal whatever it is she has found. So, it doesn't take long for things to start to heating up. And then, there's the mummy ....

What is so striking about this game are the facial expressions the artists gave to Cameron during conversations and at other times. Those expressions give real him a real personality and you grow to like him. Scenery and other character attributes are equally nice. The lighting effects (sun and shadows) are exceptional.

Music in the game is original and, well, Egyptian. But, it doesn't overpower you. It adds a good background to whatever you are doing. Some of the sound effects were a bit weird at times, though. Take a step, for instance, and you may hear the sound of 5.

For those of you who are inclined against 1st person games because you don't like adventuring alone, I'm pleased to tell you that there are plenty of other characters to talk to. (See the screenshots for pictures of some of them.) Although conversation as such is handled by way of cut-scenes, it doesn't feel as lonely as other first person games.

Puzzles are inventory-based only and fit in with the story. There is one safe to open, but you use an inventory item to assist you. There are no mazes, no slider puzzles, no color-match or sound puzzles. Everything you do is logical and things you find are natural to the situation.

The mouse-driven interface is clean and easy to use. And I was pleased to see the 16 save-game slots, a big improvement over previous games by the Galilea/Wanadoo/Index+ breed. You can die in this game, so saving often is a must.

The Bad
This game can easily be finished during a weekend, so it is a bit short (even though it has 2 CD-Roms). Of course, this depends upon how you play.

My biggest complaint is puzzled-based. One particular puzzle lacks critical clues to help you solve it. Not to give too much away, I will say that it involves identifying Egyptian gods/goddesses by their pictures alone. One book, letter or pamphlet would have been enough to match up their names with their pictures, but it was completely left out. Therefore, unless you know alot about Egypt, you may need a little help to solve it. (See the links section for hints and walkthroughs.)

Also, the game includes some timed segments. They're not really hard, if you know what item to pick from inventory and don't dilly dally around.

The Bottom Line
Pharaoh's Curse is an enjoyable game with enough mystery to keep you entertained for a time. Cameron's personality comes out during the game making him more "real". If you like Egyptian-themed games, but don't like translating glyphs or working intricate puzzles, you'll probably like this one. I did.

The "Teen" ESRB rating may cause parents concern, but in my opinion it could have been rated for a younger age group. The few deaths have no visible blood and there is no foul language.