hnelson59

Personally, I think ya gotta love a game where the hero is named Harold!

Okay, maybe not, but you do gotta love the retro craze and this game fits that category just about to a "T". Challenge the Curse if you dare!

From the press release:

"Curse of the Pharaohs, the debut release from Just Mobile Games, is now available for the Pocket PC. In a format particularly suited to the Pocket PC, the game combines elements from the puzzle, action and RPG genres to produce a quality retro adventure which should appeal to fans of all three genres.

The adventure stars Harold Huxley, an intrepid English archaeologist, who is pitted against the mysterious Cult of Anubis. Harold puts his faith in his revolver, machete, dynamite and hammer as he runs, jumps, crawls and grabs his way through each level.

"I wanted to create a game with a more adult atmosphere than the typical cartoon-like Pocket PC games," says Justin Topham, the man behind Curse of the Pharaohs. In addition to programming the game engine, Justin is responsible for sound, graphics, music, storyline and level design.

"I also wanted to create a retro game that wasn’t just an exercise in cloning the past. Therefore it was critical to use the Pocket PC’s potential and create a rich, cinematic and interactive game environment. Harold Huxley can do a lot in Curse of the Pharaohs so the first level is a tutorial to get the player trained up. I didn’t want to just dump people in at the deep end."

The game captures the gore made popular in the 90s 3D games and reproduces it in a retro game. Flying body parts, death screams, splats and blood are included, but so is a liberal dose of dark humor.

Curse of the Pharaohs borrows ideas from RPG games including an easy to manage inventory and pre-expedition visits to a bazaar to stock up on supplies, allowing the players to manage the resources at their disposal.

Exploration is another important aspect of the game. Each level in the game is large, far bigger than the actual screen of the Pocket PC. In many levels, alternative pathways can be taken while the player searches for the exit.

In creating Curse of the Pharaohs, Justin fulfilled a lifelong ambition to program a computer game that brought to life a world a little different from our own.

A large, 2 level demo can be downloaded from the Just Mobile Games (http://www.justmobilegames.com) website."

__________________
Harold Nelson, USN, ETC(SS), retired
"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." - Horace Mann :approve:

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away" - George Carlin

Cheryl

I tried the demo this afternoon. It's really a pretty neat game :).

NSty

It looks to me like the classic game "Dave" :)

Vanamonde

Originally Posted by NSty

It looks to me like the classic game "Dave" :)

Well it reminds me of Fred on the Spectrum...

Noisy Crow

I'm trying it... it's a bit nasty with the X30 d-pad. And I got stuck in the training mode at the part where you stack sand blocks... you can only place them once; if you accidentally remove one you're stuck.

Cheryl

The sand blocks on the left side? I got stuck there too. Ended up having to take the sand back and relay it. I got to the top on my second try. You just have to be creative.

Noisy Crow

Maybe I missed something. I wasn't able to re-lay the blocks, (the little green cross didn't come back) which I why I got stuck.

There's supposed to be a blue-tooth joystick coming out... forget the manufacturer... would make this game a much more playable. I guess I could remap up and down to different buttons, but then I'd have to remap them in my head as well, and I'm getting a bit old for that :(

Cheryl

Originally Posted by Noisy Crow

Maybe I missed something. I wasn't able to re-lay the blocks, (the little green cross didn't come back) which I why I got stuck.

Yeah, that little green cross doesn't always cooperate. I've noticed there are places where you cannot lay the sand down.

A joystick for this game would be so awesome. The hardware buttons on my X50V are less than convenient. But I do like the game :)