First Impressions: Cutting off your nose to spite your face…
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy (formerly Sphinx and the Shadow of Set) is the platformer currently in develoment by Eurocom, the makers of 007:Nightfire and EA’s Harry Potter games. Sphin, is obviously a game set in ancient Egypt following two main characters, Sphinx, a young demigod, and Tutankhaman, a recently deceased and incredibly animated mummy. Sphinx is the more dynamic hero, sporting traditional Egyptian garb, an ethereal sword, a shield, and even a tail to accentuate his lion-like features. Sphinx also collects tools and weapons, such as a blowpipe which can be aimed in first person and can help Sphinx attack far away enemies and reach distant switches. He can also learn combinations throughout the course of his adventure to aid him in battle.
The mummy Tutankhaman, on the other hand, is the more comedic of the duo, lacking any direct attacking ability. However, since Tutty is already dead, he also cannot be killed, and can be mutilated and manipulated in a number of ways to solve puzzles. One example lies in a floor pad that must be charged with electricity in order for the player to progress. Tutankhaman walks up to a large generator, receives a massive jolt, then proceeds to the pad to conduct the charge with his own body, all while twitching comically at the electric current in his undead frame! He is, however, limited in this capacity by both time and other obstacles: He only carries the charge for a limited amount of time, and he also loses the charge should he fall in a pool of water. Tutankhaman will be set on fire, flattened, and beaten up in order to solve puzzles, and provides a change of pace to Sphinx’s more traditional platform antics.
The two characters’ storylines will intersect and allow the player alternate control of the protagonists. Sphinx’s stages will contain more of the expected foe-defeating, action-oriented gameplay, while Tutankhaman’s stages will be primarily puzzle solving. The gameplay is divided between five different worlds that both characters will get their chance to attempt. When players switch characters, gameplay changes dramatically, emphasizing either direct action or indirect stealth and puzzle-solving depending on your character.
The graphics are lovely, with smooth, fluid animation and great backgrounds. The character models are cartoonish, but still detailed in their movements with Sphinx’s tail even swishing about artistically regardless of his movement.
The controls are very similar to the setup made famous by the Zelda franchise, with the button layout in the screen’s corner and the player’s ability to assign commands to individual buttons. Buttons are also context sensitive, so they may serve a different purpose when jumping then when walking. The button’s purpose will be displayed at the onscreen HUD.
