Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual

Last updated
Chronicles of Mystery:
The Scorpio Ritual
Chronicles of Mystery The Scorpio Ritual cover.jpg
Developer(s) City Interactive
Publisher(s) City Interactive
SeriesChronicles of Mystery
Platform(s) Windows
Release
  • USA: November 10, 2008
  • EU: November 11, 2008
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual is a third-person adventure game [1] for Windows, developed and published by City Interactive in 2008.

Contents

Gameplay

The gameplay of The Scorpio Ritual is linear, its in 3-D and in third-person perspective. The player moves the character by clicking on locations shown in the main display; the scene will only crossfade when a character is finished with all the actions on the screen. Players can interact with specific objects on screens by clicking or dragging them, and NPCs. The player can use an in-game hint system, which is located on the bottom left corner of a screen (in a shape of a magnifying glass). The items are carried by the player, some of which could be read, such as the book on Malta. The items return to their original position when dropped. The game have interactive cutscenes which will show up after a player will be done with the location, and before moving to a next one. To complete the game, the player must explore real life locations, such as; Malta, Gozo, Istanbul, and Vatican. The game is non-violent, has no "sudden death" moments, and is played on its own pace, since there is no time limit either.

Plot

The game begins with Sylvie Leroux writing an article in Paris, and seeing a vision of Knights Templar. A person on the phone informs her that her uncle, an archaeologist, have gone missing. [2] Sylvie packs up a suitcase and travels to Malta, not finding her uncle in his home. Then she travels to the archaeological site in Gozo, where, she believes, she might find her uncle. Upon entering the site, she discovered that the police have taken control of the site. Not only did they took control of the site, but they managed to take her uncle's house under control as well. She creates a fake ID and presents herself as a reporter. By chance, she finds 4 photographs with cubical-shaped stones on them, and two photos with Maltese shroud. She suspects that her uncle's disappearance has something to do with this. When she comes back from Gozo, Sylvie finds out that her uncle's house has been ransacked, but nothing is stolen. She also finds a note to James, that explains the breakup of Templars and Hospitallers. She then travels from Malta to Istanbul, Turkey, where she enters into an art gallery and talks to the art gallery director about the stones. But the gallery manager was a suspicious and unfriendly person, so she left. Sylvie is desperate to get the stones, that she suspects are located somewhere in the gallery. She sneaks through backyard into an attic, in which she finds boxes in which she suspects located the illegal merchandise, including the stones, of which photographs she has. She opens the boxes. In one of them she finds the Maltese shroud, and in the other she finds 4 cubical stones. But, as she was about to put them into her pocket, somebody hit her. The only thing she remembers is that the gallery manager was scolding her for something, and that the guards then kick her outside. She then travels to Vatican. The game ends with Sylvie's uncle being killed by trying to break up a gun fight, between James, and inspector Gronc, over the illumination beliefs.

Reception

The game received a rating of 3.7 (out of 5) from CheatCode Central, mentioning variety of environments, but at the same time lack of time being spent in a particular location, quoting: "The Scorpio Ritual features a large variety of locations and large environments, but each is still reasonably contained." [4] A 7.0 from GameZone quoting next: "This is one of the nicest looking adventure games I’ve seen." [1] And 7.5 from IGN, saying in its closing comments: "The Scorpio Ritual left me with nothing but a stunned expression and a heartache the like of which I haven't felt since 2007's Culpa Innata." [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Dunnett</span> Scottish historical novelist

Dorothy, Lady Dunnett was a Scottish novelist best known for her historical fiction. Dunnett is most famous for her six novel series set during the 16th century, which concern the fictitious adventurer Francis Crawford of Lymond. This was followed by the eight novel prequel series The House of Niccolò. Her other works include a novel concerning the historical Macbeth called King Hereafter (1982), and a series of mystery novels centered upon Johnson Johnson, a portrait painter and spy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ġgantija</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site

Ġgantija is a megalithic temple complex from the Neolithic era, on the Mediterranean island of Gozo in Malta. The Ġgantija temples are the earliest of the Megalithic Temples of Malta and are older than the pyramids of Egypt. Their makers erected the two Ġgantija temples during the Neolithic, which makes these temples more than 5500 years old and the world's second oldest existing manmade religious structures after Göbekli Tepe in present-day Turkey. Together with other similar structures, these have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Megalithic Temples of Malta.

<i>Clive Barkers Undying</i> 2001 video game

Clive Barker's Undying is a horror first-person shooter video game developed by EA Los Angeles and published by EA Games. The game's story was written by acclaimed horror writer Clive Barker. He also provided the voice of Ambrose Covenant, a character in the game.

<i>The Wheel of Time</i> (video game) 1999 video game

The Wheel of Time is a first-person shooter video game developed by Legend Entertainment and based on Robert Jordan's fantasy series of the same name. It was released in 1999 by GT Interactive. Night Dive studios published it on GOG.com with permission from Red Eagle Games the publishing rights holders for the interactive series.

<i>Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger!</i> 1989 video game

Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger!, known in Japan as Faria Fuuin no Tsurugi, is an action role-playing game (RPG) for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was developed by Game Arts, published in Japan by Hi-Score in 1989 and by Nexoft in North America in 1991.

<i>Nancy Drew: Danger by Design</i> 2006 video game

Danger by Design is the 14th installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by Her Interactive. The game is available for play on Microsoft Windows platforms. It has an ESRB rating of E for moments of mild violence and peril. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. There are two levels of gameplay, Junior and Senior detective modes, each offering a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, however neither of these changes affect the actual plot of the game. The game is loosely based on a book entitled Death by Design (1988).

<i>Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers</i> 1993 video game

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers is a 1993 point-and-click adventure game, developed and published by Sierra On-Line for MS-DOS, Macintosh, and Windows, and released on December 17, 1993. The CD-ROM version features the voice talents of Tim Curry, Mark Hamill, Michael Dorn, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and Leah Remini. The game's story focuses on Gabriel Knight, a struggling novelist and owner of a rare book store in New Orleans, who opts to research a recent spate of murders around the city that have a connection to voodoo. In the process, he is slowly revealed to be a descendant of a German family who are involved in combatting people who use supernatural forces, and discovers a link between the killings and his family's past.

<i>Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull</i> 2007 video game

Nancy Drew: Legend of the Crystal Skull is the 17th installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by Her Interactive. It is available for play on Microsoft Windows platforms. It has an ESRB rating of E for moments of mild violence and peril. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. There are two levels of gameplay, Junior and Senior detective modes, each offering a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, however neither of these changes affect the actual plot of the game. The game is loosely based on a book entitled The Mardi Gras Mystery (1988).

<i>The Mystery of the Druids</i> 2001 video game

The Mystery of the Druids is a single-player adventure video game developed by the German company House of Tales and published by cdv Software Entertainment. The game was first released in March 2001 for Microsoft Windows.

<i>Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy</i> 2008 video game

The Haunting of Castle Malloy is the 19th installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by Her Interactive. The game is available for play on Microsoft Windows platforms. It has an ESRB rating of E for moments of mild violence and peril. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. There are two levels of gameplay, Junior and Senior detective modes, each offering a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, however neither of these changes affects the actual plot of the game. The game is loosely based on a book entitled The Bike Tour Mystery (2002).

<i>Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships</i> 2009 video game

Ransom of the Seven Ships is the 20th installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by Her Interactive. The game is available for play on Microsoft Windows platforms. It has an ESRB rating of E for moments of mild violence and peril. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. There are two levels of gameplay, Junior and Senior detective modes, each offering a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, however neither of these changes affects the actual plot of the game. The game is loosely based on a book entitled The Broken Anchor (1983).

<i>Dracula 3: The Path of the Dragon</i> 2008 video game

Dracula 3: The Path of the Dragon is a 2008 point-and-click adventure video game developed by Kheops Studio for Microsoft Windows, and published by MC2 France under their Microïds label in Europe and Encore in North America. In 2010, an abridged version of the game developed by Tetraedge Games and published by Chillingo was released in a three-part episodic form for iOS. The full version of the game was ported to OS X in 2010, published by Coladia. Also in 2010, the three-part iOS version was made available for PC as the Dracula Series. In 2014, the abridged iOS version was made available as a single game on Steam.

<i>Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening</i> 2010 video game

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is the expansion for the role-playing video game Dragon Age: Origins. Awakening adds a new campaign that takes place during the aftermath of Dragon Age: Origins. The game features new class specializations and skills for the player to develop. Awakening was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 16, 2010, in North America, March 18 in Europe, and March 19 in the United Kingdom. It was released for the Mac on August 31, 2010.

<i>Nancy Drew: Shadow at the Waters Edge</i> 2010 video game

Shadow at the Water's Edge is the 23rd installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by Her Interactive. The game is available for play on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X platforms. It has an ESRB rating of E10+ for moments of mild violence and disturbing imagery. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and must solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. There are two levels of gameplay, Junior and Senior detective modes, each offering a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, however neither of these changes affect the actual plot of the game. The game is loosely based on two books, Tour of Danger (1992) and The Thirteenth Pearl (1979).

<i>Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life</i> 2009 video game

Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life is the second game in the series of adventure games for PC. The game was developed and published by City Interactive in 2009.

<i>Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Directors Cut</i> 2009 video game

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Director's Cut is a 2009 enhanced remake and director's cut of the classic 1996 point-and-click adventure game Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars developed by Revolution Software. It was released for Wii, Nintendo DS, iOS, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Android and Linux spanning 2009 to 2012. The player assumes the roles of George Stobbart and Nicole Collard, who was a pivotal but not a playable character in the original version.

<i>Murdered: Soul Suspect</i> 2014 video game

Murdered: Soul Suspect is an adventure mystery stealth video game developed by Airtight Games and published in 2014 by Square Enix for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

<i>Assassins Creed Chronicles</i> Video game sub-series in the Assassins Creed franchise

Assassin's Creed Chronicles is a sub-series of video games in the Assassin's Creed franchise. The series consists of three games developed by Climax Studios and published by Ubisoft. The games feature new protagonists and settings and a design that is new to the series: 2.5D environments inspired by traditional brush paintings. The first entry, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China, was released on April 21, 2015, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was followed by Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India and Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia on January 12, 2016, and February 9, 2016, respectively. A collection comprising all three games was released on February 9, 2016, for the same platforms, and on April 5, 2016, for the PlayStation Vita.

<i>Assassins Creed Syndicate</i> 2015 video game

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is an action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft. It was released on October 23, 2015, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on November 19, 2015, for Windows. It is the ninth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series, and the successor to 2014's Assassin's Creed Unity.

<i>Maid of Sker</i> (video game) 2020 survival horror video game

Maid of Sker is a 2020 first-person survival horror game developed and published by Wales Interactive. The game is set in 1898 in the Sker Hotel, on an imaginary island called Sker Island. The protagonist, Thomas Evans, is invited by his lover, Elisabeth Williams, to uncover the mysteries of the hotel after she notices her family's strange behavior. While exploring the hotel, Thomas learns cult followers called "The Quiet Ones" control the place. He finds notes and gramophone records scattered around the hotel that reveal the history of Elisabeth's family.

References

  1. 1 2 "Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual PC Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  2. Reggie Carolipio (February 8, 2009). "PC Review - 'Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual'". Worth Playing. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  3. "Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual". CBS Interactive. Metacritic . CBS Corporation . Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  4. Nathan Meunier. "Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual Review". Cheatcc.com. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  5. Neilie Johnson (December 2, 2008). "Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual Review". IGN . News Corporation. Retrieved March 25, 2019.

Sources