The Labyrinth of Time

Last updated
The Labyrinth of Time
The Labyrinth of Time Coverart.png
Developer(s) Terra Nova Development
The Wyrmkeep Entertainment Co. (re-release)
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts
The Wyrmkeep Entertainment Co. (re-release)
Designer(s) Bradley W. Schenck [1]
Programmer(s) Michal Todorovic
Joe Pearce
Platform(s) Commodore CDTV Amiga CD32, MS-DOS, Linux, Mac OS, Mac OS X, Windows, iOS
ReleaseMS-DOS, CD32, Mac
June 1, 1993 [2]
Linux, OS X, Windows
December 7, 2004 [3]
Apple iOS
November 14, 2009 [4]
Genre(s) Graphic adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

The Labyrinth of Time is a graphic adventure video game created by Terra Nova Development, a two-man team composed of Bradley W. Schenck and Michal Todorovic. Intended to be the first in a series of games, The Labyrinth of Time was less successful than similar graphic adventures released around the same time, such as The 7th Guest and Myst . It is the sole game produced by Terra Nova Development. In the years after its release, The Labyrinth of Time was published on more recent platforms by The Wyrmkeep Entertainment Co. in collaboration with the original developers.

Contents

Plot

The story of The Labyrinth of Time is loosely based on Greek mythology. The game begins during player's commute home from work. While aboard the subway, the player and their train car are suddenly sucked into an alternate dimension. An illusion in the form of the mythological character Daedalus explains that King Minos has forced him to oversee the construction of a labyrinth that spans the space-time continuum. Upon its construction, King Minos will invade and conquer all times and places with his supernatural powers. Daedalus pleads for the player to find a way to destroy the labyrinth before Minos can complete his conquest. [5]

In-game terminals and journal entries reveal the extent of Minos's power. As explained by the lone archivist on a lunar library, a figure identifying himself as the king appeared simultaneously to all world governments in all time periods, seizing control of their militaries and erasing all written history. Minos's new abilities seem to extend beyond time travel; the scene of the king's tomb strongly implies that he rose from the grave.

Screenshot of the Maze Center LabyrinthMazeCenter.gif
Screenshot of the Maze Center

The labyrinth that the player explores spans many time periods and locations. Despite their incongruity, each area is thematically connected by the story of Martin Garret, a professor intrigued with discovering the tomb of the unnamed Sorcerer-King at a far-off ziggurat near Uxmal. Desperado Mad Dog Maddigan, the one man who knew the location of the Sorcerer-King's treasure chamber, was buried in the Western town of Revolver Springs, California, along with a map to the ziggurat's chamber. Revolver Springs, however, was destroyed in a fire on May 1, 1882, leaving the location of his grave a mystery. Garret was about to begin his second expedition to the ziggurat, but suffered from anxiety after losing his lucky shirt in a previous dig.

When the player finds the ziggurat, they can retrieve the shirt. They are also able to go back in time to Revolver Springs and pick up a newspaper explaining that the local graves were relocated to make way for a railroad extension project. The player leaves both for Garret to receive, changing history. With the encouragement and new information, Garret locates Mad Dog Maddigan and completes his expedition. Among the treasures brought back from the Sorcerer-King's tomb, Garret discovers a talisman that was reputedly used to destroy buildings.

The player must operate three levers in the ziggurat to reach the center of the labyrinth and take, among other items, the talisman to destroy its keystone. After dispelling an illusory Minotaur guarding the Maze Center, the player breaks the maze's keystone. This causes the labyrinth to unfurl at the seams. Daedalus appears in person to offer thanks for his freedom, then leaves to ensure King Minos can do no more harm. He leaves the player floating in an area that does not exist in time or space.

The game ends with a teaser for a sequel, The Labyrinth II: Lost in the Land of Dreams, but the sequel was never produced.

Re-release

The Labyrinth of Time was re-released by The Wyrmkeep Entertainment Co. for the Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, AmigaOS, and Linux in December 2004. The new versions of the game restored some audio quality and added a breadcrumbs feature for navigating mazes, as well as porting the original code to Simple DirectMedia Layer. The Amiga version was released as freeware and can be downloaded from Aminet and its mirrors or as an .iso from the official site.

The game was later ported to Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch in November 2009. It is at present available for purchase or download on the online game stores Steam and GOG.com.

Reception

Computer Gaming World 's Charles Ardai in December 1993 admitted that expecting The Labyrinth of Time to not have a maze was unrealistic, but stated that although "pretend[ing] to be a piece of interactive fiction", it was "almost nothing but mazes, linked end to end in a complex, irritating chain". Ardai criticized the "relentless stylish visuals" as "eye-candy and boring eye-candy at that", with no way to distinguish between the few objects necessary for gameplay and the many non-interactive ones. He advised Electronic Arts to "dismantle The Labyrinth of Time and sell it cut-rate for clip art". [6] In April 1994 the magazine said that "though mythology and time travel interbreed seamlessly, its depressingly empty world and staid adventure game mechanics create a game that is less than timeless". [7]

In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Labyrinth of Time the 43rd-worst computer game ever released. [8]

In January 1994, PC Gamer UK awarded the game its "Recommended" seal, with reviewer Phil South giving it a 91% rating. South defined the game as quick, hot and deep: "Quick because it takes no time at all to get into [...]. Hot because its state-of-the-art presentation because it makes it both look good and sound like a million bucks [...]. Deep because, once you get over the initial novelty and start to want something to occupy you for a while, the game has enough bite to keep you enthralled for as long as you're prepared to put the effort in, with puzzles and problems to tax experienced and neophyte adventurers alike". [9]

In February 1994, PC Zone also recommended the game, giving it a score of 89 out of 100. Reviewer Paul Presley criticized the game's "less than user-friendly interface", stating that there's "far too many mouse clicks to do far too few things", while highly praised the visuals and sound, which "produce an atmosphere unrivalled in an adventure game since The 7th Guest ". [10]

The One gave the Amiga version of The Labyrinth of Time an overall score of 81%, and praised its graphics and music, but was more critical to some issues in its gameplay. The One expressed that the "packaging itself gives no indication of the down-beat nature of the game ... [the intro outlining backstory events] come as an unpleasant surprise" and criticized the mazes, stating that the auto-map negates their purpose, making them "nothing more than tedious", and were frustrated by the "dated" and "limiting" UI. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minotaur</span> Creature of Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur, also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "part man and part bull". He dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus, upon command of King Minos of Crete. According to tradition, every nine years the people of Athens were compelled by King Minos to choose fourteen young noble citizens to be offered as sacrificial victims to the Minotaur in retribution for the death of Minos's son Androgeos. The Minotaur was eventually slain by the Athenian hero Theseus, who managed to navigate the labyrinth with the help of a thread offered to him by the King's daughter, Ariadne.

<i>Simon the Sorcerer</i> Point-and-click adventure game

Simon the Sorcerer is a 1993 point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Adventure Soft, for Amiga and MS-DOS. The game's story focuses on a boy named Simon who is transported into a parallel universe of magic and monsters, where he embarks on a mission to become a wizard and rescue another from an evil sorcerer. The game's setting was inspired by the novels of the Discworld series, and incorporates parodies on fantasy novels and fairy tales, such as The Lord of the Rings and Jack and the Beanstalk. The lead character's design was inspired by that of the fictional British television character Blackadder, with the character voiced by Chris Barrie in the CD re-release.

<i>Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders</i> 1988 video game

Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is a 1988 graphic adventure game by Lucasfilm Games. It was the second game to use the SCUMM engine, after Maniac Mansion. The project was led by David Fox, with Matthew Alan Kane as the co-designer and co-programmer.

<i>Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure</i> 1989 video game

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure is a graphic adventure game, released in 1989 by Lucasfilm Games, coinciding with the release of the film of the same name. It was the third game to use the SCUMM engine.

<i>Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis</i> 1992 video game

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by LucasArts and released in June 1992 for Amiga, DOS, and Macintosh. Almost a year later, it was reissued on CD-ROM as an enhanced "talkie" edition with full voice acting and digitized sound effects. The seventh game to use the script language SCUMM, Fate of Atlantis has the player explore environments and interact with objects and characters by using commands constructed with predetermined verbs. It features three unique paths to select, influencing story development, gameplay and puzzles. The game used an updated SCUMM engine and required a 286-based PC, although it still runs as a real-mode DOS application. The CD talkie version required EMS memory enabled to load the voice data.

<i>Star Trek: 25th Anniversary</i> (computer game) 1992 PC video game

Star Trek: 25th Anniversary is an adventure video game developed and published by Interplay Productions in 1992, based on the Star Trek universe. The game chronicles various missions of James T. Kirk and his crew of the USS Enterprise. Its 1993 sequel, Star Trek: Judgment Rites, continues and concludes this two-game series.

<i>Return to Zork</i> 1993 video game

Return to Zork is a 1993 graphic adventure game in the Zork series. It was developed by Activision and was the final Zork game to be published under the Infocom label.

<i>Gobliiins</i> Puzzle adventure video game series

Gobliiins is a puzzle adventure video game series, consisting of five entries, released by Coktel Vision for the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Macintosh, iOS and Windows platforms. The first three titles were released in the early 1990s, the fourth in 2009, and fifth in 2023. The visual look of the series and its characters were created by French artist Pierre Gilhodes, whose style was used in another game from Coktel Vision: Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth.

<i>Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra</i> 1991 role-playing video game

Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra is the third game in the role-playing video game series Might and Magic. Released in 1991, it is the predecessor to Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen and the sequel to Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World. A Sega Genesis version was developed, but never released.

<i>Inherit the Earth</i> 1994 video game

Inherit the Earth: Quest for the Orb is an adventure game developed by The Dreamers Guild and published by New World Computing in 1994.

<i>Simon the Sorcerer II: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe</i> 1995 video game

Simon the Sorcerer II: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe is an adventure game created by Adventure Soft, and released in 1995 for the MS-DOS. It is the second installment in the Simon the Sorcerer series of games, and the sequel to 1993's Simon the Sorcerer. The game's story focuses on a young teen named Simon, who is transported into a parallel universe of magic and monsters that he visited before, via a magical wardrobe created by an evil sorcerer he defeated in the last game. Players engage in a quest to help him find more fuel for the wardrobe by searching a vast world, consisting of parodies on popular fantasy novels and fairy tales.

<i>Kings Quest VI</i> 1992 video game

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is a point-and-click adventure game, first released in 1992 as the sixth installment in the King's Quest series produced by Sierra On-Line. Written by Roberta Williams and Jane Jensen, King's Quest VI is widely recognized as the high point in the series for its landmark 3D graphic introduction movie and professional voice acting. King's Quest VI was programmed in Sierra's Creative Interpreter and was the last King's Quest game to be released on floppy disk. A CD-ROM version of the game was released in 1993, including more character voices, a slightly different opening movie and more detailed artwork and animation.

<i>Labyrinth: The Computer Game</i> 1986 video game

Labyrinth: The Computer Game is a graphic adventure game developed by Lucasfilm Games and published in 1986 by Activision. Based on the fantasy film Labyrinth, it tasks the player with navigating a maze while solving puzzles and evading dangers. The player's goal is to find and defeat the main antagonist, Jareth, within 13 real-time hours. Unlike other adventure games of the period, Labyrinth does not feature a command-line interface. Instead, the player uses two scrolling "word wheel" menus on the screen to construct basic sentences.

<i>Portal</i> (1986 video game) 1986 video game

Portal is a text-driven adventure with a graphical interface published for the Amiga in 1986 by Activision. The writing is by American author Rob Swigart, and it was produced by Brad Fregger. Ports to the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC were later released. A version for the Atari ST was announced and developed, but not published. Until recently, it was thought that a Mac version left unpublished. The published Mac version was rediscovered in 2021 by a game collector.

<i>Obitus</i> 1991 video game

Obitus is an action-adventure game developed and released by Psygnosis in early 1991 for Amiga, Atari ST and DOS. It was also ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Bullet-Proof Software. The game features both first-person dungeon crawling and side-scrolling gameplay with action-oriented combat and an emphasis on item acquisition. It is similar to games like Eye of the Beholder on Super Nintendo but without the RPG mechanics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Dreamers Guild</span> Former computer and video game publisher and developer

The Dreamers Guild was a north american publisher and developer of video games that operated from 1988 until 1997.

<i>Space Quest IV</i> 1991 video game

Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers is a 1991 graphic adventure game by Sierra On-Line, and the fourth entry in the Space Quest series. The game was released originally on floppy disks in March 1991, and later released on CD-ROM in December 1992 with full speech support; an Atari ST version was announced via Sierra Online's magazine, Sierra News Magazine, but was later canceled. The game sees players assume the role of Roger Wilco, who is thrust into a new adventure across time and space where he must thwart the plans of an old foe that is seeking revenge against him.

<i>Castle of Dr. Brain</i> 1991 video game

Castle of Dr. Brain is an educational video game released in 1991 by Sierra On-Line. It is a puzzle adventure game.

<i>Free D.C!</i> 1991 video game

Free D.C! is a 1991 video game published by Cineplay Interactive.

References

  1. ↑ "The Labyrinth of Time Manual". wyrmkeep.com. The Wyrmkeep Entertainment Co. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  2. ↑ "Labyrinth of Time - PC - GameSpy". gamespy.com. GameSpy. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
  3. ↑ "The Wyrmkeep Entertainment Co. Announces the Release of The Labyrinth of Time". wyrmkeep.com. The Wyrmkeep Entertainment Co. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  4. ↑ "The Labyrinth of Time for the iPhone/iPod". thelabyrinthoftime.com. The Wyrmkeep Entertainment Co. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
  5. ↑ "Screenshots from The Labyrinth of Time" . Retrieved May 18, 2008.
  6. ↑ Ardai, Charles (December 1993). "Through The Corridors Of Time". Computer Gaming World. pp. 192, 193. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Ardai, Charles (April 1994). "Invasion Of The Data Stashers". Computer Gaming World. pp. 20–42.
  8. ↑ Staff (November 1996). "150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World . No. 148. pp. 63–65, 68, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 94, 98.
  9. ↑ South, Phil (January 1994). "The Labyrinth of Time". PC Gamer. Vol. 1, no. 2. pp. 96–97.
  10. ↑ Presley, Paul (February 1994). "The Labyrinth of Time". PC Zone. No. 11. pp. 112–113.
  11. ↑ "The Labyrinth of Time Review". The One. No. 64. emap Images. February 1994. pp. 52–53.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.