Review: Adventure at the Chateau d'Or

Reviewed By: Kirk Hiner

Review Date: May 16, 2001

Genre: Adventure

Format: CD

Developer: Karma Labs

Publisher: Centurion Soft

Minimum Requirements: PowerPC, System 7.5.5, 32 MB RAM, QuickTime (v4 included on CD)

Network Feature: No

3D Support: No

OS X Compatible: No

Retail Price: $29.95

Availability: Now

MSRB Rating: E for Everyone

Throughout high school and college, I took four years of French classes. Madames Cooper, Finney and Dufault all did their best to teach me the language and customes of the French, and for a while it looked like I was getting it. However, soon after my classes ended, I forget everything I was taught save for a few insults and how to tell the time.

This is actually nothing new for me; I have a habit of forgetting just about everything if I don't reinforce it every day for the rest of my life. Of course, back when I was in school, computers weren't really used as learning tools. Rather than having computer programs record and repeat our speach, we sat with headphones on in cubicles listening to some disembodied voice bark orders at us. At least I think that's what it was doing. The combination of that spooky voice with the isolation of the cubicles pretty much taught me only how to take naps. Looking back, I feel I could have benefited by having a copy of Karma Labs' Adventure at the Chateau d'Or.

Adventure at the Chateau d'Or is just that; an adventure that happens at the Chateau d'Or. Actually, "adventure" may be a bit inaccurate, here. A more accurate title would be, "Finding Stuff at the Chateau d'Or," but that's neither here nor there. It's adventure game, after all, so we'll allow the game its title.

In Chateau, you play a guy (or a girl, or a jackelope or a spoon...it's all irrelevant) helping the Princess figure out what's up with the Duke. They don't appear to have names, but that's okay. One of them isn't even alive. The Duke has died and has summoned his niece, the Princess (is that an authentic French accent?! Mod Dieu!), to his palace (said Chateau) to receive her inheritance. The Duke was somewhat of a nut, apparently, who dabbled in funky inventions and the mystic powers and what not. In order for the Princess to receive her inheritance, about which seems peculiarly nonchalant, she has to figure out some puzzles and you get to help her.

Upon arriving at the Chateau, the Princess leaves you on your own to explore. This will be familiar ground to anyone who has ever played an adventure game. Throughout the bulk of the game, you click on the screen to move, pick up objects, use objects and move around some more. Occasinally you bump into the Princess who offers you no help, and more often you bump into puzzles that need to be solve.

This is where Chateau separates itself from its competition in both a postivie and a negative way. I'll start with the negative, because I'm in that kind of mood tonight and because I want to end this review on a high note.

It's my belief that the most important aspect of adventure games is the story. However, judging from the lack of decent stories in just about any computer game these days, I'm about to give up hope for characters about which I can care in situations from which I want to save them. So okay, I have no idea who this Princess is or why I should give two figs about whether or not she receives her inheritance. And the Duke? He's some gaseous head summoned by pushing a couple of buttons. I guess that's all I need to know about him. Just bring on the puzzles.

Yet Karma Labs, for the most part, decided to forgo the puzzles as well. There are a few decent ones at major points in the game, but getting to them requires the player to simply organize or match items randomly until properly placed. There's not even a pretense of a puzzle in some; just click until you get it right. This makes the game much easier, but also much less rewarding.

On the positive side, to even get to the puzzles, the player has to learn about France. I know, I don't play computer games to learn either, but sometimes--as with The Legend of Lotus Spring--it just works. Throughout the beginning of the game, the player stumbles across books, computers and even a TV with information on both historical and modern France. Quick video snippets and text provide information that automatically stores names in your HIM (I'd love to report that HIM is the creepy, transgender villian from The Powerpuff Girls, but no; it's your Hero's Information Manager that also serves as your map of the Chateau). When you visit the spirit of the Duke, he asks you questions about what you've learned. The number of questions depends upon the difficulty level chosen at the beginning of the game. If you've read all the information scattered throughout the palace, it's just a matter of matching the answer to the question. Get them all right, and the Duke with give you a key that will allow you to complete the game.

And that's pretty much it with Adventure at the Chateau d'Or, which is the game's problem. With the recent release of high-end adventures such as Escape from Monkey Island and Myst III: Exile, Chateau just seems dated. (Although, apparently unlike Myst III, Adventure at the Chateau d'Or at least works.) If the game had been released three years ago, Chateau would've been something to talk about. But today, it seems more like shareware. Good shareware, mind you, but shareware nonetheless. However, at $29.95, it's pretty much at the maximum of the shareware price range.

So, there's nothing exceptionally wrong with Adventure at the Chateau d'Or (save for the music, I should point out, which varies so greatly in style throughout that it becomes jarring after a while), but there's also nothing new here to inspire gamers. The educational portion is well done, and as I mentioned earlier, this game should be put to good use by many a French or history teacher. The streamlined interface and simple gameplay allow for instant playability by students of all age levels, and the trouble-free performance of the game will save teachers from many a headache. Serious adventure gamers, however, should probably let the Princess solve her own problems this time around.

Yet I'll be keeping a close eye on Karma Labs. The seeds of great adventures have been planted outside this chateau, and I'm looking forward to watching them grow.

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