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Lascaux Project archived preview

(On April 8, The Adventure Company announced they will be publishing this game with the title ECHO: Secrets of the Lost Cavern. It is on schedule for a June release.)

Kheops Studio's previous titles have tread familiar adventure game territory, such as ancient Egypt (The Egyptian Prophecy) and the novels of Jules Verne (Return to Mysterious Island). Even so, the developer has a knack for creating well-constructed games that are surprisingly fun to play, in spite of the familiar settings. With their next release, though, Kheops will take us somewhere new—prehistoric times. The game is set around 15,000 B.C. in what is now southern France, where the Paleolithic Lascaux cave was discovered in 1940. The most famous of France's prehistoric caves, Lascaux is known for the hundreds of frescoes painted upon its walls. CEO Benoit Hozjan demonstrated several segments of the currently untitled game (Lascaux Project is only a working title) at the Game Developer's Conference in early March.

When asked why Kheops decided on a prehistoric setting, Hozjan responded, quite simply, that they wanted to explore an era that hadn't been seen in adventure games before. But that's not to say they created the world from scratch. Rather, they've taken what experts do know about Lascaux and prehistoric times, and created an imagined story around this, striving to stay true to the historical location and to the spirit of the era. In this first-person game, the player will take on the role of Arok, a teenaged Cro-Magnon hunter who aspires to become a cave painter. His inspiration is an artist named Klem, the "Michelangelo" of the time, whom Arok met briefly as a child. At the beginning of the game, Arok forgoes his hunt and leaves his clan to travel to Lascaux, Klem's cave, in hopes of training under the renowned painter.

Arok will encounter and interact with other characters in the course of this quest, including Klem's daughter, his assistant, and the great painter himself. Some of the challenges involve getting these characters to trust and help you. In one example I saw, Arok must make friends with a stonecutter named Toar, whom Arok meets during his journey to Lascaux. Arok needs Toar's help to make a stone cutting tool, but he must first win Toar's trust through conversation and the use of inventory items. My understanding of prehistoric times is pretty much limited to common stereotypes (grunting, pulling women around by the hair), so this interaction between characters adds a level of depth I wouldn't have expected from a "caveman game."

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The demo was in French, so I can't comment on how well the conversation works in a time before the existence of language as we know it. In most other respects, however, Kheops has taken pains to provide an authentically prehistoric experience with tools, clothes, and locales that fit the time period. In-game documentation, written with help from an expert, will provide general information about the surroundings, climate, and people of this era, as well as Lascaux's history, discovery, and preservation. Although this documentation is not required reading, it's meant to enhance the gameplay and will provide clues to some puzzle solutions. Kheops hopes the documentation will give the player keys to understanding our prehistoric ancestors' lifestyles and beliefs, as well as the means and motivations behind their famous frescoes.

As you can see from the screenshots in this preview—the first to be released—Lascaux's graphics are comparable in detail and quality to the studio's previous titles. The game is actually a collaboration between Kheops and two other studios: Mzone Studio, who created the graphics (and also worked on Return to Mysterious Island and The Egyptian Prophecy), and Totem Studio, in charge of game design and art direction. Kheops coordinated and integrated the project.

Some of the segments I saw took place outdoors, and some inside the cave. What struck me about the landscape outside the cave was how "normal" and realistic it looks for a place that existed tens of thousands of years ago. It's a little eerie, like looking through a portal into the past. The segments inside the cave also succeeded in convincing me I was there, especially the flickering firelight and shadows. The game's ability to transport players into this authentically-crafted environment—one we have had little to no exposure to in adventure games so far—may prove to be one of Lascaux's biggest strengths.

The game's challenges will be organic to its prehistoric setting. The player's tasks include figuring out how to hunt, fish, cook, and build tools with the items available. The inventory system in this game is much simpler than the one in Return to Mysterious Island—more like The Egyptian Prophecy's, with items appearing in a bar on the main screen rather than on a separate screen. Items can be used together on the main screen, but there will be no need to combine them within the inventory. Even so, don't expect this to be a simpler game than its predecessor. Hozjan says it will be longer than RtMI, with some very challenging puzzles.

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More exciting than the inventory puzzles are the cave paintings. Kheops has intertwined the historic location with the gameplay by creating puzzles that are directly tied to the famous paintings of Lascaux. Once Arok reaches the cave, he must prove himself worthy of becoming Klem's student and eventually taking over as the master of the cave. To this end, the player will be confronted with several cave-painting challenges, from collecting supplies and mixing pigment to recreating Lascaux's frescoes. For example, before Klem's daughter will lead Arok to her father's cave, he must first prove his talent by restoring a painting. Other puzzles are linked to the paintings' content, such as one Hozjan showed me where a depiction of a bison hunt comes alive through animation. The animated painting gives a clue as to what type of weapon can be used to kill an animal of that size. The player will use this information to build the proper weapon to get past a lion blocking the cave entrance. This is only one of several animated cave-painting puzzles, which have the potential to put a new spin on long-familiar adventure game challenges.

Considering how tight-lipped Kheops has been in recent months, I was surprised to see that Lascaux is nearly finished. The game is on schedule to wrap up in April and ship in June. Publisher negotiations are currently underway, and while Hozjan assures us that an announcement will come soon, no details are available yet. The title will be finalized soon as well, based in part on publisher input. The Lascaux name may be included in the title of the French release, since the cave is well known locally. However, Hozjan tells us that localized versions will probably be renamed to make the title more recognizable to players.

Something Hozjan emphasized throughout the demo is how seriously he and the others at Kheops take reviewer and fan feedback about their games. That attitude of constantly seeking ways to improve, coupled with the studio's foray into this as yet unexplored prehistoric setting, leaves plenty to be excited about. With so many of the same types of games coming out in the same worn-out settings, it sometimes seems the "powers that be" don't realize we're hungry for something new. With Lascaux Project, however, Kheops is taking a step into uncharted territory—bringing along the aspects of their games they know work well. This gives adventure gamers a great reason to look forward to the future... and to the past.

 

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