[crabapple]

Originally Posted by wilco

I recently saw at a local store a number of budget games that were released by Cryo i think : Atlantis II, Time Machine, Faust, Oddysse (dont know if this is the correct name), frank Herberts Dune, Egypt, etc. Anyone played these games? I remember reading bad reviews when they were released, but in an adventure gamer point of view?

I liked Faust and Atlantis II. Atlantis II I liked because of the gameworlds, especially Ireland. But the puzzles were sometimes pretty obscure and the plot isn't worth mentioning. So I guess it depends on what you want in a game.

Odyssey I did not like. My character got killed all the time, often offscreen, stuck on some piece of furniture or something. I had a couple of bugs that required reloading a save to get past. There was a timed maze that was made more difficult by the way the camera angles switched around. I suppose if you're dying to play a game that takes place in ancient Greece, you don't have much choice though. It did have some interesting environments.

The first Egypt game was terrible, but the second wasn't so bad.

Just my opinion, take it or leave it.

[Paladin]

Hi!

These are the Cryo Games I own (UK titles - US titles may differ):

Versailles (Interesting and visually stunning but found the character animation irritating)

Pompei (Visually exciting and a good story but can get bogged down by tedious tasks and constantly looking up historical references)

Egypt II (Enjoyed this one as I like Ancient Egyptian things - good story, history, graphics and music)

Louvre (Good graphics but going to the same place in three different timelines got a bit boring so didn't finish it)

Atlantis II (Hardly got past the beginning - all the puzzles and lack of objective bored and irritated me)

Secret of the Nautilus (Untouched - it was a gift and I hate lonely first-person, exclusively puzzle-orientated games)

I think the historical Cryo games can be fun if there is a lot of character interaction but it can get lonely and cumbersome when your character wanders around with little interaction in the game.

From a historical perspective (in terms of recreating past landscapes) they're gems and the graphics are lovely. Sierra and Lucas Art, they aint! Very little wit, humour and atmosphere in terms of music in the ones I played.

I'm interested in checking out Egypt and Casanova as they seem appealing. Tried to get the sequel to Pompei (Bethlehem) but haven't seen it on sale anywhere!

Cheers!

[Pola]

Originally Posted by wilco

I recently saw at a local store a number of budget games that were released by Cryo i think : Atlantis II, Time Machine, Faust, Oddysse (dont know if this is the correct name), frank Herberts Dune, Egypt, etc. Anyone played these games? I remember reading bad reviews when they were released, but in an adventure gamer point of view?
If I remember correctly, Cryo were responsible for classic games like Dune (best book/movie adaptation ever), conspiracy and Lost Eden.

I've played several Cryo games and are pretty good, not easy but I really enjoyed them. I find a web page about Cryo, just informative, there say that there are more than 50 titles, the page is http://cryo.history-adventures.com/

[ThE oNe]

This thread is old, but I felt like talking about Cryo........

Has anyone here ever played Cryo's older games? The games which were released when Cryo was in it's prime, they released awesome games like Dune, and KGB, which had great storylines and played very well and were very unique, especially KGB (Conspiracy). The reason I like Cryo so
much is that their games are almost always unique, they don't just copy everything else like pretty much every other adventure game. Take Lost Eden, it had a very good storyline, excellent music by Stephane Picq, and awesome graphics and just overall good presentation, but a lot of people didn't like the gameplay, even though I thought it was unique, even if it
was repetitive. I think it's a downer that Cryo's now defunct, because they were really one of the only creative and unique developers out there.

[mrdunn]

The only one I ever played was Dune. It WAS a pretty neat game, though it got pretty difficult once you had to try and take back the planet. Kinda makes me wanna play it again.

[pleto4_ryan]

Cryo started as a promising company for the adventure community.
On of their first games was Atlantis : The lost tales. One of the best games of that time that used the OMNI engine for a free look at 360o wherever you stood.
It had spectacular graphics, very interesting story and challenging riddles.
Cryo from there on started using the same engine to create many different adventures about different civilizations Aztec, Egypt, China etc...
They tried to make their titles not only fun but also educational, putting in the games encyclopedias about the civilizations and their time period.

Too bad after the 6-7 titles they lost their way. They continued creating (interesting) but mostly copies of the same game. Their games had always very good graphics, many locations to see, many riddles to solve but they were all just another Cryo game.

But even if the downfall of the company, we have to admit that it was one company that continued creating adventures, or trying to create, in a time where (especially in Europe) not many companies were doing that job.
Personally I respected Cryo, (even if they really got me angry with Atlantis 2 and 3) and was very sad when they closed… .
Nautilus was their last game…a game full of problems that shows perfectly how bad Cryo was at that time (on a side note, nautilus was going to be the start of another series of Cryo that would be based on the books of Bern. )

Adventure Games of Cryo :
Egypt 1156 BC : Tomb of the Pharaoh
Egypt 2 : The Heliopolis Prophecy
China : The Forbidden City
Atlantis : The lost tales
Atlantis 2 (Beyond atlantis)
Atlantis 3 : The New World (Beyond Atlantis 2)
Faust
Aztec : The Curse In The Heart Of The City Of Gold
Dragon Lore I
Dragon Lore II
Louvre the final curse
Odyssey
The Time Machine
Ring
Arthur's Knights: Tales Of Chivalry
Arthur's Knights 2: The Secret of Merlin
Pompei : The Legend of Vesuvius
Jerusalem : The 3 Roads To The Holy Land (the sequel to Pompei...)
Versailles 1685
Versailles II
Secret of the Nautilus

other Games :
Dreams
Frank Herbert's Dune (based on the mini series)
Devil Inside
Jekyll And Hyde
From Dusk till Dawn
Hellboy
Casanova
Zorro
Gift
Hopkins FBI (that was one disturbing game)

hmm...they must be some more

LONG LIVE CRYO 8-)

[Ariel Type]

pleto4_ryan
Rather strange story Cryo started not from Atlantis, but long ago from exellent games such as Commander Blood, KGB, Dune, Dragon Lore, Lost Eden. Its historical titles appered only in late 90th, and first games in this direction were rather good. But not 6-7 titles, maybe just Aztec, Atlantis1-2, Versalles.
And Ring, Faust, Louvre, Zorro, Casanova and Hopkins for sure are not Cryo titles.

[Kolorabi]

Originally Posted by guybrush_guy

faust i'm not sure about, if you mean "jazz and faust" then thats an adventure game.

Jazz and Faust wasn't by Cryo. I think the game in question is Faust: Seven Games of the Soul. Review here: http://www.adventuregamers.com/display.php?id=29

I didn't like the later Cryo adventures, but I still have very fond memories of playing Lost Eden. It's not really a classic, but it was a very special and captivating experience (for two days or so.. it was also one of the shortest adventures I've played).

[ThE oNe]

Originally Posted by Kolorabi

I didn't like the later Cryo adventures, but I still have very fond memories of playing Lost Eden. It's not really a classic, but it was a very special and captivating experience (for two days or so.. it was also one of the shortest adventures I've played).

Yeah, me too. Lost Eden was one of my favourite adventure games, actually one of my favourite games ever, and when I tell this to people they think i'm a newbie or something, but in truth the game had excellent presenatation and I think it should Cryo's unique takes on adventure games.

pleto4_ryan, your story is almost correct except the first games you mentioned were actually a long way off. Before Cryo was named EXXOS and I think released games like Commander Blood whilst changing their name to Cryo, in which they released Dune, KGB (Another of my favourites), Lost Eden, and a few other titles.

[lakerz]

Cryo was also responsible for Zero Zone, a cyberpunk adventure game that is not well known at all.

[Psychojazz]

Atlantis - The Lost Tales (aka Atlantis 1) is a great game once you get past the flaws. Very enjoyable experience. I've even replayed the game a few times. If you've only tried the apparently more known sequels, Beyond Atlantis 1 or 2, and been disappointed with them, I would suggest you to give the original a try. It's good.