Drowned God

If you like your sci-fi adventure to really put the W in whacky, you will love to play Drowned God. While the game came out as far back as 1996, even today it is still loved by fans of the series. The game took a veery intriguing conspiracy theory and built an entire plot around it. While at times the plot can get far too carried away with itself and many ideas were clearly aimed for a more developed sequel that never came, 1996’s creation by Epic Multimedia Group was very much seen as an intriguing attempt at trying something new.

A classic conspiratorial adventure

The game is built around the concept that all of our recorded history as humans is utter fiction. In fact, were aided by the developmental prowess of aliens who essentially built our society along the lines they wished. You play as a character who finds out about this and wants to uncover the truth, visiting various worlds and interacting with both fictional characters and figures from across history.

It’s a strong puzzle-based game, though it is fair to say that the difficulty of the puzzles created a lot of debate among Drowned God players. The general theme of the game, though, is about trying to solve various puzzles to uncover the truth. The game follows a forged manuscript that was written by Harry Horse, which was supposed to have come from Henry Horne in the 19th-Century. Having endured struggles to sell the story, it was decided that an adventure game might be the best solution.

An intriguing concept, perhaps before its time

Like many adventure games of the 90s, the ideas and concepts being taken on are extremely ambitious. However, like many other games of the era – including the likes of Myst – there is perhaps a bit too much ambition. The visuals and the concept are generally well-regarded even today. However, the execution can be quite patchy and the gameplay itself can be quite stifling and dull.

The plot, too, has a habit of running away with itself and losing focus which can make the game feel more like a massive plot exposition as opposed to actually a story you are involved in. Indeed, titles like Myst were just like that too. The fact the game was well-received but never got that sequel says a fair amount – it was a game that had some intriguing ideas, but failed to properly execute them in a way that was feasible at the time.

Pros:

• Interesting visual design that stills looks OK today
• Intriguing plotline that is fun when it stays within reason

Cons:

• Dated puzzle system that became controversial
• Perhaps has too much ambition for what 1996 games could achieve

Creationists and evolutionists may now have another theory to consider. In this role-playing adventure game, you become entangled in an alien conspiracy that has evolved over 50,000 years. To uncover the "true" origins of mankind, you navigate through four mysterious realms to find relics of ancient knowledge. Labyrinths of challenging puzzles obstruct your path. Success reveals links to controversial historical events and items including the Ark of the Covenant, Roswell, the Philadelphia Experiment, and, yes, the JFK assassination; all are part of a secret war that has raged throughout the centuries.