| Genesys | Galilea Multimedia / Wanadoo Edition | 2001 | |
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Another edutainment title involving the stable responsible for Vikings and Crusader (Index+ joined Wanadoo and formed Wanadoo Edition), Genesys takes you on a journey through human history. Guided by renowned French actress Jeanne Moreau, you start with the big bang and end at the computer age. If you have played either of the above games you will be at home here. Genesys plays almost identically to Crusader, and like Crusader, you have to make a fair bit of use of the encyclopaedic database to complete the game as certain items are only found within the encyclopaedia. More than either of those two games though, Genesys feels like a learning tool. The commentary by Jeanne Moreau is direct to camera, and whilst images are played behind her, it gives it the feel of a lecture, as opposed to playing a story. Through the game screens, and through the database, you have to solve 16 "enigmas" that focus on a specific aspect of the development of the human race. Amongst other things, you will make fire, print a document, develop trade routes and build steam engines and railways. You will find some of the things you need in the various scenes accompanying each enigma, perhaps in the form of information garnered from the various persons in the scenes, or in the form of an item or piece of equipment. The rest you will find in the database, along with the remaining information needed to successfully solve the enigma. To complete the enigma, just drag the items into the game window. If you are utilising them correctly or in the right order (eg it is no good trying to place a train if you haven't laid tracks, and for that you will need to build a steam engine), they will be "used" accordingly. A bar at the top of the screen will indicate your progress. Each enigma can consist of up to 20 separate steps. The game window is as it is in Crusader, a blend of 3D figures on 2D backgrounds, with little animations and some use of full motion video. You progress systematically through the enigmas, the first being 2 million years ago in East Africa, the last in 1981 in a Seattle office building. You must solve one before getting access to another. Unlike the other games mentioned, in Genesys you can save in the middle of an enigma; that is, partially completed puzzles can be saved and picked up where you left off. | ||
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