The New Adventures of the Time Machine

Imagine a journey in time and space, where nothing you perceive is what is seems. A trip to a land out of time, nothing is familiar. No, you haven’t entered the twilight zone, you’ve stepped through time and entered The New Adventures of the Time Machine.

Dreamcatcher, in association with Cryo Interactive, is responsible for this engaging program. It is a take-off on the H.G. Wells classic, but rife with puzzles, magic and bending of both time and space. Ok, so the lead character’s name is Wales. But through a very nicely rendered introduction, his experiment in time goes awry and he is thrust from his home in London, 1893 thousands of years into the past.

The problem is that he is lacking his time machine and must learn to manipulate the magic of time in order to find his way home. He begins the adventure as an adult, but the time wave quickly reverses his aging process and he continues the adventure as a child.

Wales must learn to manipulate magical items that are based in time. De-Harmonize is a magical weapon that interrupts a being’s flow with the time that every other person is this realm is experiencing. Wield that and they disappear from this particular time stream. In order to learn these ‘magical’ abilities, Wales must visit Chronomatic Spheres where Lemurs will teach and enable his abilities.

What makes this program unique is the world in which the gameplayer is immersed. This is fascinating. The NPCs (non-playing characters, or computer-generated characters) are unique, the landscapes are fresh and intriguing and the game itself has warped the standard role-playing adventure game into a wonderful challenge.

The game board is quite large and well worth exploring. You don’t know what you will discover. See that basket in the square that you can touch and the old merchant lady keeps harping about – well, touch it enough and she will pay attention, which will allow your character to dart behind her merchant’s stand and snag ointment, which can be traded elsewhere for something you really need.

Graphically, this program incorporates cut-scenes and three-dimensional landscapes to render a world that is refreshing. There are some moments when the unique items stand out from the slightly blurred backgrounds, but that is forgivable because it enables players to discern between the mundane and special features needed to continue.

The puzzles are terrific. They challenge not only cerebral but audio acuity. The first major puzzle requires that you listen and find a path based on sound. Absolutely terrific.

The controls on this program are lacking the kind of user-friendly interface that allows easy navigation. The keyboard is the major instrument used in this game. Yes, you can restructure the hotkeys, but after learning the interface, it is surprisingly easy to use. Of course, reading the manual will give players a quick lesson in using the game. But do read the manual – this is not a program you can jump into and play without that step.

Visually and graphically, this program is very nicely delivered. The music is solid and adds a nice sense of the time period – whatever that may be. The graphics are entrancing.

The New Adventures of the Time Machine is a game that asks players to react and think, to explore and realize the possibilities of time bent in a myriad of ways to accomplish the goal. There is no violence, there is magic and Jad Garrul (mana), Khronos the Sand God and Lemurs – creatures trapped in a role, which they may or may not delight in. This is a terrific program that explores realms not touched before.

This program is rated for Everyone, and does not support multiplayer gaming.

Install: Easy. This program is an uneventful install, but takes little time to load.

Gameplay: 8. With cut scenes thrown in as a transition, this program does move well from one phase to the next.

Graphics: 8. You will need a 3D card to fully experience this world, but it delivers a world that features interactive objects and people.

Sound: 8. The music is quite nice, and the vocal characterizations are solid.

Difficulty: 8. There is so much to explore, so many avenues that lead to the right course that make this program a very tough outing.

Concept: 8. A trip through time with the goal of returning home is a nice plot for a role-playing game.

Overall: 8. This is a completely non-threatening program. There is no violence, per se, and the challenges are quite fascinating. The New Adventures of the Time Machine is a terrific challenge that treats the eyes and ears.