Sphinx and the Shadow of Set
- July 14, 2003 00:00 AM PST
A young lion-boy-god and his funny mummy friend thwart evil in this ancient Egyptian adventure.
What game for the PS2 and GameCube has two main characters, really high production value, and ambitious aspirations to be the next Legend of Zelda? If you answered Sphinx and the Shadow of Set, you have answered correctly. Your life is spared�for now.Sphinx is divided roughly 60/40 between the exploits of the fight-happy Sphinx (complete with an arsenal of bouncing acid blowdarts and explosive, remote-controlled scarabs) and the cowardly, puzzle-enjoying mummified corpse of Tutankhamen. As each hero struggles to thwart Set�s scheme of replacing all the world�s leaders with doppelgangers, the two travelers� tales inevitably intertwine. The presentation and polish are already very much in place in Sphinx�the game looks quite beautiful and runs very smoothly.
One of the complaints levied against The Wind Waker is that its puzzles were just way too easy�too many times a character spelled out what to do instead of letting you figure it out for yourself. The puzzles in the PS2 preview of Sphinx seem a little on the brainier side, requiring careful observation of the dungeons� vast chambers and quite a bit of visual logic. Not too surprising, given the subject matter.
