Four Fat Chicks -- Project Eden Review

Project Eden

Review by Old Rooster
February 2002

A New Approach to Adventuring?

Core Design, the team behind Tomb Raider, has created an inventive, if somewhat flawed, "adventure/action" title. My first viewing of the early premise and efforts at E3 in May 2000 left me with considerable anticipation—even naming Project Eden as one of the top five "Games of Show." Well, how does the final production fare, and "what's it all about, Alfie?"

"We Need to Capture One for Analysis" —Control

A provocative introductory movie makes it evident that the towering megacities of Earth's future are built on foundations of slime, corruption, and nasty, mutant monster-things that have evolved in the basement.

You play as part of a four-member team from the UPA (Urban Protection Agency), dispatched by Control to find out why machinery is malfunctioning at the Real Meat Factory. Initial inquiries by technicians have led to their disappearance. Your elite team is composed of Carter, the Commander, Minoko, a computer whiz, Andre, a skilled technician, and Amber, a Cyborg with a thick skin.

With ongoing instructions from Control, your group proceeds downward, with great care and precision, through 11 huge levels. Most of the time (80%) you'll be solving lever/door opening puzzles. Some of the time (20%) you'll be engaged in fighting. The special ingenuity of Project Eden is that you may take on the persona (in first or third person) of any of the four team members, and often you need to do just that for specific tasks. Amber, with the metal skin, doesn't have to worry about a hot steam leak on her way to turning off the valve for all of you. Often, Minoko, with her Jen-like computer skills, will need to do some hacking to move the team along. And so on. Each has her/his unique specialities. There's even a fly-cam, sometimes used for remote scouting. Regeneration and recharge points are scattered throughout the levels, as are informational updates from computer terminals. Interestingly, you can't die, as such, but rather are sent to a regeneration point in the event of a nasty "accident."

"Don't Kill Him Unless You Have To" —Minoko

In terms of technical aspects, I was pleased that Eden took only 10 MB of hard disk space, and it ran flawlessly on my PIII 450 system. The graphics, though not up to the level of the Quake 3 engine, still are detailed and attractive—though also often dark and claustrophobic, as befitting this strange and foreboding world. Control, typically in third-person mode, is excellent, far superior to some of the current adventure games attempting such character management. The mouse does most of the work, although reconfiguring is allowed. The interface is smooth and intuitive; helping, not hindering. Sound is mediocre, with poor voice acting, no music, and little in the way of ambient noises.

"Oh, Great; Get Me out of Here!" —Minoko

Without wanting to give much away, suffice it to say that the narrative point of Project Eden is to explore your vast and vertical city, finding out why your infrastructure is crumbling, both figuratively and literally. Unfortunately, the game becomes boring. After the initial gimmicks and novelty, the puzzles are tedious (though not irrelevant or mind-boggling) and the combat is uninteresting. Most problematic of all, from our adventuring perspective, is that the story is dull. About halfway through, you've guessed the outcome and are simply wanting the game to end. The thrill of discovery isn't there, nor is there continuing joy in the puzzle-solving, "how do I get my team through this door" process.

Yet I'm going to push the verdict to a "Thumb Up." The attempt to put an emphasis on "adventure" in this "action/adventure" is most commendable; as is the use of a party with different skills. It's the execution, as with many great-sounding game premises, that lets us down. Let's encourage, though, Core and Eidos to make another game of this style, placing greater emphasis on the story/narrative, perhaps replacing some of the mechanical puzzles with conversations requiring deduction. All in all, then, a very qualified recommendation from Old Rooster. Buy it budget.

What I Liked the Most

The puzzle approach to story progression, as compared to "blasting away," the specialized team premise; and the fact that it takes only 10 MB of space even with fine graphics.

What I Liked the Least

The storyline is uninteresting, action elements are infrequent and weak, and some puzzles are mind-boggling.