Wednesday, 12th June 2013

Louvre
Game Louvre: The Final Curse
Released 2000
Developer Cryo

Louvre: The Final Curse is an Adventure game set in the Louvre in Paris. You visit the Louvre at three different times during its long history to retrieve four magical artefacts (so the bad guys can't use them to make the apocalypse happen.)

"Louvre" (also known as "The Messenger") is a point and click adventure, there is a timed sequence at the end of each of the historical periods. The puzzles are mostly inventory based, with some doors and cabinets to open by finding key sequences. A very useful in-game map can be used to quickly jump to places you've already been. You're limited as to the number of items you can carry, but you can store items in a special chest which turns up in many locations. There are only 8 savegame slots.

"Louvre" is played with a first person perspective. The game uses 360 node views, the cursor indicates when you're over something you can interact with. You can die during the game so saving regularly is a good habit.

You meet quite a few characters and this, together with the different appearances of the Louvre for each time period, give a sense of being inside the history. There is a certain amount of edutainment in the game, which doesn't get in the way if you don't want it to.

Your player character is Morgana who is wont during various cutscenes to climb ropes and descend wells in her leather catsuit. This does add a certain spice to proceedings. The cutscenes can be skipped.