I do not know the method that they used to predict the future conditions but I know that they did a great deal of research to prepare the historical parts of the game. Throughout the game, you will be solving puzzles and visiting different places, such as King Richard the Lion-Heart's castle, mysterious catacombs in Mayan Mexico, Leonardo da Vinci's office, your future home, etc.
You might starting wondering about how they have managed to combine the past and the future in one game. Well, now it is time to talk about the plot which will make the correlation crystal clear. After the third world war, our planet Earth finally reaches peace and unity. Two hundred years later, in the year 2308, an alien race (Cyrollans) broadcasts a message saying that the Earth can be a part of Symbiotry of Peaceful Beings. Then they depart and give us a ten year time period to consider the proposal (as you can see it is an important decision!).
In the meantime, a famous physicist Elliot Sinclair (bad guy) builds a prototype time machine under a government contract. However, after the first voyage, the government cancels the project. Elliot Sinclair does not give up and reconstructs the time machine Pegasus in Temporal Security Annex (a top-secret government facility).
After ten years, the aliens return to Earth to discover that history has been altered. This is when our hero -Agent 5- comes in because he is the one who is blamed for this change. Of course, he is innocent and throughout the game he tries to prove his innocence by collecting evidence from the time frames that have been altered by Elliot Sinclair.
The game seems a little complex at the beginning but do not be afraid because the programmers have thought of everything! Before you commence the game, there is an option in the main options menu saying "Interface Overview." If you would like to have a look at that, just click on it and for the next few minutes you will learn how to use the interface. Actually there are three main parts of the interface: (1) the message screen, (2) the collected items and (3) walking arrows.
The game is prepared in a way which enables both the advanced and novice players to have fun. One big advantage of the game is the hints that the player can get while playing (by request!) which prevents getting stuck at one point. The estimated time to finish the game is 50 hours for Advanced Gamers. The walk-through mode makes it much more amusing to play for the novice players.
Another key figure in the game besides you is Arthur. He is Sanctuary Woods' Online Help Character who guides novice players through the game and keeps the experienced gamers entertained with comic relief. You never see Arthur but you can definitely hear his voice. He is the one who gives out hints when the player is stuck and needs some help. The implementation of this fully developed character helps to maintain the player's attention in desperate cases.
The game is played from Windows environment. The sound is made up of original stereo soundtracks and sound effects. In order to get all these sounds, all you need is a Windows 3.1 compatible sound card. The graphics are also as good as the sound. In the three dimensional playing environment, you find yourself in live action video sequences that are vividly integrated. There are over 30,000 fully-rendered images to discover in the game. The other nice thing about the screen is the ability to see the surrounding environment fully. You can turn right, left, up, down and move forward. The up and down options give you the opportunity to examine the objects that are on the ceiling and on the ground. The preferred screen size for the game is 640 x 480 which gives you the opportunity to play the game on full screen. The controlling device for the game is a mouse. You can also use the keyboard, but in many cases the usage of the mouse should be preferred. Another thing worth mentioning is the three CD-ROM's in which this magnificient adventure game is stored.
I believe it is one of the most interesting adventure game I have ever played with. It gives you the chance to explore a possible future and the past simultaneously. Different environments provided by time travels prevents the feeling of boredom that we usually get from looking at the same type of walls throughout the game. When you think about it, this game would not be here if the first one did not succeed. And, in the Journeyman Project 2, the experience gained from the first game are mixed with new ideas which leads to perfection in the end, as it can be seen in "The Journeyman Project 2 - Buried in Time!."
486 DX-33 MHz or higher,
Min 8Mb memory,
Windows 3.1 or later,
Hard drive required with 10Mb free,
Double speed CD-ROM drive or faster,
SVGA video graphic card (PCI or VESA local bus),
Microsoft mouse and 100% compatibles.
Windows compatible sound card.
Sanctuary Woods Inc.,
1825 S. Grant St.,
San Mateo, CA 94402.
Technical Support: 415-286-6110
Order line: 800-943-3664
Web site:www.sanctuary.com
In Europe:
In UK:
U.S. Gold Ltd.,
Units 2/3 Holford Way,
Holford, Birmingham B6 7AX.
Technical Support: +44-(0)121-3560831
Overall: 83%
