THE RAVEN: LEGACY OF A MASTER THIEF
Chapter Two: Ancestry of Lies
PC – Available on Steam
Please read my Chapter One review prior to this Chapter Two review.
Chapter Two: Ancestry of Lies of Nordic Games and King Art’s THE RAVEN: LEGACY OF A MASTER THIEF picks straight up from where Chapter One left off, without a series of flashbacks. For those playing Chapter One and Two at the time of release, which would be a month apart, a little flashback sequence that you could skip would have been better, so that players who’ve taken a month’s leave could reacquaint themselves with the plot and cliffhanger before commencing with Chapter Two.
Chapter Two opens with a cutscene and it took me a couple of minutes to figure out it was an interactive cut-scene, or rather one that mashed cut-scene and gameplay seamlessly. Having a time limit to make decisions and having to choose to do things in the right order means you may need a couple of attempts to tackle the opening sequence.
After the dramatic first scene, we cut back to the gameplay with trusty Constable Zellner, who reveals the murderer of Baroness Von Trebitz. After all the excitement on the cruise, the boat docks at Egypt and the travellers aboard disembark for Cairo, where the remaining Eye of the Sphinx is to be publicly displayed at the museum later in the evening. Despite Inspector Legrand and Constable Robert’s protests, Zellner is able to inspect the museum prior to the evening’s event.
As Zellner, we are able to communicate with and question the people inside the museum. Most of the people are those we’ve already met on the Orient Express, except for the curator of the museum who’s keen to detail the security systems in place, but is that enough to stop ‘The Raven’?
The gameplay consists of more of the same from Chapter One, except the gameplay is fairly fast paced, having already established the characters in Chapter One. After a pivotal scene at the museum, we as Zellner have to seek out a way to accomplish a task which involves finding, using and combining objects. During our gameplay as Zellner, we encounter a minigame which proves to be challenging, but with perseverence, our hard work pays off and we discover who’s behind the burglaries…
It’s during the three-quarter way through point where we switch characters. We become the Raven as we replay scenes from Chapter One: Eye of the Sphinx and see the other side of the incidents that ensued. If you recall Professor Lucien’s cabin being locked, and young Matt seeing a ghost fly past the window, then you’ll be glad to know that all these observations are explained by the playable events in the latter of Chapter Two: Ancestry of Lies, including how the letter appeared suddenly on top of the safe in the freight car.
During gameplay as the Raven, we participate in very little conversation and are predominently tasked with collecting and conbining objects to perform tasks. Even as the gameplay switches from the Orient Express to the cruise ship, the use and combination of objects play a key role and require common sense in order to combine and complete the goals.
As with Chapter One: Eye of the Sphinx, Chapter Two: Ancestry of Lies, ends on a cliffhanger, one I didn’t see coming and am now eager to play the Chapter 3: A Murder of Ravens, which will be released on 24th September 2013.
The gameplay in THE RAVEN: LEGACY OF A MASTER THIEF Chapter Two: Ancestry of Lies goes extraordinarily quick and is rather a short game, having completed it in just over 2 hours, half the time of Chapter One: Eye of the Sphinx which was quite dialogue heavy. The graphics remain stunning and it’s great to see an Egyptian museum environment, with all the artifacts in place. Even the story takes an interesting turn, turning up the intensity as more information is revealed. However, as we play, we uncover a few extra questions concerning the Raven, and that’s what leaves us itching for Chapter Three.
Despite its brief playing time, Chapter Two: Ancestry of Lies is a better paced and more enjoyable game than it’s predecessor.
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