In recent years, adventure games have taken the backseat to other genres such as action and FPS games where it seems intensity and realism is more important to developers then substance. Many of the old school adventure games such as Monkey Island, Grim Fandango and Maniac Mansion are some of the best games ever created with their style and amazing sense of humor found within them. Ankh, from Deck13 brings back the same style and humor found in the classic LucasArts adventure games and shows it off with brilliant graphics, humorous conversations and brain tickling puzzles. The story of Ankh follows the architect of the pyramids son Assil as one night him and his friends are having some fun where they accidentally awaken a mummy. The mummy is a tad perturbed by the intrusion and places a death curse upon Assil along with the mystic artifact, the Ankh. To have the curse removed, the only choice Assil has is to visit the pharaoh and have him remove it, but of course, nothing is ever that simple.

Since time is ticking away, you then start your journey, leading Assil through the sweltering deserts and towns of Egypt. Along your trek you will meet more than a few interesting characters including a time traveler, a genie and a strong willed woman named Thara that will help you on some of your quests by switching roles with her. You will also visit a few different locales, but for the most part, the entire game takes place in a rather small number of areas such as market places, the deserts near Giza and the Sphinx. Like most adventure games, you’ll find yourself searching every area for objects and items that you can pick up and take with you to be used elsewhere. Most of the time these objects are easy to spot, however the ones that were actually on people were the most difficult to find and until you figured it out cursing to yourself won’t be unheard of. Objects can be combined with each other if need be or can be used in their appropriate spot such as tying two shirts together to make a rope or the more obvious of puzzles like using a fishnet stocking to catch a fish.

When you do find an object and you recall where it needs to be used, more often than not, it won’t too far away, so having to spend ten minutes to go from an object to where to use it won’t happen to often. Figuring out where to use it however can be. Most of the puzzles are straight forward once you take a bit of time to inspect everything properly, but once in a while there will be puzzles that just don’t make sense, but when you have tried everything else, you’ll eventually figure it out. Sometime what seems as though it is the most obvious use of an object is really far from it. Taking a step away from the game once you start to get frustrated will have a light bulb go off in your head and you’ll be sucked right back into playing again. The point and click movement, walking from one section of town to the other can get a little tedious, but thankfully double clicking to your destination will have Assil sprinting instead of sauntering around at a snails pace. Characters will need to be visited a few times through out the game so when you feel like you have no where to go, be sure to go back and visit some of the people you had previously talked to and chances are they will have something new to say.

What they have to say is definitely one of the great parts of Ankh. Conversations throughout the game are hilarious at times and like most adventure games of days gone by, you are able to choose what you wish to say to other characters from a selection of possibilities. Each character you talk to through out the game has their own personalities that bring an entertaining charm to the game. The elderly old man that can’t see so well and continuously thinks you are a woman and the mummy that was left behind in his ascension to the land of the dead are two that shine through and will have you laughing hard. The game is also full of anachronisms that are clever as out of place they are, they seem to fit in the world. Conversations about future events that won’t happen for hundreds of years or finding objects that don’t exist like baseball equipment and even a crown that looks identical to Sam Fishers tri-light head gear from Splinter Cell that allows you to see in the dark bring chuckles to the game as well.

The visual style of Ankh is gorgeous when the graphical settings are turned up all the way and there really isn’t all that many to choose from. The bloom technique makes the game look soft and smooth as well shadows from trees and building give the extra little zest to make the game that much more beautiful. Environments are nicely done in a cartoon style that fits the game perfectly from the odd looking sphinx to the camel wash booth (think of a car wash) that is found in Giza. Character animations are smooth and well done like most everything else in the game and facial expressions are spot on with the conversations as are body actions of yourself and other characters during some of the odd things you find yourself doing.

Ankh is a nice throw back to the older LucasArts adventure games and it is nice to see one come along in the midst of the over hyped releases today that are striving for intense violence, realistic physics and insane graphics. The humor and style of Ankh delivers a fun and appealing quest and players will have a melon tweaking time with the numerous puzzles found through out the game. Although Ankh seems more geared towards younger players rather than older players, anyone will have a good time playing. The game play time of Ankh is a tad on the short side, depending how many times you get stuck you get, but the laughs and story keep the game lively all the way to the end.