Secrets of the Ark is easily one of the more beautiful games to look at in the genre, with very nicely detailed character models and interesting locations everywhere from Rome to Istanbul, and from New York to Phoenix, Arizona. The character animations are a bit hit or miss, but for the most part characters move in a fairly realistic fashion. The only major complaint one can have with the graphics is that sometimes the camera cannot be freely used to look around and at times can be either too close or too far away which can make it difficult to get a decent look at your surroundings.
An area that the title scores very highly in is in the quality of the voice acting, and in all honesty Secrets of the Ark boasts some of the better voice acting as of late in “any” genre. The voice acting for George and Anna are both the most often heard and the most well done, but even the characters who only get one or two lines in the entire game are voiced in a fashion that is not only far from cheesy but respectable in their own right. Music is utilized in a fairly cinematographic fashion to accentuate the on screen action, blending fast paced music in when you are supposed to be escaping mobsters and slower, more ambient music when you are merely talking to someone.
Secrets of the Ark is one of the newest entries into the adventure genre, but it's pedigree of being the fourth in a successful series is pretty evident. The graphics and sound do nothing but pull you into the game, and the minimalist interface definitely doesn't impede that aim. The puzzles will definitely make even seasoned adventure title players flex their brainpower a bit, but given that the vast majority of the puzzles make some sort of logical sense even players new to the genre should be able to think their way through to the solution with little help. At the end of the day Secrets of the Ark is easily a recommendable title for fans of the genre with it's beautiful graphics, an entertaining plot, and puzzles that make sense; the very hallmarks of any fine adventure title.
