On the surface Curse wants to be an action game, but way down in the darkest parts of its very being is an adventure game aching to escape, full of puzzles, lost keys and NPCs that say odd things, get possessed by murky mists and die from gunshot wounds. Curse: Eye of Isis is most assuredly an action game full of deadly weapons and enemies that want to stain your face with fear and blood, but it's also a puzzle game where searching a room and combining items to unlock a mystery is just as important as reloading your shotgun. While the Pc version of the game was good (with a few caveats), the Xbox version offers better controls and HDTV support.

But I'm putting the cart before the horse here. Let's talk about what the game is about and why it's a good effort in spite of a few small issues that we'll talk about later: Curse: Eye of Isis is an third-person action-adventure game that revolves around two main chracters and a number of supporting characters - whose fates have been tied together by a strange set of events at a Brittish museum. Leading the cast is the good Dr. Darien Dane, visiting his colleague in Britain, who is opening up a grand display of ancient Egyptian Artifacts. But the locales are restless and some workers claim that along with the exhibit comes a great and terrible curse (queue spooky music here). Poppycock says our second lead character, Victoria Sutton, who ignores the whole "curse" rumor nonsense and plans for a grand opening anyway. But sometime between Dane's arrival and the exhibit's opening something terrible happens. Several people within the museum are found dead and Victoria Sutton has turned up missing. Knowing that this is not a good omen, Dane (after speaking with the local law enforcement officers and being told that he's not allowed to be there) sneaks into the museum to investigate the situation and find his friend. Along the way Dane will meet many helpful non-player characters, Victoria Sutton, and the curse face to face - or at least through the eyes of some poor possessed soul caught in its path.

That's pretty much all you really need to know about the game's plot. As players progress through the game, they'll solve puzzles., search for keys and find clues that explain just what this curse is and what the two lead characters will have to do to make things right. Had Dane paid attention, he'd have already known that 90 percent of all ancient Egyptian artifacts - especially fancy statues of gods and idols are almost always cursed - it comes with the territory. Basically the game is 50 percent exploration, 20 percent puzzle solving and 30 percent action. Overall the game concept works well (save a few caveats listed below) and the ability to combine items is kind of an interesting idea. The weapons are right for the time period and are fairly affective against enemies- especially when you take the time to target them with the right weapon.

A number of NPCs serve as both Quest mules (living inventories that hold all your junk) and as a regular save spot. As you progress through the game these chracters move along with you, giving you support in the aforementioned ways. Curse offers 7 different locations to explore, each with their own quirks, creatures and objectives that makes them unique. In this regard the change of scenery is a good thing, as roaming the virtual halls of any given level hunting for keys and unraveling puzzles will make you go insane after while. Overall Curse offers an even blend of both genres, even though it slightly hindered by a few quirky game elements. It should also be noted that if you're not a fan of adventure games and are looking for a more action-orientated gaming experience then shouldn't even cross your mind. Curse is, after all, an adventure game at its heart and most of your time will be spent solving puzzles that unlock mysteries or keys that unlock doors.

Curse uses Criterion's RenderWare game engine technology and looks as its PC counterpart. While the graphics might not be on the bleeding edge, they do look nice, and RenderWare's game engine is put to good use to provide levels, objects and characters that look crisp, clean and appropriate to the historical times and locations they represent. Of course, credit goes to Asylum for its texture, modeling and animation work in the game, but those things are only as good as the tools you use to tie everything together with. RenderWare does a great job of being the glue in this case, and is multi-platform, which makes bringing a game to the Xbox a snap.

The sound in the game is adequate and appropriate for the subject matter it's supposed to represent. Whether it's a possessed guy caught up in the curse making creepy noises or a creaking door, the game hits the mark when it comes to ambient sound. Likewise the voice acting is pretty decent, though at times some chracters' lines seem a little forced and contrived. Overall the game offers a decent presentation when brining all these elements together - from sounds, to music, to in-game animated cutscenes, Curse pulls it all off with an adequate performance. Sure, it's not the best presentation I've ever seen but it gets the job done.

The biggest problem with Curse is its controls, which can not be configured as thoroughly as most other games. Exploring is a little bit difficult at times, as is fighting enemies. The fighting portion of the game is pretty simplistic, but at least you have the ability to aim and switch targets on the fly. Overall the controls still feel a little awkward, but aren't quite as clumsy as the PC version of the game. The game is quite playable in spite of its control issues.

Complaints aside, Curse is an interesting game with a heavy dose of adventure and a moderate amount of action. The action isn't paced at breakneck speed, but it is a lot of fun. There's a lot of puzzle solving and "find the key" gameplay, along with a fair amount of exploration and discovery that works pretty well despite a few technical problems that make gameplay a little more awkward than it should be. If you're a fan of the action-adventure genre then Curse is a solid choice for the Xbox - it's not as scary as Fatal Frame, but the adventure is at least interesting and entertaining.