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Not a Great Game, And a Bit Deceiving

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 23 / 35
Date: October 31, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First, there are similar games with better grahpics, like Myst. Second, upon playing the game I felt a bit betrayed. Nothing on the packaging indicates that this game has a specifically Christian outlook, but it becomes apparent upon play. Had I know, I wouldn't have bought it in the first place. Now that I have I suppose I'll have to sell it in an attemp to recoup something. The designers, et al, should have had the integrity to be honest about the slant of the game BEFORE unsuspecting people buy it and discover it for themselves. I've nothing against proselytization, but at least be up front about it so that I don't waste my time or money.

It might be fun, but I never found out.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I read all the reviews and system requirements. It sounded as if it would work well with my Apple G3 (beige) with Mac OS 8.5.

Unfortunately, when it arrived, it didn't work. I had QuickTime 5.0 beta 2 on my system. I installed the game with QuickTime 4 translation. It never worked with QuickTime 5 beta 2, so I uninstalled QuickTime 5 and downgraded to QuickTime 4.1.2. It didn't work then, either! It kept wanting missing game files and QuickTime 3, for some reason.

After I uninstalled and reinstalled the game and QuickTime ten times or more, I decided to send the Dreamcatcher (the game's maker) Tech Support department an e-mail.

All in all, this would have been a fun game if it had worked with my newer software. Just be careful when buying this game and your computer has newer hardware and/or software on it because you may have a hard time getting it to work.

Couldn't get it to run

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 8
Date: September 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game because so many were saying how great it is. Well I had problems right off with sound and the computer freezing. Now this was weird as I have a new Dell 8100 pentium 4. So I went to Dreamcatchers site on the web only to find out that my processor was too fast. I had to turn the graphics capability down so low that it was impossible for me to see anything but grainy shots and it still froze (although I did fix the sound problem). Probably a great game but not for the super fast computer.

another dreamcatcher failure

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 9
Date: January 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

this is another failure by dreamcatcher. the only company worse than them seems to be cryo. i worried when i heard dreamcatcher had taken over this game, since their games are generally poorly designed and executed. however, i decided to give it a shot, since the game was mostly designed before they took over. BIG MISTAKE. the game crashed and reset system settings more than once. the game controls are primitive -- they are similar to games 2-3 years old. the graphics are a joke. check the sky -- heavily banded. there is more wrong, but suffice it to say: don't waste your money.

Save your money :(

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: August 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I love Egyptology and enjoy a good game now and then, so I was really looking forward to this one. The opening graphics/movie and the music are cool, but, beyond that, I found the game itself to be *painfully* slow and unwieldy. If you are used to playing real games (for example, Diablo II), you will be disappointed with the slow, difficult movements of the character and the lack of ducumentation or clear direction. I spent the first 30 minutes of "play" just trying to make him MOVE and get somewhere INTERESTING. I tried it again, today, just to be sure, and I had to sit through the entire opening movie all over again. (And, it's long.) There's no apparent way to skip the movie/intro and escape directly to the game. Once inside the game, the program couldn't find my last saved game and then closed with an error when I selected "new game". (I use WIN2000Pro and have no problems running Diablo II with the expansion on my sys.) There's no way I'm restarting it and sitting through the movie yet again. :P This game is being removed from my system and I'm giving it a thumbs-down. You may have the time and patience to figure this one out, but I just want to get on to playing and having some FUN... ;-)

Technically unusable on my XP box

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 25, 2003
Author: Amazon User

WinXP w/1Gb RAM, NVIDIA GEForce, Athlon XP 1.3Ghz, with the 1.01 update from Dreamcatcher. The software was so buggy that I ended up tossing it after one night - really. The game would sometimes start and sometimes crash with a Macromedia [tm] Projector error. I was never able to use play all of the tapes, even after following a "workaround" from DC's web site. Didn't pay much for it, but it was not worth the frustration and this will definitely be my last Dreamcatcher game. No problems with other non-Dreamcatcher games, like Myst III Exile on this box.

Nothing but trouble

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: September 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I am hoping for a "Riddle of the Sphinx for Dummies".
I have never had this much trouble with a game in my life.
The game constantly stalls (on me at least) and is difficult to try and maneuver through. Would be happy to purchase "Book of Dead Ends" if it ever came back into print.

Dreadful

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I was very much looking forward to playing this game but it never worked! I had several people try and find the problem but all gave up and said it was impossible to make it play faster. I have a very new system so I don't think it was that. Maybe I just got a bad one but it certainly wasn't worth the money! It's now collecting dust.

Beware of Hidden Agenda in This "Egyptian" Adventure Game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 15 / 19
Date: August 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have played lots of adventure games, and I usually enjoy them, even if many of them are a bit clunky or goofy compared to their sleeker cousins. "The Riddle of the Sphinx" is definitely in the "Myst" family of games, the best of which (in my opinion) are probably "The Journeyman" series, or "The Longest Journey," because they have such a good sense of humor along with their solemn "save the world" messages. Most of these games involve aliens, popular mysteries such as Easter Island, the Pyramids, etc. Some have a sense of humor, with funny and self-conscious dialogue, and characters who are appealing and interesting. "The Riddle of the Sphinx" takes itself very seriously throughout, which is one strategy for building suspense, imitating the "solemnity" of the Myst series, and it's fine if you don't take it toooooo seriously. But the game also has a hidden agenda which appears at the very end, and is, to my mind, insidious.

I played this game with a walk-through because the puzzles, which mostly involve wandering from room to similar room picking up similar objects and dragging them around with you, tend to resemble each other. (By the time you "solve" the ultimate mystery, your inventory bag must weigh about 400 lbs!) I didn't have the patience or energy to solve the puzzles, and I admire players who did! Other reviewers have commented on the game's tendency to crash (it does freeze a fair amount), but if you save frequently, this is not such a problem. The game uses a tremendous amount of computer resources, and you have to be careful to close all applications which might be running in the background. You can do this during game-play by hitting Ctl-Alt-Del, and closing various applications as you go.

But it's the conclusion of the game which was really problematic for me. All adventure games give you a "reward" when you solve them-lights come on, music plays, and all the mysteries come together in a big, satisfying, "bang." Usually, you are smiling at the end, pleased as your computer takes off into never-never-land. Unfortunately, the ending of this game veers off into a grey area of religious doctrine which I think many gamers might find offensive--I certainly did. Without giving away the "mystery" for those who still want to play "Riddle of the Sphinx," suffice it to say that the creators of the game suggest (without much subtlety, and with little or no humor) that there is a literal biblical basis for much of the world's history, and that non-biblical cultures around the world ("pagans")have been "cursed" for meddling with the "true" (i.e. biblical) plan of the world. While I respect the beliefs of those who wrote this game, I think this kind of suggestion is inappropriate in any product not sold as "religious."

A line has been crossed here which many alert gamers will not appreciate. Most people play computer adventure games to be carried into a self-contained fantasy world. Whatever "preaching" goes on should be ecumenical and in the spirit of fun. I suggest that the game's creators might want to consider revising the ending of their game, or advertising it differently. And for gamers thinking of playing "Riddle of the Sphinx," beware the true curse at the end!

Rubbed me the wrong way, I guess.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 19 / 20
Date: April 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

After playing "The Longest Journey" (sigh-I loved it) I was getting edgy for something new. I wanted to see if there were any games out there like it. "The Longest Journey" is still my favorite game and I wanted something similar or better (if possible). I read all the reviews of THIS game. Half of the reviews seemed favorable and the other half hated it. What to do...I contacted, via email some of the reviewers to ask them if they think I would like the game. Consensus showed I should get it. Okay so here goes.....The game began with little graphic and exciting scenes of what to expect and then BOOM! The actual game had horrible graphics. I mean real bad. It's so pixilated you can barely make out the Sphinx itself. I proceeded anyway because I was kind of feeling the Indiana Jones hype and went further..to the first and obvious puzzle. It seemed hard at first but I "unlocked" the puzzle in 5 minutes! That's right! 5 minutes. Okay, I gave it one more chance...I tried to find my way to the next step and the 180 degree turns and slow "Myst" click and move steps got me so annoyed and lost it took me an hour just to figure out where I needed to go. I could never get to the spot I needed to, because apparently I needed to download a patch to proceed. I found out after calling some game stores at the local mall that you need a few of these patches to improve the game. It is playable without them, but extraordinarily difficult. I really wanted this game to succeed. I had done my homework, giving it a fair chance and it failed. It really was like an Egyptian "Myst" minus the beautiful graphics, intellectually challenging puzzles and lacking a great plot. I am still remaining open to new ideas from anybody. I have since, returned "The Riddle of the Sphinx" and am looking forward to suggestions from other game reviewers. If anybody has ideas for me please feel free to email. Thank You. And to those of you who were so kind and helpful...I'm truly glad you liked the game..I guess it just wasn't for me.

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