Aura: Fate of the Ages
by Dreamcatcher Interactive
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Our Price: $19.99 Availability: Usually ships in 2 to 4 weeks Buy Used: from $9.99 (click here) Category: Video Games See more product details |
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Video Game Reviews of Aura: Fate of the Ages
Customer Review: Breathtaking graphics but some driver issues
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a beautifully rendered game and the production design is equal to or surpasses many current movies. The graphics team gets giant kudos for their efforts, so if your main purpose in playing adventure games is to be immersed in alternate worlds, you will likely enjoy yourself in the lands of Aura. The puzzles are sometimes fun, sometimes obtuse and sometimes simply, "WHY am I doing this?", but there are walkthroughs on the web when needed.
As with all games, especially newly released ones, there are some game play issues. I didn't lose my cursor and my game didn't freeze as some reports on the web echoed repeatedly. After installing (3 CDs that seemed to take longer to install than any I can remember) the sound codex seemed changed. I could no longer listen to DVD movies using the speakers, I had to use earphones. The good news is that after uninstalling, this seems to be back to normal.
I installed patch 1 (newly released at that time) to hopefully fix a problem encountered in the house of mirrors. The mouse, without any input from me, appeared to be clicking through random scenes. There were ghost images and it was quite lovely really, but didn't get me where I needed to go within the game and eventually the program closed. So ---- patch one (374K I believe) is actually a new install program it seems as you have to reinstall all three CDs (sigh). It did not fix the problem of the random mouse clicks but it DID slow my mouse down to wading through Jello mode and made it VERY difficult to left click. This, unfortunately happened all programs, not just the game.
So, my advice is to not install patch 1 which turns the game into version 1.02, unless you have major issues. And, if you do, make sure that you have a restore point set and try not to get any viruses so that you need to turn restore off (my problem). On uninstall the mouse came back a bit, but not to its former zeal (smile). I installed the mouse drivers that came with the mouse again (Logitech wireless) and it is pretty much back to normal. I will adjust :))
I have a fairly new machine (HP 17 notebook) and the game worked well all in all, but I did get quite a few blue screen of death memory dumps and some black screen "windows won't start normally" along the way, so I assume this is a taxing program on your system. You might want to try the free downloads at several of the game sights before buying if your system isn't current.
And if you love the game, it looks like a sequel is planned.
Customer Review: solution
Summary: 5 Stars
try updating your graphics card driver. should help. i gave this 5 stars because it shouldn't be dragged down by 2 people who don't know what they're doing. keep your computers up to date and make sure it meets the minimum requirements for this game, otherwise it probably won't workCustomer Review: Aura Fate of the Ages
Summary: 1 Stars
I am giving this game one star because I had the exact same problem that J. Tyson had. I think I would have like it if I had been able to play it beyond the first level. A note to J. Tyson: Would you please let me know if you find a solution to this problem. Customer Review: My fate is not being able to play the game.
Summary: 1 Stars
I enjoyed playing this game up to the point it becomes impossible. How is this? It started in Dragast, the second stage of the game. The first puzzle I encountered was visually blocked out by green and white vertical lines that cover the entire screen. I thought maybe this was an isolated problem. I was able to get by this one puzzle referring to a walkthrough (kind of ruins it for me). The very next puzzle had a similar problem. I contacted Dreamcatcher and was given a patch to download and install that was supposed to fix the problem. No such luck. I have since been requested to provide some information from my pc and I am waiting for a response. This problem occured with two separate sets of disks. Only some of the puzzles are affected. I think the graphics are great and would love to be able to play this game minus the problems.Customer Review: Starts well, but loses focus
Summary: 4 Stars
If, like me, you like the kind of game where you spend hours trying to operate unknown, alien machinery, you'll love the beginning of Aura. There were more than enough Big Bronze Wheels, Levers, Steam Pipes, Colored Lights and Electric Arcs, all beautifully animated, and emitting the right kind of satisfying clunks, buzzes and whirs.
(there was some kind of back story involving assembling the Great Zoggin and protecting it from Belphar the Evil, but you can choose to ignore it with impugnity - the point is to turn on the machines so that you can reach the next stage).
The game makes a sterling attempt to be non-linear, at least within the major sections. It's better than a lot of Adventure games in this respect.
The cut scenes are frequent and nicely animated. The user interface is intuitive and easy to use. The ambient sounds and background music are appropriate and non-intrusive. Interaction with CG characters is natural, and doesn't fall into the 'ask the right question or you'll have to start again' syndrome.
So why four rather than five stars?
The game is set in two locations. The first is mechanistic, and the puzzles are logical. The second is 'magical', which means that some of the puzzles are just a tad unintuitive (i.e. daft). There's one in particular, involving a bird, where I had to resort to a walkthrough, and I think it colored my view of the rest of the game.
The ending was abrupt, with the promise of a sequel. I really wish game developers would stop doing that.
On the whole, though, a nicely contructed game, and well worth the money.