Nostradamus – The Last Prophecy

Nostradamus – The Last Prophecy is a 2007 adventure game from Kheops studios. It has great graphics, an interesting story line, and challenging puzzles. Unfortunately, it just did not hold the same magic as many of Kheops's other titles for me.

In Nostradamus you play Madeleine, Nostradamus's daughter. Nostradamus who is, of course, the most famous seer in all of history and a prolific creator and publisher of prophecies. As Madeleine you must investigate a string of deaths connected to one of her fathers prophecies. It is 1566 and a series of unsolved deaths around Queen Mother Catherine de Medicis has lead her to believe she is cursed. Madeleine has been sent to investigate the crime, but the only problem is, as a woman, she is not considered capable enough to conduct it. So not only does she have to investigate the deaths and put a stop to them but also hide her real identity, as she masquerades as her brother César.

The game plays very much like a murder mystery with you examining crime scenes, bodies, and evidence with your ever handy investigation kit, or talking to witnesses and suspects. The main difference from other murder mysteries is the setting on Nostradamus. Nostradamus is set in medieval times and as such the player is not taking finger prints or analyzing evidence in a laboratory, instead the player will often be taking astrology readings of people and making alchemy potions.

But their are some things that I did not like about the game. For one, the entire game takes place in a small village that only includes two buildings you can enter, a castle and Nostradamus's estate. This causes a lot of backtracking and reduces the number of interesting places in the game to only a few (and this did not appear to allow more work to be put into the included areas). Additionally, a few astrology puzzles seem to require a working knowledge of astrology to even attempt to complete without a walkthrough. These issues combined with a general lack of polish really brings down what could of been a great game.

Good Points:
The graphics, as always, are very good and add a lot of enjoyment to the experience.

Bad Points:
Some of the puzzles seemed to require a working knowledge of astrology to complete without a walkthrough.

Summery:
Another solid adventure from Kheops Studios.

Rating:
3.5/5

Developer:
Kheops

Publisher:
Elektrogames, Kheops Studio, Mzone Studio, TOTM Studio, MC2, Encore

Release Date:
November, 2007

System Requirements:
OS: Windows 98SE or newer
CPU: 800 Mhz
Video Card: 64 MB
DirectX: 9.0
Hard Drive: 1.6 GB

Official Game Web Site:
http://www.kheops-studio.com/game/nostradamus-the-last-prophecy