This article originally appeared in Pyramid #17

Pyramid Pick

Buried in Time: The Journeyman Project II

Published by Sanctuary Woods
Developed by Presto Studios
Retail Price: $64.95 (Mac and PC CD-ROM)

When we reviewed The Journeyman Project in Pyramid #2, we smugly predicted that it was simply the tip of a big iceberg. As is the way with icebergs, the true size of it astonished us. When the mega-hit Myst hit the shelves ten months later, it became clear that fully-rendered, photo-realistic environment games were to evolve into a genre of their own. And indeed they have. Check out the multitude of titles available for both Mac and PC platforms that immerse the player in a first-person, realistic world to explore: Iron Helix, 7th Guest, Gadget, Frankenstein, Dust and so on.

Buried in Time offers little that is revolutionary to the genre, but it makes up for that with sheer scope. The area the player is given to explore is simply staggering (the game is packaged on three compact discs). Add to that clever puzzles, state-of-the-art graphics, and smooth scrolling transitions (something that is sadly lacking from most games in this genre), and you have a recipe for weeks of mind-eating fun.

The premise is fairly straightforward: someone in the future is traveling back in time and changing the past – a heinous crime that threatens our timeline. What's worse is that this criminal has framed you for his misdeeds. You find this out when your future self visits you to request your help in clearing your/his name. He is being monitored by . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: January 1, 1996

Copyright © 1996 by Steve Jackson Games. All rights reserved. Pyramid subscribers are permitted to read this article online, or download it and print out a single hardcopy for personal use. Copying this text to any other online system or BBS, or making more than one hardcopy, is strictly prohibited. So please don't. And if you encounter copies of this article elsewhere on the web, please report it to webmaster@sjgames.com.