Secrets of the Da Vinci: the Forbidden Manuscript

List Price: $19.99 Discount Price: $29.99

Features:

• Point-and-click controls, in a fully interactivve world - explore and experience life in 1500s Italy
• Deep puzzles based on the ideas and inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci himself
• Unique controls and game options, even strategic use of clothing changes
• Moral barometer tracks your decisions and affects the ending

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Video games that build your mind and feed your imagination [Posted on 2007-05-14]
It was a bit of a rough buggy ride actually getting this game shipped but I did finally get it after way too long of a wait.

The game installation was a little rocky as well it failed several times. I just kept installing it over and over into the same directories until it finally worked. The 3rd time was a charm for me anyway. After this it worked great and I played it for days sitting on the taskbar. Toggling back and forth between programs in windows XP was no problem.

This game is a fantasic adventure game with riddles and puzzles at every turn. It really makes you truely understand how the scientific knowledge Da Vinci experimented with truely a man before his time. The player experiences this technology and lives it within the game. All to complete a great quest for science and the greater good.

Smooth animations and transitions in game were never a problem. No choppy movement in the game even after running for 24 hours. I do have a 3 Gz CPU with 2 GB of Ram and a 256MB AGP card however. The game uses bout a 1.5 GB of space on hard disk for installation. Game is played with the mouse only the keyboard is not needed for great game playing experience.

The game was so immersive and entertaining that it played pretty fast. It was over after only a few days. The game has 4 possible outcomes with several ways of getting to the end. A great concept for a game but, the only drawback is prolly that the world of the game could have been bigger. More Quests, more locations, more puzzles just more...
Maybe Secrets of Da Vinci Code 2 ???

Over all a great game that's certainly worth seeing.

Can't get it to work [Posted on 2007-06-21]
Bought the game, it won't load properly. My computer is new! I'm very disappointed. Be very careful about ordering this game. I wouldn't give it any stars but I have to.

Fantastic [Posted on 2007-07-04]
Secrets of Da Vinci is another game from Kheops Studio, the producers of Return to Mysterious Island. You play Valdo, a young artist (and occasional forger) who has been hired to Chateau Amboise in France to find a codex that Leonardo da Vinci left there on his deathbed.

Like RtoMI, the game is entirely non-linear and it all takes place in the chateau or on the chateau grounds. There's a lot of inventory to pick up and a great mix of puzzles--mostly logic. Oh, and you can act either "angelic" or "diabolic" to change how some of the characters respond to you.

There are two different endings, depending on how nicely you want to play with the chatelaine of the chateau. I mean that literally--I think the game is rated E but to advance you have to seduce the lady, and there's a cutscene sketch of the two of you in bed together. It's not dirty, but I was a little surprised that they actually showed it.

Overall, Secrets of da Vinci was fantastic, and I can't wait for the next Kheops game to come out (Cleopatra, which is already out in France and should be released in English in a few months).

Gets dull pretty quick [Posted on 2007-09-24]
I played the demo for this game and really enjoyed it. That lead me to buy the full version. Unfortunately, I found that the demo was the most enjoyable level of the game. The level of detail is wonderful and you really feel like you are there in DaVinci's manor (as much as the point and click interface will allow).

But ... after level one, you start to feel like you are the handy fix-it-up man around the house. You start fixing things. Which, to me at least.. can get a little dull. You also start collecting ingredients. There are many times where you have to combine several collected ingredients. Those and mechanical puzzles tend to not be my cup of tea.

After level one, I just was not enjoying my experience with this game. Everything takes place within the same house and surrounding area too. A little diversion would have been ok. I just didn't feel compelled to continue on. It gets pretty dull, in my opinion.

Recommend this game [Posted on 2008-01-03]
My husband and I just played this game. The graphics and sound are good. The puzzles are fun. We cheated on a couple since we didn't want to spend too much time on them. Most puzzles and tasks are logically accomplished.

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