Mummy - Tomb of the Pharaoh

A review by Michael Santovec for KEGS (Komputer Enthusiasts of Greater Seattle) - May 1997



Trouble in Egypt

The National Mining Company has a problem at their mining site in the Egyptian desert. A strange, possibly ancient, Egyptian box has been found. If it really is ancient, the Egyptian Antiquities Department will close the mining site down, pending a search for nearby tombs. The local workers are refusing to enter the mine. There are rumors of a mummy haunting the site. The NMC wants the site back in production, and fast.

In this first person perspective adventure game from Interplay, You play Mike Cameron, a facilitator from the NMC New York office. You are a bit out of your element. You are used to dealing with diplomats, not field work. You are barely off the corporate jet and complications start to set in. Stuart Davenport, the head of mining operations (played by Malcolm McDowell) makes it clear that he's not happy that the company sent you. But is it more than just having his turf invaded? You find out there has been sabotage of mining equipment, something Davenport didn't bother to report to headquarters. You also find out that the resident Egyptologist is Lorrie, your old girlfriend, whose work was more important to her than your relationship. And during your first night at the camp, someone is murdered. So add staying alive to your list of tasks.

Game Play

Mummy has much the same look and feel as Myst. However, there are some significant differences. Mummy has a definite plot. You also have a traditional adventure game inventory where you need to collect a variety of objects and use them later. The problems to solve in Mummy are mostly real world, which I prefer. You need to do what a person in the situation would need to do. For example, you find that a generator has been sabotaged by having the wires cut. You need to find some wire strippers and electrical tape to make repairs. The objects that you need to find are in reasonable, if not always the most obvious, places.

The interactions with other characters aren't very interactive. Either you need to find another character or they'll find you in order to move the plot along. When you meet someone, a short video clip is played (embedded in the background image), then you are back to the adventure play. For most of the game, you are pretty much free to wander and explore the camp and mine. Many of the buildings are locked. Some keys would be helpful. But you may be able find alternate ways into some buildings. You probably don't want to go wandering about the mine without a map, so you had better find one first. And of course watch out for scorpions, cobras, mummies, mine cave-ins and other hazards.


Game Interface
The game starts off very easy but becomes moderately difficult. You can die, so you need to save the game regularly. You don't need to worry about restoring the game from an early part in order to finish it. If you need an object that you don't have it will either be nearby or you'll be able to get back to it some way. You don't need to take notes or worry too much about drawing a map of the game area. The instruction booklet includes a map of the camp. During the game you'll find a map of the mine. There are no maps of the tombs. Although they appear somewhat complex, if you get lost you should still be able to find your way out. (If you do map the tombs, or compare the various mine levels, you'll find that the game designer had a poor sense of geometry.)

If you are a beginner at adventure games, the instruction booklet includes a detailed walk through of the first 10% or so of the game.

The game is designed for a 640x480x256 color display. You can play at a higher screen resolution, but the image won't fill the screen. The main image area is fixed at 640x350. You can play at a higher color depth, but it won't make any significant difference in appearance. Overall, the graphics and embedded video look good (on a par with Myst).

The game is played almost entirely using the mouse. The keyboard is only used to save games.

The game uses all digital sound . There are no sound controls in the game. You need to use the Windows sound controls to adjust the volume. Since it's all digital, you can only adjust the overall volume. The can't adjust the relative volumes of the music, dialog and sound effects. Some other games using all digital sound include controls in the game for that. Fortunately the balance is OK, but I would have preferred dropping the music volume down a notch or two.

System Requirements

The game requires a 486/33 (486/50 recommended), 8 MB of RAM, 22 MB of hard disk space, plus 27 KB for each saved game, double speed CD-ROM, sound card and mouse. It runs under either Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 (a Mac version also available).

I tested the game on a Pentium/133 with 32 MB of RAM and double speed CD-ROM under both Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. The game crashed only once. I did have one annoying problem. While turning left or right, the background music would sometimes produce static. Under Windows 95, the static would automatically stop when I finished turning. This was more severe under Windows 3.1. The static occurred more often, and would often continue until I moved again. Setting Transitions to Off in the game's options eliminated the problem, but didn't look quite as nice when moving. I presume that the difference between Windows 3.1 and 95 was due to either the video drivers or sound card drivers.

The game requires the 16-bit version of QuickTime for Windows (QTW), which is included on the CD-ROM. If you have Windows 95 and just the 32-bit QTW installed, the instructions say to remove the 32-bit version when installing the 16-bit version, then to reinstall the 32-bit version when you have finished playing the game. This is unnecessary. You will need to install the 16-bit version, but leave the 32-bit version installed. They coexist fine. If you already have a reasonably current 16-bit version (2+) of QTW installed, you should not need to install the copy from the CD-ROM.

Ratings and Recommendations

The game is rated "Teen - Ages 13+, Realistic Blood and Violence". Most of the characters in the game do end up dead (some started that way). However, the blood and violence is very restrained. There is a little vulgar language (this is a mining camp). This is a game for older teens and adults. Not that it is too intense for younger players, but rather, the Doom and Nintendo crowd may be bored by it. Although the package says it's a "Thriller", it's not very thrilling. It's an involving story line, but you won't find yourself on the edge of your seat.

I liked Myst but I enjoyed Mummy even more. Mummy has a more interesting story line and you are more a part of the story rather than just an observer.