Customer Reviews

AGON (Ancient Games of Nations): The Mysterious Codex, Episodes 1-3 [Old Version]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I had a great experience playing this game. Thumbs up, first class, 5 stars! AGON is what adventure gamers want to have...first of all, it's 3 games in one - so it's an amazing value. But a great adventure game is about having an intriging story, high quality graphics, music, cool characters, and immersive environments...shall I go on? AGON has it all.
If you need another opionion, check out what the adventure game websites say - just see what justadventure.com says, or adventuregamers.com or gameboomers.com say. I listened to those sites - they were all consistent. It's true; this game is a slam-dunk to satisfaction if your yearning is for adventure. I didn't have any loading problems and I played this on a pc--it ran fine.

Professor Samuel Hunt is a researcher at the British Museum in 1903. He's looking for something really special that will make his name in his field, and one night he finds it in the form of an anonymous letter. The letter contains the page of an old book, or codex, and warns that unless Professor Hunt solves its mysteries certain doom will fall upon us all. OF course the good professor sets out at once, driven less by a sense of heroism than by intellectual curiosity.

AGON: The Mysterious Codex comprises the first three episodes of a 14-episode game originally released for download only (the remaining episodes will be available as they are produced, first via download and then on CD or DVD). In it, you will explore the British Museum, the icy wilds of Lapland and the Jungles of Madagascar in search of the Ancient Game of Nations. The game is mainly first person with some third person cutscenes. There are no timed puzzles and you can't die.

I was immediately struck by the beauty of AGON. The backgrounds are simply incredible, as are the animations which often transform a watercolour still-shot into a moving scene. The character animations are a little sketchier, but still quite good. While I'm on game basics, most of those were above par as well. Voice acting was VERY good. Sounds were subtly integrated into the whole. Music was little used, but what there was was fine. Some written material--letters and journals--were very lovely, with intensely picturesque writing (although the handwriting fonts used were sometimes hard to decipher and a little faded).

The puzzles in AGON are a wide assortment dominated by inventory and decoding messages. One long message in Morse code takes patience and a plan. In another place, the symbols you needed to decode were very faint and hard to read, causing unecessary difficulty. But neither puzzle was impossible and as I enjoy decoding quite a lot I chose not to mark the game down for this. You may think otherwise. There is one sound puzzle that you must repeat over and over again for a particular reason. ALthough this made sense within the context of the game, I found it quite irritating and wished that I didn't have to do it after the second or third time.

At the end of each "chapter," you must defeat an opponent in a game of strategy--a clue to the AGON. I was initially a little intimidated by these games, but managed to win each after 3 or 4 tries. You can also go back and play the games just by themselves after you've won them--an entertaining bonus.

I liked this game quite a lot because of the subject matter and the hero. Samuel Hunt is an unusual man who is willing to sacrifice himself and take on dangerous tasks, not to save the world, but in the pursuit of his academic research. However, his is the only character you will really come into contact with, so if you're looking for a classic-style adventure, this is probably not the game for you. But if you like fist person puzzle-heavy games and don't mind waiting for a definite conclusion, give AGON a try. I think you won't be disappointed.

Private Moon Studios is a team of seven Hungarian developers who have done a remarkable job of building a very professional game. Agon is a far cut above what one might expect from such a small group. The environments are beautifully rendered, with an attention to detail. The voice-overs are professionally done, with original music and a host of ambient sounds. (Just Adventure)

As before, any player will be struck by the beauty of the graphics. The smoke and snow effects are superb, some of the best I have ever seen. This is an amazingly high-quality product. (Just Adventure)

The biggest strength of the Agon series is its story. It is simple yet mysterious. There are no real supernatural elements yet I was intrigued from beginning to end of all three episodes released to date. It reminds me at times of the Indiana Jones mythos without the swashbuckling action or even a Gabriel Knight "lite". (Just Adventure)

The Mysterious Codex compilation makes for a very enjoyable gaming experience. (Adventure Lantern)

This is my first look, and put together as a single game, they hold up pretty well against other adventure titles. (Quandary)

Beautiful graphics; excellent voice acting and music, solid puzzles with better variety; polished presentation. (Adventure Gamers)

Top-notch graphics, animation, music, and a compelling story make for a beautiful game that should be played by anyone with a love of adventure games. (Adventure Gamers)

Having just finished Agon with my girlfriend, we bought this game due to the reviews and I must say we were a little disappointed with it. The graphics are good, but it tends to be a very tedious game of going back and forth a lot to do things. I also agree with the reviewer about being able to move faster when having to go back and forth. You can't......
Overall, take it leave it with this game, but I will probably get episode 4 when it comes out........

I enjoyed being an archeologist, since I love the subject, so for me the game was great. The professor goes in many places after this AGON. He has clues, but he doesn't know what it is. You change places and play puzzles that aren't difficult but they will take time to solve. The story is interesting. Family game. There's no violence or bad language. Just an old archeologist going after his curiosity. You will find gadgets and have to find out how to use them. A clean game but you will need patience. The game doesn't go too fast in the story. But I enjoyed anyway.

Hi

I have all 3 episodes and a nice game it is .the problem is it's a continuing story and the episodes were supposed to come out every 6 months.........the game can't be finished without all the episodes and episode 4 is two years overdue folks...

they won't respond to inquiries about the next episode so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize the game is dead...

Buy at only if you like not being able to complete the story....

Challenging and enjoyable. The puzzles were excellent, some requiring help from another person, but that made it more fun. The ending wasn't a "cliff-hanger", but certaintly left you wanting more. It did require the use of a "Cheat" in a couple of spots where the obvious wasn't obvious. But, that didn't spoil the game. Good enjoyable story line.
Recommended to puzzle fans.

Registration code is on the jewel case; demo versions of the game are at www.argongame/download

First 3 episodes of a truely atmospheric adventure game; clearly a labor of love for the developers who have talents to equal much bigger production teams. I am glad they brought out a CD version and support the Mac platform as well as the PC.
The forthe episode (not included here) is in the making www.argongame/toldedo

Since I am one who feels that as in life 'the journey is the reward' I am not perturbed that the series is planned to be 14 long, and so does not come to a conclusion in this product.

Just played Episode 1 - really liked it. Not too dialog heavy, good story, historical environment, graphics and soundtrack fine. I was really enjoying it, when suddenly - "to be continued". It only took about two hours, and really about 80% of that time was taken up by navigating to here or there -- running (walking slowly, that is) up and down the stairs. Hey, It's not like the passenger elevator wasn't invented by 1903.

I hope to get a chance at some of the other episodes.

Excellent game, moved along well, graphics were good, kept me up nights wanting to go further, color was excellent, nice story line, puzzles were difficult but not impossible, it ended too soon for me. Have to get the next one soonest.