Egypt III
Egypt III, known as The Egyptian Prophecy in North America, is a 2004 graphic adventure game developed by Kheops Studio and published by The Adventure Company. The player must solve an array of ancient riddles that will help a dying Pharaoh survive and restore Egypt to glory. The game is the third and final game in the "Egypt" trilogy, following "Egypt 1156 B.C." and "". In 2010, Microïds released an adaptation of the game, split into parts, for the Apple iPhone. Plot. At the age of sixty years, Pharaoh Ramesses II asks the Oracle of Ammun to extend his  reign; the God accepts, at the condition that a majestic obelisk is built before the Shemu season comes. But despite initial progress, the construction suddenly stops and Pharaoh sends one of his priestess, Maya, to investigate. Development. Following the 2002 bankruptcy and liquidation of Cryo Interactive, many of its key assets were purchased by DreamCatcher Interactive to form that company's new European branch. Two development teams, including the one behind Cryo's "Egypt" series, were among these acquisitions. DreamCatcher subsequently revealed "Egypt III" in April 2003, under the name "The Egyptian Prophecy" in North America and "Egypt III: The  Fate of Ramses" in Europe. It was among a slew of announcements by the company in preparation for the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Initially, "Egypt III" was developed internally by DreamCatcher Europe. However, in the summer, DreamCatcher Europe shuttered the game development divisions it had carried over from Cryo. Adventure Gamers later noted that "Egypt III" "seemed destined for cancellation". A group of those laid off from DreamCatcher Europe, led by Benoît Hozjan, proceeded to found the independent developer Kheops Studio. According to Hozjan, most of the team had already been involved in "Egypt III" before its development was  interrupted, and Kheops received a contract from DreamCatcher to complete the game. Jeux Video noted that "Egypt III" had "quietly resumed development" and was nearing completion by January 2004. As Cryo had done for "Egypt II", Kheops worked with archeologist Jean-Claude Golvin to increase historical accuracy. Unlike its predecessors, it was not created in collaboration with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux. "Egypt III" was targeted primarily at casual gamers. Reception. Andrew Plotkin of "Zarf" thought the game contained a thin story backed by copious amounts of educational historical information. Slydos of "Adventure-Archiv" thought it was entertaining, though not  innovative. "GameBoomers" praised it for not being too long or difficult, mainstays of the genre. "Tap-Repeatedly" reviewer Toger deemed the game a "nice little diversion". "WorthPlaying" recommended the game to "Myst" fans. Steve Ramsey of "Quandary" noted that the player doesn't need to have played the game's predecessors in order to understand the plot. Dan Ravipinto of "Adventure Gamers" criticised the game's cluttered environments and slow interface. "Jeux Video" thought the short and easy game would offer a pleasant Egyptian adventure for the player. "Game Chronicles" thought the game would only receive acclaim or interest from  fans of the adventure game genre.