Lure of the Temptress (PC) Review

It's really cool that Lure of the Temptress eliminated the HUD way back in the early '90s, which was far ahead of its time. Videogames would continue dialling back HUDs and becoming increasingly minimalist through the late '90s and early '00s, and it's generally because HUDs easily get in the way of the actual game. If Revolution's goal was to innovate, then it certainly succeeded, as many outings since have followed its example.

Another interesting innovation was the Virtual Theatre system, which gave NPCs small amounts of intelligence and, in the vein of Bethesda's Radiant AI system, their own lives to be getting on with. The feature has its annoyances, since it sometimes can be hard to find a particular villager, but The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim's AI system has its own irritations - "Do you get the Cloud District often? What am I saying, of course you don't…"

At its core, this is a third-person point-and-click adventure romp set in a fantasy world, with a minimalist interface that helps immerse players. Left-clicking is the main control, since it is used to move and inspect the environment, and right-clicking opens a menu with a few options like "Open" and "Take." Examining the surroundings and taking in the view is necessary but sometimes laborious.

In bygone days, the graphical detail might have been impressive, but today it's hard to say more than that the various sprites resemble what they are supposed to be. Since clicking on objects often brings up a humorous and well-written description, it's worth doing, even for things that serve no purpose beyond setting the tone.

There are puzzles, as would be expected, but Revolution kept things logical, and there aren't any "solve the soup cans" styles here. They aren't always simple and easy, but they can be deduced rationally; the Helper characters contribute in a way that is akin to what is found in Resident Evil 6, although here the characters must be directed by the player to solve some of the puzzles. Combat is mandatory in a few places, which is awful and bland, but it's not a combat-focused game, so the fighting is kept brief and to a minimum.

Going back and playing a 'classic' such as this won't result in an experience remotely like playing when it was new, and what was sufficient and acceptable then now tends to come off as clunky and droll today. Ultima: The First Age of Darkness suffers the same fate, and its legacy was, perhaps, greater than that of Lure of the Temptress. Such old games are still enjoyable, but context is important, and many systemic flaws have to be overlooked.