Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual
Encyclopedia
Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual is an adventure game
for PC
, developed and published by City Interactive
in 2008.
, and seeing a vision of Knights Templar
. A person on the phone informs her that her uncle, archeologist as well, have gone missing. Sylvie packs up a suitcase and travels to the archeological site in Gozo
, where, she believes, she might find her uncle. Upon entering the site, she discovered that the police have taken control of the site. Not only did they took control of the site, but they managed to take her uncle's house under control as well. She fakes her ID and presents herself as a reporter. As a reporter, by chance, she finds 4 photographs with cubical-shaped stones on them, and two photos with Maltese shroud. She suspects that her uncle's disappearance have something to do with this. When she comes back from Gozo, she finds out that her uncle's house has been ransacked, but nothing is stolen. She also finds out that in a note to James, he explains the breakup of Teplars and Hospitallers
. She then travels from Malta to Instanbul, Turkey
, where she enters into an art gallery and talks to the art gallery's director about the stones. But the gallery's manager was a suspicious and unfriendly person, so she left. Sylvie is desperate to get the stones, that she suspects are located somewhere in the gallery. She sneaks through backyard into an attic, in which she finds boxes in which she suspects located the illegal merchandise, including the stones, of which photographs she have. She opens the boxes. In one of them she finds the Maltese shroud, and in the other she finds 4 cubical stones. But, as she was about to put them into her pocket, somebody hit her. The only thing she remembers is that the gallery's manager was scolding her for something, and that the guards then kick her outside. She then travels to Vatican
. The game ends with Sylvie's uncle being killed by trying to break up a gun fight, between James, and inspector Gronc, over the illumination beliefs.
Cheatcc.com, mentioning variety of environments, but at the same time lack of time being spent in a particular location, quoting: "The Scorpio Ritual features a large variety of locations and large environments, but each is still reasonably contained." A 7.0 from
GameZone quoting next: "This is one of the nicest looking adventure games I’ve seen." And 7.5 from IGN.com, saying in its closing comments: "The Scorpio Ritual left me with nothing but a stunned expression and a heartache the like of which I haven't felt since 2007's Culpa Innata
."
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
for PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, developed and published by City Interactive
City Interactive
City Interactive is an international publisher and the largest Polish developer of computer and video games for platforms including Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. The company was created in 2002 by combining a publishing house with two computer game developer studios. The...
in 2008.
Gameplay
The game begins with Sylvie Leroux writing an article on MaltaMalta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, and seeing a vision of Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
. A person on the phone informs her that her uncle, archeologist as well, have gone missing. Sylvie packs up a suitcase and travels to the archeological site in Gozo
Gozo
Gozo is a small island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Southern European country of Malta; after the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago...
, where, she believes, she might find her uncle. Upon entering the site, she discovered that the police have taken control of the site. Not only did they took control of the site, but they managed to take her uncle's house under control as well. She fakes her ID and presents herself as a reporter. As a reporter, by chance, she finds 4 photographs with cubical-shaped stones on them, and two photos with Maltese shroud. She suspects that her uncle's disappearance have something to do with this. When she comes back from Gozo, she finds out that her uncle's house has been ransacked, but nothing is stolen. She also finds out that in a note to James, he explains the breakup of Teplars and Hospitallers
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
. She then travels from Malta to Instanbul, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, where she enters into an art gallery and talks to the art gallery's director about the stones. But the gallery's manager was a suspicious and unfriendly person, so she left. Sylvie is desperate to get the stones, that she suspects are located somewhere in the gallery. She sneaks through backyard into an attic, in which she finds boxes in which she suspects located the illegal merchandise, including the stones, of which photographs she have. She opens the boxes. In one of them she finds the Maltese shroud, and in the other she finds 4 cubical stones. But, as she was about to put them into her pocket, somebody hit her. The only thing she remembers is that the gallery's manager was scolding her for something, and that the guards then kick her outside. She then travels to Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
. The game ends with Sylvie's uncle being killed by trying to break up a gun fight, between James, and inspector Gronc, over the illumination beliefs.
Oddities
In one of the games location, there is a poster, which promotes future game of City Interactive which was unofficialy called Art of Murder 2.Reception
The game received a rating of 3.7 fromCheatcc.com, mentioning variety of environments, but at the same time lack of time being spent in a particular location, quoting: "The Scorpio Ritual features a large variety of locations and large environments, but each is still reasonably contained." A 7.0 from
GameZone quoting next: "This is one of the nicest looking adventure games I’ve seen." And 7.5 from IGN.com, saying in its closing comments: "The Scorpio Ritual left me with nothing but a stunned expression and a heartache the like of which I haven't felt since 2007's Culpa Innata
Culpa Innata
Culpa Innata is a third person point-and-click adventure game by Istanbul-based developer Momentum AS and published by Strategy First. The game, according to the developer, was inspired by Alev Alatlı's novel Schrödinger's Cat.-Gameplay:...
."