AURA: Fate of the Ages – PC – Review

Aura is all about solving puzzles, and lots of them.
Described as an adventure game, the adventure is actually very thin and only
serves as a light glue to bind the puzzles together.

The story is this: You are Umang, star pupil of the Clan of the
Keepers, the guardians of the mysterious rings that enable travel between
parallel universes. Because Umang is so smart, he gets to travel to Ademika
Valley in order to learn how to use these rings. However, upon arrival, he
discovers that his teacher, Grifit, has disappeared with only a letter left for
an explanation. Umang is directed to start-up the navigational map in order to
prepare the journey ship for travel. While he is completing this task, unrest
breaks out amongst the Clan and it’s up to Umang to save the day…

Players are immediately presented with a number of mechanical
puzzles at the beginning of the game. Not just one, not just two, no sirree,
it’s a plethora of puzzles to manipulate before Umang can even get started
traveling. Fortunately, the first series of these puzzles are explained in the
manual to help players get familiar with the type of thinking required for this
game. And this is a good thing, as the diagram Umang finds in Grifit’s letter,
showing illustrations of some of these puzzles, isn’t really much help for these
particular ones.

Some of the puzzles are true humdingers to solve. Many are
mechanical in nature, but others use inventory items and there are also a few
music puzzles, as well. Depending on the person, this may daunt or entertain.
I’m not so hot at the mechanical puzzles, but the musical ones I find easier to
solve. The mechanical ones I find very difficult. Remember Lighthouse
from Sierra? This game has similar types of puzzles, with its emphasis on
machines. My husband solved the puzzles in Lighthouse much more easily
than I did.

The environments are truly beautiful. The detail is very good,
and players will enjoy looking at all the special touches, like the flames in
the fireplace at the beginning of the game, the snow on the mountains, and the
vivid colors of the jungle. When a puzzle is solved, there is an animation each
time, which not only serves the purpose of letting the player know it was
successful immediately, but helps to draw the player into the game. These
cutscenes and others at different parts of the game are outstanding.

The sound effects are nicely done as well, and subtly immerse
players into each locality by good use of ambient sound. The musical score is
decent, but not as stirring as it could have been, given the solitary nature of
the game, which cried out for orchestral music as an accompaniment.

Superficially, at first, this game appears to be a Myst-type
clone. However, it is not. The only similarity, really, lies in the fact that
both were played from a first-person viewpoint. While Myst was also
essentially a solitary experience, the story was much stronger and more
prevalent throughout the game. Aura is a puzzle game, with the story
taking a back seat to the gameplay. The puzzles are well-designed, and while
numerous, are spaced out evenly. They are mostly logical in nature, although
sometimes just clicking around on objects seems to work better than trying to
use the clues to figure them out.

I do need to note that I experienced several game crashes while
running Aura, which would suddenly kick me back to the desktop, and
require me to start over at a save point. This quickly became annoying, but not
game-stopping as long as the game is saved often.

This is going to be one of those games that players either love
or hate, depending on personal taste; there is no gray area. If you enjoy
solving tricky mechanical puzzles and hate carrying around a loaded inventory
bag, then this is the game for you. If you enjoy a great story and like getting
to know the characters via interesting dialogue, then this is not the game for
you. While there is some small interaction with a few characters, and players
see Umang from time to time, there is no sense of familiarity with any of them.
Umang is about as boring a person as I’ve ever seen in a game.

However, if it’s just puzzles and pretty pictures players want,
this game sure delivers! While the majority of the puzzles are mechanical, there
are other types as well for variety’s sake. They are well-designed for the most
part, but could have been more user-friendly in the sense of punishing the
player for wrong guesses. In other words, SAVE YOUR GAME before each puzzle, or
you’ll regret it. Even with the emphasis on great puzzle solving, more of a
story would have helped involve players, but most puzzle fans won’t feel the
lack thereof too strongly. I recommend this game to any lover of first-person
puzzle games, but do not recommend it for those who prefer graphical adventures
with inventory-type puzzles.

Gameplay: 8
If it’s puzzles you want, it’s puzzles you got! The puzzles are a lot of fun
for enthusiasts, especially for fans of mechanical ones.

Graphics: 8 
The game is a treat to see, and the designers did a great job graphically.

Sound: 7
The sound effects are well-done, but the music is not memorable.

Difficulty:  Hard
I found the puzzles difficult to solve, but others with a more developed
spatial sense may have an easier time of it. There are a couple of musical
puzzles, which many find hard, but no mazes, thank goodness!

Concept: 7 
While there is nothing really new here in the type of gameplay, the
presentation is professional and sleek.

Overall: 7.3
Many hours of puzzle fun await puzzle enthusiasts of the Jewel of the
Oracle type of game. What this games does, it does well. However, game
crashes, a weak story and frequent player stopping points do hurt the game’s
overall experience.