The Da Vinci Code

Written by Troy Matsumiya  on April 24, 2006

Final Glimpse: Secret conspiracies, hidden agendas Ц gee, you'd think it was about a typical Xbox clan forum.

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Unless you've been living in a World of Warcraft cave for the past couple of years, you've heard about Dan Brown's multi-mega bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. If not, you're going to hear a lot more as Ron Howard's big screen adaptation will premiere at a theatre near you on May 19, which Ц not coincidentally Ц is also the same day the video game version will hit your console.

At first glance it seems like The Da Vinci Code is an odd choice for a video game. But with a fast-paced story revolving around an intriguing mystery, complex code-breaking and intricate puzzles, the novel does have good potential for a fun, intellectually stimulating adventure Ц and that's what developer The Collective is working hard to deliver.

The game will follow the book more than the movie and as a result, the main playable characters Dr. Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu won't look like Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou. The story starts with what appears to be a plain ol' run-of-the-mill murder investigation at the famous Louvre museum in Paris, but soon spirals out of control as ancient conspiracies, secret organizations and hidden coded messages in Leonardo Da Vinci's artwork are uncovered. Your job will be to solve this ancient mystery while avoiding enemies who are determined to keep it from prying eyes.

Like the Da Vinci Code itself, the game is somewhat shrouded in secrecy since only a trickle of information has been released to the public. However, we can tell you that the game will be a third-person action adventure with stealth elements and a heavy emphasis on puzzle solving. Although it will be in the third-person view, the camera will be fixed at certain points for Уdramatic purposesФ but under your control the rest of the time. You will visit famous locations like Westminster Abbey, St. Sulpice and the aforementioned Louvre to gather information from NPCs, analyze artwork, find clues and solve puzzles.

It should be noted that the puzzles were created by Charles Cecil of Broken Sword fame and based on his previous work, they should be fun, clever and give your brain a good workout.

With the big focus on finding clues and puzzle solving, the game seems to be a modern and more interactive evolution of the classic point-and-click adventure Ц but don't let that discourage you. The Collective is smart enough to leave out the things we didn't like about those games and update the things we loved, so it won't just be searching for hotspots in a room. You will also need to use stealth to achieve some objectives, including distracting enemies by throwing objects, performing sneak attacks and hiding bodies. However, don't expect to go all Sam Fisher on everyone; the entire game will require brains instead of brawn and the unusual combat system is no different.

To fight enemies, you will use the УStruggle SystemФ, which is a Simon Says type of mini-game. If a bad guy grabs you, your controller's face buttons will pop up on the screen and you have to match the correct button pressing sequence in order to win Цbasically the same system as neurohacking in MechAssault 2. If you successfully complete the sequence, your character will attack, throw or evade the enemy. Of course, if you screw up the sequence, the enemy will be more than happy to show you what happens if you don't do what Simon says.

Graphically, the game looks stunning. The classic Western European architecture of well-known locations appears to be accurately recreated down to the finest detail. You will also be able to see recreations of famous artwork and passages from classic literature; so in addition to entertaining you, the game will give you a nice dose of culture and education as well.