Christopher Nolan's upcoming film, "The Odyssey," is slated for release this weekend. For those anticipating a grand cinematic spectacle, a preview of the 2012 mobile adventure game "The Odyssey," developed by Crazysoft and later ported to Steam, may offer a glimpse into the film's potential pacing and puzzle-solving.
Hour One: The Loom Conundrum
Much like the poem and presumably the film, the game begins with Odysseus stranded on Calypso's island. The initial gameplay involves building a raft to escape, a task that requires explicit instructions from Calypso, despite Odysseus's predicament. The game's design emphasizes what can be described as "pixel hunting," where identifying interactive objects is a significant challenge. For instance, acquiring an axe to chop down a tree is hindered by the need to first locate a nearly invisible branch, a process that consumes several minutes of meticulous clicking.
This difficulty extends to crafting a sail on Calypso's loom. Before seeking guidance, the player must experiment with various loom controls. Upon asking Calypso for help, the player is informed that only specific handles and pedals require activation, though their identities remain undisclosed. The game then necessitates trying every possible combination of these controls to stumble upon the correct sequence. This trial-and-error approach extends to using inventory items on every available object on screen, including Odysseus himself and Calypso.
Even after the sail is complete, finding materials for the raft proves problematic. The necessary wooden planks are not found in felled trees but must be broken from the loom itself, an action that feels like an act of vandalism against Calypso's property.
Hour Two: Navigating the Stars
The game's second hour presents a scenario where Odysseus, adrift on a damaged raft, receives a magical fish from a god. The puzzle requires Odysseus to discard this life-sustaining food, a seemingly illogical act, to summon a talking bird. This bird then provides 12 statuettes, each depicting a constellation. To determine the course, Odysseus must identify these constellations in the night sky and match them to the correct statuettes.
The intended solution involves clicking on constellations and statuettes to gather information, then pairing them. However, this direct approach fails. Instead, the game reveals that rubbing the statuettes against the raft itself triggers symbols and illustrations, enabling identification. This crucial step is not hinted at by any in-game character or event, leaving the player to discover it through sheer experimentation.
Hour Three: A Quest for Tea and Invisibility
Shipwrecked and disoriented, Odysseus finds himself near two women by a river. He is initially unable to stand due to his state of undress, and the game requires him to interact with the environment by throwing stones at the women's ball to knock it into the river, which then allows him to stand. Later, to gain the women's trust and acquire clothing, he must retrieve the ball and fix their broken wagon wheel. The wagon wheel repair involves heating an iron wheel in a fire and melting an iron blade to mend it, a task complicated by the need to find a minuscule stone hidden on a bridge.
Inside the city, the objective shifts to preparing tea to gain Athena's assistance for invisibility. The process involves finding a bowl and mint, starting a fire, and then needing bellows to increase the fire's heat. Access to the bellows is blocked by a soldier who will only be distracted by a supposed miracle. The convoluted solution involves using a scroll, finding a knife, cutting a rope, tying it to a statue of Poseidon, and pulling it to activate the statue, thereby creating a distraction. This elaborate sequence is presented as an intuitive solution, despite its lack of logical grounding.
Athena's method of rendering Odysseus invisible involves surrounding him with mist. The game concludes after two hours and 53 minutes, mirroring the film's runtime. Based on the length of a provided walkthrough, players may only be a third of the way through the game, with one Steam reviewer reportedly logging over 50 hours. If Nolan's "The Odyssey" adheres to this blueprint, audiences may find themselves watching Matt Damon grapple with obscure puzzles, frustrating star-gazing mechanics, and the intricacies of tea preparation.