Timelapse: Ancient Civilizations... The Link to Atlantis
Released on September 30, 1996 by GTE Entertainment on the PC, and then later to numerous other platforms by numerous other publishers, Timelapse: Ancient Civilizations... The Link to Atlantis is a point-and-click adventure through time in the vein of Myst.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A special shout-out to oldpcgaming.net, for giving me permission to use their screenshots on the soundtrack I posted to Youtube. My usual software could not handle taking pics of Timelapse gameplay for some reason. I have used several of oldpcgaming's photos for this review, as well, with the final five pictures all coming from that excellent website. Thanks again!!! (And sidenote, you've inspired me to finally attempt to finish Riven).
Like any good nerd in the early 90's, my imagination was transfixed by the point-and-click adventure game, Myst. Myst invites players into a beautiful, mysterious, abandoned world, and dares them to try to figure out what they are supposed to do. Though Myst is a great game, it is extremely esoteric. Solving puzzles often feels like pulling teeth. At the time, I wondered, can't anyone come up with a game as equally transportive and transfixing, yet just a bit less oblique?
Thankfully, the answer was and is "yes." Many computer game developers took Myst as a challenge, and several games were released that gave Myst a run for its money. My favorite of this bunch is Timelapse.
Timelapse puts players in the shoes of an unnamed, faceless protagonist, as they attempt to locate a professor friend who has gone missing. This leads to a time-travelling adventure. I recently replayed Timelapse while porting over its soundtrack to Youtube, where it was, before my efforts, sadly absent. How does the game stack up today?
Graphically, Timelapse's 3D-esque worlds still stack up, even if they aren't as stunning today as they were in 1996. While obviously not as other-worldly as Myst, being that Myst takes place on an actual other world, Timelapse does a great job of approximating the five civilizations the player visits. While each location is hauntingly bereft of humanity, the backdrops are almost as good as being back in ancient Egyptian, Mayan, and Anasazi civilization, as well as modern Easter Island, and the imagined underwater utopia of Atlantis. Timelapse dropped jaws with its graphical realism in 1996, and I think it is still quite easy on the eyes today. The only chinks in the graphical armor are some of the animations of environmental actions (smoke, water, etc.) and of the various wildlife that still does inhabit each world, as well as the game's video content. The animations aren't bad--an Egyptian cat, as well as a rock-paper-scissors clone of frog-scorpion-spider being particularly spellbinding--but overall, they don't quite match the background work. The videos, whose content I will explore shortly, are very grainy, though they are at least still viewable.
Timelapse's sound is a definite highlight, with particular accolades belonging to the soundtrack. Each world has a distinct musical identity, and the game leans heavily on a combination of tribal percussion, field recordings, and synth-work to create something unique and wonderful. I remembered this music for 20 years, seeking it out and never finding it until I took it upon myself to proliferate it. From the reaction I've gotten, I don't think I'm in the minority: Timelapse's soundtrack is a classic. The sound effects are also great, with wind, water, and animal calls immersing the player more deeply into Timelapse's world. If there's a weakness, and this is more production value than sound, it's the game's cheesy acting in its intermittent videos. At times, the player will encounter recorded messages from Ancient Egyptians, Mayans, Anasazi, and Atlanteans, featuring middle school-quality costumes and make-up. There are also messages from the game's lost professor. However, these are so low-budget compared to the rest of the game, they are actually kind of charming.
Gameplay is probably the most divisive aspect of Timelapse. In this regard, mid-90's point-and-click adventure games generally follow the same template, and Timelapse doesn't exactly break the mold. Players find themselves in a mysterious world with little direction on how to proceed. The player can follow paths in generally four directions (backward, forward, left, right), and interact with several objects in their environment by clicking them. Sometimes, the player can click on an object to pick it up, and carry it to another location for use. Clues are scattered throughout each world. The player solves puzzles in this fashion, allowing them to move on to the next area. Timelapse does offer some innovations to the formula. The game starts in Easter Island, the professor's last known location. Here, the player finds the professor's journal, which can be read at any time, and offers hints on what to do, and also information and insights into each of the game's five cultures (with, of course, speculation in regard to the Atlanteans). The player also finds a camera, which can be used to take over 20 photos, allowing the player to avoid backtracking when using past clues to solve a puzzle. The puzzles themselves range from ingenious to simple. The most complex and satisfying to solve involve a giant Mayan stone calendar, as well as an Egyptian numbering system. A few puzzles are clunkers, but overall, the gameplay provides a very satisfying experience. There isn't anything completely obtuse that would require a strategy guide to solve, but Timelapse does offer a real challenge. After several days of parsing them out, even as a teen, I was able solve the game's most complex puzzles. Then again, there is a simple pattern recognition puzzle that went completely over my head.
Comparing Timelapse and Myst head-to-head isn't quite fair. Myst does contain a thicker atmosphere and air of mystery, and there is a definite sense of newness to that game, even to this day. However, Timelapse feels more fair. If you pay attention and exert some thought, you are rewarded. While Myst's more fantastical environments may do more to stimulate the imagination, Timelapse's offer a nice glimpse into history. Also, if pseudo-science is your bag, Timelapse goes right off the deep end into that, too. So, if you enjoy 90's point-and-clicks, but somehow missed this one, do yourself a favor and check it out. If you've never played a 90's point-and-click adventure, and are looking for a starting point, Timelapse is a great one. For those of us who did play this game in the 90's, it's an experience we cherish, and haven't forgotten. Unless you have, in which case, you should go listen to the soundtrack on Youtube, then go pick the game up on GOG for $5.99, so you can remind yourself.
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