VIDEO GAME REVIEW 'Sphinx and Mummy' has great setting, story

The game takes players into ancient Egypt.
By JUSTIN HOEGER
SACRAMENTO BEE
"Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy" fuses ancient Egyptian trappings with a "Zelda"-like play system and two different characters to control to create an interesting, if somewhat derivative, adventure game. It's really more "inspired by" than "based on" Egyptian lore; there are familiar names and faces, but the setting and story are both fantastic.
The story follows a young demigod, Sphinx, who, along with his friend Horus, studies at the feet of the wise Imhotep. Imhotep sends the pair on a quest to the dangerous lands of Uruk to reclaim the Sword of Osiris. Sphinx succeeds, but is driven from the path home by an enemy weapon.
Birthday celebration
Meanwhile, the young prince Tutankhamen is about to celebrate his birthday. He doesn't know it, but his scheming older brother, Akhenaten, has less jovial plans -- an overthrow is in the offing this day. After stumbling upon Akhenaten rallying his forces, Tutankhamen is captured and made into an unliving mummy, the pieces of his soul imprisoned in a number of canopic jars.
The quests of the two become intertwined early on, and the game switches between Sphinx and the poor Tutankhamen every so often. The play styles for each are quite different.
Sphinx is agile, quick and strong. He wields several weapons, chief among them the Sword of Osiris, and is generally athletic and tough, though he is vulnerable to damage from enemies. His sections focus on combat, with some puzzles, and he gains numerous new abilities and items as the game progresses.
Outrageous abilities
Tutankhamen, however, is a pampered, soft prince at first, and then a dusty, musty mummy. He can't fight, but he can't die, either, and he is able to hide, crawl through small spaces and set himself on fire without fear of hurting himself. More exotic abilities include the ability to turn paper thin, into smoke and into a bat, as well as several clones of himself. The focus of his sections is on puzzle-solving.
Both characters will need their powers to conquer their world's many enemies, riddles, puzzles and traps. It's a neat game-play gimmick, even if it has been done before, though usually not with character differences this pronounced. Many of the tasks these two must perform -- destroying enemies, finding keys, collecting items, flipping switches -- have been done before in countless games, but the dual-character play helps keep things interesting.
Visual style
From the technical side, the game controls work smoothly, and it looks and sounds good. There's a distinct visual style here, one that's informed by the ancient Egyptian culture, especially in architectural influence.
The character design is OK, but it's the animation that really makes it. Sphinx, for example, swings and shimmies around in a most agile manner, while the prince prances or shambles along, depending on his condition.
The music is pretty good, and the sound effects even better. A big blank spot, however, is the almost total lack of voice acting. Most games now use voice work at least in major story scenes; here, it's limited to a few grunts and verbalizations from various characters.
The two-character system makes "Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy" a solid mix of game-play styles with some original ideas.
X"Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy," for Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube, is rated for teens and older gamers.