Buy Cheap Aura: Fate of the Ages PC Keys & Digital Downloads

I only recently finished playing Aura, and thought it to be an average Myst "clone" at best. I will give the developers credit for theI only recently finished playing Aura, and thought it to be an average Myst "clone" at best. I will give the developers credit for the graphics, as the worlds were beautiful and at least on par with Myst Exile and Riven. However, while playing thru the ages, I felt like they existed only for the puzzles and had no real sense of backstory like Riven; in fact, there was one area in one of the worlds that didn't seem to have a purpose or add anything to the story, other than taking an object needed for later on in the game. As for the puzzles, it was a mixed bag in my opinion; not just in terms of difficulty but also in terms what solving the puzzle does for your progress in the game. You do receive clues in the form of notes that are scattered around the ages and added to a journal when you either pick up a piece of paper or you observe a clue on a door, wall, etc. However, I sometimes found the drawings to be vague as far as telling you what needs to be done. In addition, there were a couple of puzzles that, based on a walkthrough I looked at, would have required such a leap in thinking that I probably would have never solved them unless I looked at a guide to begin with. Once I got to the ending of the story, it just kind of ended abruptly for me; there was one easy "puzzle", if you could call it that, and then the final scene was activated. Clearly the ending set up the sequel, Aura 2, but I haven't played that yet and not sure if I'm going to. Overall, I found the story and motivation for the character weak, but the ages were beautifully rendered.

A Myst clone, and not exactly a good one. Rather than solving puzzles, you spend most of your time sweeping your cursor over every inch ofA Myst clone, and not exactly a good one. Rather than solving puzzles, you spend most of your time sweeping your cursor over every inch of the screen, hoping that there will be something you can interact with. The story itself was completely unengaging. Pretty for 2004 standards, but it doesn't do well on a modern PC.

This is a very good Myst clone combining sci-fi & fantasy environments. If fact, I was very surprised to see this was not made by theThis is a very good Myst clone combining sci-fi & fantasy environments. If fact, I was very surprised to see this was not made by the developers of Myst because the similarities are so striking. The story is weak and the storytelling is worse, but the puzzle adventure aspects are superbly done and make up for those shortcomings.

Streko Graphics put great care into developing this little graphical gem and I feel that even with the frustrations I had with a few of its puzzles and the occasional cursor issue, I found Aura to be a thoroughly entertaining escape from the day to day humdrum of work and classes.

An adventure game that has a lot going for it; impressive graphics with seamlessly integrated cut scenes, interesting worlds to explore, varied and challenging puzzles, and some rather nice music for the most part.

Aura is puzzle intensive. It's a difficult game even for hardcore adventure gamers and gamers that hate puzzles won't want to touch this title with a ten foot pole.