Byzantine: The Betrayal (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.1 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Jeff Sengstack
• Reviewed on: 11/17/1997
• Updated on: 05/01/2000
• Released on: 09/30/1997
• Originally published on GameSpot: Byzantine: The Betrayal (PC) Review

I am of two minds regarding Byzantine: The Betrayal. Initially, the fuzzy photographs, lousy acting, and mediocre writing turned me off. And the game's gimmick - in which you must tour virtual reconstructions of historical locations - seemed a bit weak. But as I continued my way through this murder mystery with its hi-tech angle and foreign intrigue, it began to grow on me. Not enough to get an unqualified endorsement, but enough to recommend it to those looking for a challenging and informative adventure.

You play a journalist who travels to Istanbul to help a college buddy solve a potentially dangerous mystery. You arrive only to be met by local police who say your friend is not as innocent as you think and that by implication you are under suspicion of smuggling valuable archaeological artifacts out of Turkey. The cops let you off with an admonition to keep your nose clean and out of their business which, of course, you ignore by immediately rummaging through your friend's apartment.

Gameplay takes place in a collection of connected 360-degree photographic panoramas. You navigate using the mouse - a la Zork Nemesis - but the image quality is not up to the high standards seen in other games of the kind. Typically there are a few hot spots and inventory items in each location. Most are simple to find and apply, but there are a few truly convoluted, illogical, and marginally unfair problems in Byzantine, like a door keypad combination, an ordered arrangement of artifacts on a collection of circles, and the final escape from secret ancient underground passageways.

That virtual reality element is critical to the gameplay and storyline. Within the storyline, the VR program analyzes ancient objects and "extrapolates" information from them to create virtual versions of ancient monuments, temples, and other significant locations. It also predicts where undiscovered artifacts, believed by archaeologists to exist, can be found in unexplored areas of these ancient locations. As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent someone is using that information to unearth those objects to sell on the black market. They then erase them from the computer's memory so no one knows of their existence.

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