

The Labyrinth of Time, by Electronic Arts
Amiga CD compatible.
While Myst was being heralded as a stunning, revolutionary CD-ROM title, a number of other similar titles were also being created and released at around the same time. Virgin's The 7th Guest was most notable, but also Sanctuary Woods' The Journeyman Project and Terra Nova Development's The Labyrinth of Time. Labyrinth being the only one, of course, which was released (and actually developed) on the Amiga. Because Myst has moved to virtually every system known to man except the Amiga and 7th Guest was locked out of being ported to other systems except PC and CD-I due to a very premature deal with Nintendo (for their never to be released Super NES CD add-on), Labyrinth still stands alone in the midst of Amiga CD software. After almost two years, there's still nothing like it on the CD-32, or Amiga.
	Very similar and in some ways superior to Myst, Labyrinth contains exquisitely beautiful screen graphics, fascinating settings and a fantastic storyline. Totally unlike Myst, Labyrinth is completely icon driven, with an items inventory, a north, south, east, west travel system and an excellent auto-mapping feature. The game can be played on the CD-32, or any Amiga with a CD-ROM, since it was actually done using standard HAM mode and is unmodified for the AGA chipset. 
	Labyrinth also has an incredibly powerful, mysterious and moody soundtrack that matches the game perfectly. Which is ironic considering that Terra Nova bought the music from a place that apparently just sells musical scores to whoever wants to buy them. Sound effects are all digitized and sound authentic as well.
	The game can be played with the CD-32's control pad, or the mouse (which is much more favorable) and control is quite intuitive. Labyrinth saves to the CD-32's save RAM (the bookmark option in the save menu), or to floppy as well and is in NTSC mode. The game is rather slow, even on a double speed drive, but not detrimentally so.
	Like Myst, Labyrinth doesn't scroll, but instead produces screen updates when you turn toward a new direction or move to a new area. It's rather like watching a beautiful, surrealistic slide show, but with interactivity. While it would have been much more preferable had there been some actual scrolling in the game, the spooky, isolating atmosphere comes through unmistakably thanks to both the graphic quality and the music.
	Labyrinth's storyline is one of the best ever put into a game and develops all through the game. You are an everyman leading a mediocre grey life, lamenting on your boring, stolid lot in life when a mysterious apparition appears before you as you are boarding the subway home. The ghost is Daedalus, the greatest architect of ancient Crete, and he needs your help. He has been forced by the evil King Minos to build a Labyrinth unlike no other--a labyrinth that spans both time and space. He tells you (through text, unfortunately, not speech) that you must find a way to destroy the labyrinth and end Minos' insanity. The secret lies somewhere in the labyrinth and it is up to you to find it.
	The labyrinth contains areas that range from a 50's diner, a space station, Crete temple, old west town, circus maze and more. Through these strange realms, you'll find all sorts of puzzles to solve that will lead you to the final secret of the Labyrinth. There are no monsters to fight in the game, no real treasure to gain, no traditional role playing game character elements. Labyrinth is an adventure game, or, more specifically, a game of exploration. And on that level, it works well because of its visual and audio presentation and great storyline.
	Where Labyrinth trips up, however, is not so much in the difficulty of the puzzles, but in its unbelievable propensity for red herrings. So many items you'll pick up in the game are absolutely useless--more are useless, in fact, than useful. The puzzles range from easy to almost hairpullingly challenging and, unlike Myst and rather unfortunately, you can get yourself irreversibly trapped in certain ways.
	Still though, given its unique status on the Amiga, it's hard to fault the game too much for its shortcomings. Frankly, while it may be the same on any type of Amiga, Labyrinth is the only true CD only Amiga game--even though it was one of the first games available for the CD-32. A sad fact, if there ever was one, but still a good game.
	The Labyrinth of Time is definitely not for everyone. The slow pace, hard puzzles, obnoxious amount of red herrings and deep, involving play time make it for those who have patience and enjoy an atmospheric, mysterious gaming experience. And, if nothing else, the stunning, near photo-realistic, computer generated graphics are certainly good for showing off the graphic abilities of the Amiga.

