Beyond Time
{{Short description|1997 video game}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Beyond Time
| image = Beyond_Time_Cover_Art.jpg
| developer = Jones and Jones Multimedia
| publisher = DreamCatcher Interactive
| released = November 1997
| genre = Adventure
| modes = Single-player
}}
Beyond Time aka Shadow of the Obelisk: Delve Into the Corridors of Time is a 1997 full motion video adventure game developed by Jones and Jones Multimedia and published by DreamCatcher Interactive.
Development
The background of Jones and Jones Multimedia employees included theatre, fiction, literature, and art, and the company's video game output (including this game) combined these aspects together. They aimed to include genuine art and historical information to make it appealing and long-lasting. They set the game in locations that had an air of mystery and fascination. The team spent more than a year doing art history research to have a better understanding of the architectural worlds which were being created in the game. They turned their research into 3D representations; while they didn't recreate existing structures, they incorporated elements that they observed. The team aimed to add 2D animation and sound effects to as many screens as possible to give a sense of a lived-in world, for instance a bird flying across the sky. A unique game engine was made for the title.{{Citation|last=fmvgamer2010|title=Beyond Time (1997) aka Shadow of the Obelisk PC FMV game intro and making of|date=2012-03-16|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl2461o4Btc|access-date=2017-12-30}}
Critical reception
{{Video game reviews
| rev1 = PC Games
| rev1Score = F{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990830014300/http://www.games.net/pcgames/articles/0,1034,1874,00.html?CHANNEL=pcgames&AD_SECTION=review | url=http://www.games.net/pcgames/articles/0,1034,1874,00.html?CHANNEL=pcgames&AD_SECTION=review | title=Beyond Time | author=Morris, Daniel | date=April 10, 1998 | work=PC Games | archive-date=August 30, 1999 | url-status=dead}}
}}
Quandary thought the game's short length let it down.{{Cite web|url=http://www.quandaryland.com:80/jsp/dispArticle.jsp?index=218|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070418081647/http://www.quandaryland.com/jsp/dispArticle.jsp?index=218|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-04-18|title=Beyond Time Review by Quandary|date=2007-04-18|access-date=2017-12-30}} Just Adventure and Adventure Gamers described the game as a watered-down Timelapse-type experience.{{Cite web|url=http://justadventure.com:80/reviews/Beyond_Time/Beyond_Time.shtm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030604223443/http://justadventure.com/reviews/Beyond_Time/Beyond_Time.shtm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2003-06-04|title=Review: Beyond Time|date=2003-06-04|access-date=2017-12-30}}{{Cite web|url=https://adventuregamers.com/articles/view/17441|title=Beyond Time Review|website=Adventure Gamers|date=19 May 2002|language=en-US|access-date=2017-12-30}} Game Revolution thought the graphics were underwhelming.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/beyond-time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217050233/http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/beyond-time|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-02-17|title=Beyond Time Review|date=2015-02-17|access-date=2017-12-30}} Adventure Classic Gaming criticised the game's "plodding, chatty, confused storyline".{{Cite web|url=http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/reviews/52/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315074546/http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/reviews/52/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-03-15|title=Beyond Time - Obelisk - Review - Adventure Classic Gaming - ACG - Adventure Games, Interactive Fiction Games - Reviews, Interviews, Features, Previews, Cheats, Galleries, Forums|date=2015-03-15|access-date=2017-12-30}} Computer Gaming World said it "wants to be Myst" and fails at it.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_166|title=Computer Gaming World Issue 166|date=May 1998|page=172}} PC PowerPlay deemed the game a "dry, humorless, dull, and pretty monotonous" Myst-clone.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/PCPowerplay-030-1998-11|title=PC Powerplay Issue 030|last=Next Publishing Pty Ltd|date=November 1998|language=english}} It received a score of 78 from FamilyPC.{{Cite web |url=http://gamespot.com/adventure/beyondti/index.html |title=GameSpot presents FamilyPC's Beyond Time review |access-date=2019-06-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991005205036/http://gamespot.com/adventure/beyondti/index.html |archive-date=1999-10-05 |url-status=live}}
= Awards and nominations =
The game was the Runner-up for the "Coaster of the Year" award in the April 1999 issue of Computer Gaming World.{{cite magazine | author=Staff | magazine=Computer Gaming World | title=Computer Gaming World{{'}}s 1999 Premier Awards; CGW Presents the Best Games of 1998 | date=April 1999 | issue=177 | pages=91, 93, 96–105}}