Crystal Key 2, known in Europe as Evany: Key to a Distant Land, is a 2004 graphic adventure game developed by Canadian studio Earthlight Productions, together with Kheops Studio. It was published by The Adventure Company, and is the sequel to the 1999 title The Crystal Key.
| Crystal Key 2 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Earthlight Productions, Kheops Studio |
| Publisher(s) | The Adventure Company |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Mac OS X |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Graphic adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gameplay and plot
editCrystal Key 2's plot builds upon that of the original, and casts the player as Call, who seeks to stop the minions of Ozgar and save the world of Evany.[3]
Development
editCrystal Key 2 was revealed by DreamCatcher Interactive's Adventure Company label in April 2003, at first under the name Crystal Key II: The Far Realm.[4] It was among a slew of announcements in preparation for the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3),[5] and Marek Bronstring of Adventure Gamers called it one of the publisher's "top titles premiering at the show", alongside Traitors Gate II: Cypher.[6] Earthlight Productions developed Crystal Key 2 with Virtools and V-Ray. It was designed to feature spherical 360° panoramas, unlike its predecessor's more limited viewing areas. According to John Matheson, Earthlight sought to overcome the problems that had affected The Crystal Key's production pipeline and give its art team more room "to be as creative as possible".[3]
Initially developed by Earthlight and set for a late-2003 release,[4][7] Crystal Key 2 underwent "many years" of production and took longer than The Adventure Company had wanted, as Benoît Hozjan of Kheops Studio later remarked. As a result, Kheops was hired to co-develop the game late in production, which Hozjan said included the programming and the integration, with John Matheson.[8] In July 2003, Matheson estimated Crystal Key 2 as 75% complete and on track for December,[3] but it ultimately launched in March 2004.[9]
Reception
edit| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Computer Gaming World |   [11] |
| GameSpot | 6.2/10[10] |
| GameSpy | [12] |
| IGN | 5.9/10[13] |
According to the review aggregation website Metacritic, Crystal Key 2's critical reception was "mixed or average".[14]
References
edit- ^ "What's New? [date mislabeled "10 June 2005"]". Eurogamer.net. 24 September 2004. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
- ^ "Crystal Key II ships". GameSpot. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
- ^ a b c Callaham, John (22 July 2003). "The Crystal Key II Interview". HomeLAN. Archived from the original on 10 August 2003.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b Calvert, Justin (30 April 2003). "Crystal Key II announced". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 13 August 2004.
- ^ Calvert, Justin (30 April 2003). "The Adventure Company E3 lineup". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 12 October 2004.
- ^ Bronstring, Marek (29 April 2003). "Crystal Key 2 and Traitors Gate 2 at E3". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on 10 May 2003.
- ^ "The Adventure Company to Showcase Exciting Line-up at the Electronic Entertainment Expo" (Press release). Toronto: The Adventure Company. May 2003. Archived from the original on 25 March 2006.
- ^ Waxman, Becky (2007). "GameBoomers Talks to Benoît Hozjan of Kheops Studio". GameBoomers. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007.
- ^ Calvert, Justin (17 March 2004). "Crystal Key II ships". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 9 August 2004.
- ^ Osborne, Scott (21 April 2004). "Crystal Key 2: The Far Realm". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 7 June 2004.
- ^ Scott, Ryan (August 2004). "Reviews; Crystal Key 2: The Far Realm". Computer Gaming World. No. 241. p. 82.
- ^ Harker, Carla (23 April 2004). "Reviews; Crystal Key 2 (PC)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 18 December 2005.
- ^ Castro, Juan (9 April 2004). "Crystal Key 2 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 17 June 2004.
- ^ "Crystal Key 2: The Far Realm (pc: 2004): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 26 July 2007.