Ancient Egypt is the setting for Eye Of Horus, where Horus is a hawk-headed god who battles against his evil half-brother Set.
The god Osiris, Horus's father, has been dismembered and his remains scattered across a huge labyrinth. Horus must collect seven severed members and return them to the burial chamber where they can be re-animated to restore peace and well-being to the land.
As Horus you explore the labyrinth of chambers looking for the seven bits of body. Once they've been put together, you'll have enough power to deal with Set in a final confrontation.
However, Egyptian heiroglyphs on all the walls have been animated by Set so they'll attack you.
Moving around can be done in two ways: as a hawk-headed man or the hawk. In both you fight off heiroglyphs with energy bolts.
There are over thirty objects to collect including body parts, amulets and colour-coded keys. There are eight keys which unlock certain lifts and allow movement between levels. The blue key takes you to your final battle with Set.
Each of the amulets bestow a different power on Horus to help him. Amulets of the Sam and Heart will summon the god Anubis and goddess Isis respectively to assist. The amulet of the steps is handy since it shows a map of the tomb with your current position. The frog amulet awards an extra life whilst others open new sections of the tomb, improve your power or shield you from evil forces.
Effects
Horus certainly walks like an Egyptian, especially when he's zapping heiroglyphs in humanoid form. Animation is perfect and four-way scrolling is fast and smooth. The hawk Horus flaps around with grace and ease. Atmospheric Egyptian music plays throughout and sound effects are satisfactory.
Eye Of Horus successfully mixes shoot-'em-up arcade-style action with intriguing puzzles and object manipulation to produce an interesting and challenging game. It may not be a major innovation or particularly original, but the element of Egyptian mythology makes it enjoyable enough to keep you battling Set and his minions for a long time.