Aura: Fate of the Ages E3 2004 Preshow Impressions

Aura: Fate of the Ages is one of the slate of games that The Adventure Company is showcasing at E3. Like the classic adventure game Myst, Aura is a first-person adventure game that uses prerendered graphics and a simple point-and-click interface. (The architecture in the game even bears a strong resemblance to that found in Myst.)

Aura is set in a fictional world, and you'll play as the student of a clan elder tasked with protecting a collection of sacred rings, including one powerful enough to allow travel to other worlds. At the same time, you need to go on quests to recover a series of artifacts for your master. But according to legend, whoever can unite the rings will gain immortal life, so there are others seeking to take the rings from you.

Aura will feature four unique and vast worlds to explore, including the intriguingly named Mechanical World and Isoteric World. The prerendered graphics are beautiful, and the point-and-click interface is very simple and easy to play.

Judging from the opening puzzles, you can certainly expect plenty of challenging puzzles. Then again, it's definitely being aimed toward fans of the genre. Aura is being developed by Canadian developer Streko-Graphics, and it should ship this summer.