Crystal Key 2

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.

This article is about the adventure game released as Evany in Europe. For the multiplayer strategy game, see Evony.
Crystal Key 2
Developer(s)Earthlight Productions, Kheops Studio
Publisher(s)The Adventure Company
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS
ReleaseMarch 2004
Genre(s)Graphic adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay and plot

Crystal 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.[1]

Development

Crystal 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.[2] It was among a slew of announcements in preparation for the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3),[3] and Marek Bronstring of Adventure Gamers called it one of the publisher's "top titles premiering at the show", alongside Traitors Gate II: Cypher.[4] 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".[1]

Initially developed by Earthlight and set for a late-2003 release,[2][5] Crystal Key 2 underwent "many years" of production and took longer than The Adventure Company had wanted, 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, hand in hand with John Matheson."[6] In July 2003, Matheson estimated Crystal Key 2 as 75% complete and on track for December,[1] but it ultimately launched in March 2004.[7]

Reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGW[8]
GameSpot6.2/10[9]
GameSpy[10]
IGN5.9/10[11]

According to the review aggregation website Metacritic, Crystal Key 2's critical reception was "mixed or average".[12]

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References
  1. Callaham, John (July 22, 2003). "The Crystal Key II Interview". HomeLAN. Archived from the original on August 10, 2003.
  2. Calvert, Justin (April 30, 2003). "Crystal Key II announced". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 13, 2004.
  3. Calvert, Justin (April 30, 2003). "The Adventure Company E3 lineup". GameSpot. Archived from the original on October 12, 2004.
  4. Bronstring, Marek (April 29, 2003). "Crystal Key 2 and Traitors Gate 2 at E3". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on May 10, 2003.
  5. "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 March 25, 2006.
  6. Waxman, Becky (2007). "GameBoomers Talks to Benoît Hozjan of Kheops Studio". GameBoomers. Archived from the original on October 28, 2007.
  7. Calvert, Justin (March 17, 2004). "Crystal Key II ships". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 9, 2004.
  8. Scott, Ryan (August 2004). "Reviews; Crystal Key 2: The Far Realm". Computer Gaming World (241): 82.
  9. Osborne, Scott (April 21, 2004). "Crystal Key 2: The Far Realm". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 7, 2004.
  10. Harker, Carla (April 23, 2004). "Reviews; Crystal Key 2 (PC)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 18, 2005.
  11. Castro, Juan (April 9, 2004). "Crystal Key 2 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on June 17, 2004.
  12. "Crystal Key 2: The Far Realm (pc: 2004): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on July 26, 2007.
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