Timelapse (video game)

Timelapse is a computer game released by GTE Entertainment on September 30, 1996 in the United States, and was shortly followed by a European release.

Gameplay
Timelapse is a first-person graphic adventure patterned after games such as Myst. Gameplay consists of the exploration of various ancient temples and cities, and the solving of complex and difficult puzzles. The game is made up of five areas: Easter Island, Egypt, Maya, Anasazi and Atlantis.

Plot
The plot of the story is that a friend of the player, Professor Alexander Nichols, has called the player to Easter Island where he believes he has found a link to the legendary city of Atlantis. The player arrives at the island, picking up the Professor's Camera and Journal, only to realize the Professor is already gone. The Player then explores the island, finding the Professor's camp abandoned, and eventually stumbles upon a cave which contains a Timegate. The player then discovers that The Professor Is Trapped inside The Timegate. The player then uses this time gate to go to one of three worlds: Egypt, Maya, and Anasazi (though the player does not have to go in that order, the Journal suggests that this is the order the Professor went through these worlds.) The player encounters an energy-like robot several times throughout the game, though only for short moments (side-note: This article will refer to the robot as "The Guardian", as no name is ever given). The player proceeds throughout the worlds, Collecting objects known as Genepods, which are devices which contain the DNA from the four cultures, which have various uses.

Once the Genepods of Egypt, Maya, and Anasazi are collected the player is able to access Atlantis. There the Player can find out more about Atlantis and The guardian, and then enters the center building in Atlantis to confront the Guardian. The Player steals a power crystal, sets up an empty stasis tube in the upper chamber, and (after solving a puzzle) seals The Guardian in stasis. The Player then finds Nichols still trapped inside the timegate. It is only a prison for him because the transport is incomplete. The player has the option to complete the transport and free the Professor, but the gate melts afterward, preventing the player from going back to Easter Island with Professor Nichols. The player then takes the three Genepods and adds it to the Atlantean one on a device, then inserts it (the device) into the Launch Panel, which begins the two minute countdown until launch.

If the player waits for the countdown to run out, the game plays a cutscene of Atlantis launching into space with the player aboard, then warping to the Atlantean homeworld. The player then sees a Message sent by the Guardian to the homeworld stating that he has with him crew members and 1 Terran (the player), who have been placed in Stasis for the remainder of the journey, and states that he was damaged, and that being in stasis repaired him. The screen then shows the words:

"The Adventure Continues....

TimeLapse 2: Homeworld."

(In actual fact the sequel was never made.)

Instead of letting the countdown run out, however, the player can choose to escape from Atlantis. At this point the game shows a cutscene of Atlantis blasting off from the point of view of the player in an escape pod. The game ends with a series of newspaper headlines indicating that the Atlantean finds make the player rich and famous.

Reception
The game was fairly well received by critics, earning a grade of 7.4/10 from Gamespot.