Tri-Synergy goes from D1rt to Da Vinci at E3

There are times I wish I could type backwards.

After sitting down with Tri Synergy's Joseph Lieberman to take a look at The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript, that feeling crept up again, if only as a way to convey some of the mystery inherent in this latest adventure game from Kheops Studio. The first question, obviously, was what made Secrets different and/or better than the console game based on Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code?

After seeing the game, the answer was obvious. They're completely different.

While Brown's novel uses history to weave a tapestry of conspiracy, murder and religious controversy in the modern world, Secrets was developed in partnership with Chateau du Clos Luce (formerly the Manoir du Cloux), Leonardo da Vinci's last residence and takes place in the year 1522. All the venues in the game are rendered as authentically as possible and several exterior shots of Da Vinci's chateau are nearly indistinguishable from photos of the real thing.

In Secrets, players take the role of Valdo, a disgraced apprentice of Francesco Melzi, who is himself a former disciple of the late Leonardo Da Vinci, who is sent to search for a lost manuscript. Along the way, players must discover clues and solve puzzles to carry them closer to finding the manuscript. Each decision along the way, whether it be opening a sealed letter entrusted to Valdo before delivering it or deciding to change clothes to influence an NPC, has consequences and can affect a Good/Evil meter, which will determine which one of the four endings a player will see. The graphics are amazing, the puzzles and clues are well done and Secrets looks to be one of those games that must be repeated several times just to see everything.

Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript ships on May 24.

After dealing with Da Vinci, the next thing on Lieberman's list was to check out D1rt (formerly called Origin of the Species) a third-person shooter from Nu Generation Games. The female star of D1rt is more Leeloo than Lara, a raver girl with blonde pigtails, a teddy bear backpack and big guns - that she uses to kill ever bigger bugs created by a nasty experiment gone awry. And if that isn't enough, the backpack moves on its own and occasionally offers up bits of advice as players progress through the game. This game looks like a lot of fun, especially once you get the hang of using the telekinetic abilities of the main character in conjunction with her firearms. After all, the only thing better than throwing a crate at an attacker is throwing a flaming crate.

Flaming crates, talking teddy bears, forbidden manuscripts, Da Vinci's last residence ... the only thing missing is an albino monk.