There still is no more prolific publisher of adventure games than The Adventure Company, and the folks who brought Syberia and Dark Fall to North American shores have a full slate of releases hitting stores in the near future. Here's a preview of what you'll see from TAC over the next six months:

[titlesml]Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon[/titlesml]

The Sleeping Dragon is the third installment in Revolution's Broken Sword series of games. Players of the first two games will feel right at home with the characters in the new game, as they once again take control of both George and Nico to investigate a global series of earthquakes.

With The Sleeping Dragon, Revolution has created a fully 3d engine to allow them to offer a whole new array of puzzles. The new engine also allows for better-executed timed puzzles, in which an action must be completed in a certain amount of time. In addition, Revolution's camera system is a nice balance between fixed and fully mobile solutions. The camera follows a fixed path as the character navigates an area, creating a nicely cinematic experience as well as ensuring that the camera never lodges itself behind a tree or other obstacle.

Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon hits shelves on November 17, 2003 for both PC and XBOX.



[titlesml]The Black Mirror[/titlesml]

The Black Mirror, FutureGames' new adventure, looks to be just in time for Halloween this year. The game tells the story of Samuel Gordon, a british nobleman determined to discover the truth behind the death of one of his ancestors. The quest leads Samuel to several more murders and eventually puts his own life at risk.

A third-person adventure, The Black Mirror's story is divided into six chapters, and includes a variety of puzzles through over 100 locations. The game's engine allows for realtime atmospheric effects such as rain and fog.

The Black Mirror is already available in stores, and is available for the PC only. It is rated M for Mature.



[titlesml]Traitors Gate II: Cypher[/titlesml]

Traitor's Gate II: Cypher, 258 Software's followup to the original Traitor's Gate, looks to be a pretty worthy sequel. Playing as the operative codenamed 'Raven,' your mission is to recover a highly destructive computer virus before it can be unleashed, and to destroy the lab that created it.

Gone are the original game's node-based 360 degree views, to be replaced by realtime 3d environments which allow for much more in-depth exploration of the game's setting in an ancient Babylonian ruin. The game will also feature 3d positional audio and a totally original soundtrack.

Traitor's Gate II: Cypher shipped on October 29, 2003 and is available on the PC only.