The newly released Indigo Prophecy (**** out of four) is a dark and mysterious 3D animated game that plays out like a novel, but has interactive and supernatural overtones and plenty of intrigue and suspense. The Indigo Prophecy relates to the Indigo Child, who allegedly possess all the knowledge and wisdom of the ages and promises unlimited power to the kingdom into which the child is born. Hence the quest for nations to amass territory in hopes the Indigo Child will be born within their bounds.

The introduction to the game sets the tone, with night, snow, a raven, surrealistic images and a haunting narration. Hours of game play await. The story begins with the murder of a seemingly random victim. The murder is committed by an ordinary person who seems to have been acting under a mysterious overpowering spell, and here is where you take control of your character to find out what happened and why. The murder was ritualistic and is soon followed by similarly-patterned murders committed by others who are also under the unknown spell. You ultimately determine the outcome of the story by the choices you make. The game also allows you to direct the actions of the police investigators to see the story from their viewpoint and gain more insight into the mystery.

While in control of the central character you have to avoid capture for the murder while on a quest to unravel the mystery. You’re confronted by hurdles such as where to go, who to talk to and more. Because of the ritualistic nature of the murder, you suspect there are dark, other-world forces at work. You seek out the consul of your brother, a priest, for help in unraveling the mystery. But there’s much more information to find in this open-ended, supernatural thriller.

Before the game starts, you can run a tutorial to learn how to control the movements of your character, interact with your surroundings and converse with others in the story. This tutorial is narrated by an on-screen animated version of the game director, David Cage.

Character control is relatively simple, with combos of keyboard and mouse actions being used. Some sequences are timed, forcing you to act or make decisions quickly or be killed. Or, as in our case, you’re dragged off to prison, ending the game. Fortunately, the game auto saves, so you can restart at the point where the game ended. Other sequences display on-screen prompts for you to follow to avoid destruction.

After completing various sequences successfully, you receive points that can be used to unlock bonus goodies such as video clips and more. The graphics are good, but what sets this game apart is the depth of the characters and the details of your character’s movements. The soundtrack, mostly original, is appropriate for the action and makes the skin crawl and the spine tingle, adding much to the effect.

Game publisher Atari added a twist in the installer. While waiting for the three CD-ROMs to load, the screen displays a quiz that covers topics as varied as the size of New York City, the amount of blood pumped per day by the human heart or the number of serial killers logged, all set to dark and eerie music.

The game is rated "M" for mature because of the blood, violence sexual themes, language and drugs. But if you enjoy this genre, the supernatural murder-mystery adventure that awaits your interaction in Indigo Prophecy will be appealing. Be aware though if you’re not used to interactive cinematic novels, you’ll need time and patience to work your way through this one. But it will be worth it.

Ed, Edd n Eddy (*** out of four) is a 3-D animated game based on the zany characters from the Cartoon Network’s top series in the 2-11 year old boy group. The game lets you control the antics of Ed, Edd and Eddy as you direct them around the neighborhood in various adventures. Your job is to help the trio collect various objects. When you get enough of some of these objects, you’ll unlock special game content. Along the way there are obstacles to overcome: fences, doors, squirrels and more.

Each of the Eds has special abilities that you’ll need to use to get the job done. Ed uses his head, literally, to butt objects, and he’s strong and lifts and throws items; Edd uses a slingshot as a weapon and can attack with a ruler; Eddy uses a stink bomb as his weapon and can attack with a pocket watch.

Depending on which character you happen to be controlling at the moment, the Eds can also team up in various formations to increase their abilities. For example Ed, the head butter, can be joined up with the others to give more oomph to knock down a door. Or Eddy can use the others in a totem pole formation to reach high places to get needed objects.

Graphics are good, and character control is made easy with the use of mostly keyboard commands. The game includes cartoon violence and crude humor, even though it has an "E" (Everyone) rating.

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