1993 MicroProse
Platform: PC
PC Review magazine in August 1993 described Secret of the 7th Labyrinth as requiring you to “Zoom around killing things and make sure you do it fast”. There were also comparisons to Wolfenstein, which the whole segment (see gallery) was highlighting overall across a number of upcoming titles.
Extras however within the game would include stairs, angled walls built into the scenery – which apparently you would be able to build up or dismantle in a map editor and create your own labyrinths.
There wasn’t much else detailed really about the game at all, and the game just disappeared without any further information. However, DOS gaming history site The Obscuritory blogged about the title back in 2016 and did some initial investigations, finding some scans from a Abandonware France’s site entry taken from a magazine (if anyone knows which magazine – please let us know).
The screens revealed that the game had a somewhat Egyptian theme overall and was more of a first-person RPG than an a Wolfenstein-style action game as PC Review’s snippet would suggest. The post (as well as our own initial investigations) show that the game was actually featured in a few mail-order catalogues and a small snippet in Questbusters – but that was pretty much it.
Potentially the magazine where the screenshots were found will reveal a lot more details about the game, though Abandonware France highlights that the game was being developed by MPS Labs first of all. Then they reveal that the role of the game was to control a pretender to the throne who must survive 7 labyrinths – each one incorporating the architecture and atmosphere of an ancient civilization (Egypt, China, Aztecs). There would be monsters, traps and psychic magic throughout.
At the end – the site suggests that the game was abandoned quite quickly – but it isn’t explained why and what happened exactly. The Obscuritory ends with a note that Homeworld developer Alex Garden mentions doing QA work on the game, so its hoped that more can be learnt from them over time.
If you know anything about this game at all – then please do get in touch and we’ll in the meantime to try to track some people down too.
With thanks to Karl Kuras for highlighting, The Obscuritory and Abandonware France for information on the game, screenshots and research.
Gallery
