I'm a big fan of adventure games, but when the main character an elderly professor, you've got to wonder how much action and adventure there's actually going to be. Set in 1903, it's up to you to track down the lost Sword of Toledo - the question is, just how interesting will this quest turn out to be?

Following on from Agon: The Mysterious Codex, this new adventure, Lost Sword of Toledo, takes place in the historical Toledo and sees you unravelling an age-old mystery that underlies the calm atmosphere of the historical Spanish town. There have been three previous episodes that were recently released as a compilation (The Mysterious Codex) and are referred to as Chapter 1, whilst this episode is dubbed Chapter 2. It might be a good idea to play the previous edition if you want the full background of the story so far, but all the important story details can be found in the Extras section of this game.

Agon is a point and click adventure that utilises a first person viewpoint, using the mouse to move around in a full 360 degree rotation. You play a fairly mild-mannered professor by the name of Samuel Hunt, who has travelled to Spain and ended up in the town of Toledo on his quest to decipher an ancient manuscript. However, the man you were supposed meet up with had unfortunately died a year earlier (I guess news didn't travel so fast in the old days!) Upon discovering this, you decide to help protect his daughter, whilst continuing your investigations into the mysterious Sword of Toledo. You have to help her by aiding her jailed future husband, amongst other things. The deciphering of an ancient script isn't new to the genre, but the side story concerning helping the daughter is a positive inclusion to break up the obscure, mind-bending puzzles that you have to trawl through during your journey.

The characters you meet along the way have a lot to say for themselves and the main "adventuring" of the game seems to be gathering clues and secrets from the residents of Toledo. This works in a character building sense; as you learn all the ins and outs of daily life, you get to know the personal histories of the characters, who are incidentally portrayed with decent voice work - the accents don't strain the ears and you develop a general interest in what they say, especially the daughter's plight. The professor is softly spoken throughout, sounding like an inquisitive old man, which is exactly who he is. Some conversations last way too long without uncovering anything new, which slows the already leisurely pace of the game down even further. I couldn't find a way of skipping any of it the dialogue, which just adds to the frustration while you sit there for what seems like hours. The voice work is fine and corresponds well with the characters involved; it just takes too much time to finish a conversation.

The control mechanics are very simple to use, as all you do is point and click. However, it seems as though every object has only one action attributed to it, which makes things very restrictive. Most of the items you interact with are fairly straightforward to find, but there are times when searching for something small that you need to scroll slowly across the screen, top to bottom and left to right - it's hard to determine what is scenery and what is an interactive item that you cannot proceed without. This reminded me of the annoyance often found in Myst, a game that is very similar to Agon in terms of pacing and control. You don't carry many items and I didn't have to combine anything together, which is a little disappointing; given that you're playing as a professor, it would have been a good idea to include the mixing of chemicals or something similar. The puzzles range from logic and memory to simply finding things. Usually you would feel a sense of achievement once you accomplish a fiendish puzzle in an environment like this, but the lack of urgency dissipates much of the satisfaction that can be gained.

The town of Toledo has some beautifully designed backdrops that add to the relaxed, almost idyllic atmosphere that is generated by the visuals. There's a lot of detail to be appreciated, especially in the daughter's house, whilst attempting to look at the sun beating down at you makes the screen glisten with an almost white hot shine, which is a nice inclusion and very lifelike. The character models are a little blocky and their faces don't show too much emotion, which is quite weird considering that you're in Spain (where's the passion?!) This doesn't really help with the relaxed atmosphere you're already experiencing; it's almost like you're just looking around a holiday village and not actually doing any adventuring! I did enjoy the transitional comic-like pictures that appear when you moved between areas, while the ambient sounds enhance the relaxed, lethargic vibe that this game seems determined to create. Various bird sounds and the hustle and bustle of town life do their best to involve you, but the pace is too slow to generate any real excitement.

The problem with Agon: The Lost Sword of Toledo is that it's an adventure game that starts off slowly and never seems to pick up any pace. Too much time is spent muddling through what seems like a whole year's worth of dialogue, so by the time you reach the interesting bits you've lost the will to truly care. There's no replay value either, so once you play it through you won't want to go back to it. If you like adventure games then you might find some limited enjoyment here, but you won't find anything that hasn't been done a lot better elsewhere.

Reviewed by Christopher McNally for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).