Haven: Call of the King (2002)

The King Athellion has left his homeworld to fight in an intergalactic crusade. He left behind a huge bell - The Golden Voice - for his people to call him should they ever be in danger. During his absence however, the evil Lord Vetch invades the planet and enslaves Athellion's people by infecting them with a deadly virus. A virus, that requires a constant treatment with an antidote called catana. As the only one controlling the catana-support, Lord Vetch was easily able to force everyone to work for him. In order to prevent Athelion's return he has hidden The Golden Voice and soon it was forgotten along with the king's promise. Forgotten until Haven, one of the slaves, starts having dreams about a hill and a bell; dreams whose meaning he does not understand. When the news of the Haven's dreams reach Lord Vetch, he orders to murder him. Haven manages to escape and eventually learns about the real meaning of his dreams and is determined to find The Golden Voice and put an end to Lord Vetch' reign. Haven is a fast-paced, action-packed platformer but it also incorporates elements of several other genres. Haven can pick up many different weapons and parts of the game play more like a Shoot'Em Up than a platformer. There are also several vehicles to control, ranging from speedboats and jetcars to gliders ,spaceships and jetpacks. Despite all these action elements, there are also some slower paced levels, which put more emphasize on puzzle-solving and exploration. Haven's conceptual artwork was done by Rodney Matthews, a fairly well-known English sci-fi/fantasy artist, which is evident in Haven's surrealistic, bizarre design.

Storyline

The game begins with Vetch (voiced by Steve Tarlow) receiving a transmission from his lieutenant, Overlord (Jason Gregory), who tells him a slave named Haven has been dreaming about the Golden Voice. Rather than kill Haven, Vetch decides to watch him, hoping to turn the situation to his own advantage. Meanwhile, in Virescent Village on the planet Ferra, Haven (Jake Rosewall-Gallagher) is completing his latest invention; a mechanical bird named Talon. Upon finishing, Haven heads to work in the mines. However, upon entering, he sees his friend Chess (Regan Kerwan) being questioned by a guard. The guard tries to shoot Haven, but misses, and causes the mine to collapse, knocking out Haven. He awakens under the treatment of Dr. Spong (Andrew Silber), who tells him Chess hasn't been seen since the collapse. Setting out to find her, he eventually reaches Darkwater Castle, home of Overlord, who contacts Vetch to tell him Haven has infiltrated the castle, as they planned. Haven watches Overlord interrogate Chess about Haven's dreams. She refuses to tell him anything, and Haven intervenes, killing Overlord and freeing Chess. They escape, and Chess says that while in detention, she heard Overlord mention a wise old slave on the Isle of Heroes. Haven decides he must speak to this slave. Haven heads to the Isle of Heroes, and meets the Wise Man (Terry Bertram). He tells him of his dreams of a golden bell on top of a mountain, and the Wise Man tells him the legend of Athellion and the Golden Voice; Vetch and Athellion were enemies for many years, and Vetch was determined to conquer Athellion's city, Aurias. However, he was unable to even approach the city, as its light would blind him. When Athellion left for the war, he left behind the Golden Bell, but Vetch bribed a council member named Dasis to infect the people of Aurias with a virus for which he controlled the only antidote. Making the people of Aurias his slaves, he sealed off the Mount of Sighs, on which resides the Golden Voice. Over time, even the location of the Mount of Sighs has been forgotten. However, the Wise Man tells Haven when Vetch first came to Aurias, the people hid many artifacts inside a volcano named Mount Firash, and speculates there may be something there which can point the way to the Mount. Haven heads to Firash and locates a map identifying the location of the Mount on the planet Auria. However, as he escapes Firash, he is captured and placed in the Sylex, a space station prison. He flees in an escape pod and lands on Exarco, a planet populated by lizard-like humanoids. He soon meets brothers Chill (Dale Stump) and Will (Aubrey Hodges). They tell him they will give him a ship if he helps them protect their eggs from giant insectoid-like creatures. Haven does so, however, the insect queen attacks the local village. Haven defeats her, and Chill and Will present him with the ship Sunsurfer. He then heads to Auria. He makes it to the Golden Voice, reading a warning stating that once the bell is rung, the person who rings it must wait there for Athellion's return. He rings it, but immediately Chess contacts him, telling him she is stranded without any antidote. He reluctantly leaves, returning to Ferra and rescuing Chess. She tells him she was using a device she found in Overlord's castle to try to find the antidote refinery so as to free the slaves. Haven attaches the device to the Sunsurfer navigation computer and they head to the refinery on the planet Ferven. They pump the antidote into a waiting transport ship, and the duo escape. However, Chess reveals she has been working with Vetch all along, who appears on the bridge and congratulates her on her deception. Vetch tells Haven that Chess is one of his spies, deployed throughout his slave colonies to keep watch for anyone speaking of the Golden Voice. Vetch explains he had Chess call Haven away from the Mount of Sighs immediately after ringing the bell because the legend says that if the person who rings the bell does not remain on the Mount until Athellion's return, Athellion must return to wherever that person is - thus Vetch plans to wait until Athellion appears to Haven, and then kill him. With no more use for Chess, Vetch decides she can die with Haven. At this moment, Athellion arrives, telling Vetch he will surrender if Haven and Chess are spared. Vetch agrees, imprisoning them, and bringing Athellion back to the Mount of Sighs. Haven escapes, but is unable to free Chess, and so sets out in pursuit of Vetch alone, promising to return for Chess. He returns to the Mount of Sighs, where he hears Vetch tell Athellion that he will kill Haven and Chess once Athellion is dead. He then kills Athellion. Haven confronts him, but Vetch defeats him. However, the power of the Mount of Sighs keeps Haven alive. As such, Vetch ties Haven to a rock, pointing out "you can't live forever" and leaves him alone on the planet. The game ends on this cliffhanger.