The Journeyman Project 2: Buried in Time

Lore & Background

The story begins in the year 2318, six months after the events of the first game. Gage Blackwood is visited by himself from ten years in the future, who has been framed for tampering with historical artifacts. The player must visit the past to find evidence to clear his name. Locations include the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci, the Siege of Chateau Gaillard, and the Mayan temple of Chichen Itza. The culprit is revealed to be an alien race called the Krynn, who manipulate TSA agent Michelle Visard into aiding their crimes. Gage stops the Krynn, saves his future self, and is mind-wiped and sent back to his own time.

Reader's Guide

Buried in Time was a significant entry in the adventure game genre, noted for its shift from the original game's anonymous protagonist to a named character, Gage Blackwood, and for its enhanced graphics and live-action sequences. The PC version was programmed entirely in C++ for improved performance. Sales surpassed 200,000 units by July 1996, and the game ultimately sold 225,000 units on a budget of almost $500,000. The initial release had a notable glitch preventing a perfect score, later fixed in a version 1.1 patch. A manufacturing error in The Journeyman Project Trilogy box set made the game unplayable for many. Reception was mostly positive, with critics praising the scope, graphics, and storyline, though some noted long load times and an unwieldy interface. The game was rereleased through Good Old Games on June 29, 2010, and was named the 89th-best adventure game ever released by Adventure Gamers in 2011.

Did You Know?

• The game was published by Sanctuary Woods, which soon went out of business; Presto Studios then self-published until Red Orb Entertainment picked up distribution rights in 1998.
• A PlayStation version was prototyped but never released.
• The initial 1.0 release included a glitch near the end that prevented a perfect score, fixed in a version 1.1 patch.

A Story of Framing, Sacrifice, and Alien Conspiracy

The narrative of Buried in Time unfolds in 2318, picking up six months after the first game's conclusion. The player controls Gage Blackwood, now a named and personified agent, who is confronted by his own future self. This future version has been framed for tampering with historical artifacts, and the past Gage must travel back through time to gather evidence that will exonerate him. The stakes extend beyond personal vindication: the Symbiotry of Peaceful Beings is weighing whether to revoke Earth's exclusive access to time travel technology, and the trial threatens to shut down the Temporal Security Agency entirely. Gage partners with an artificial intelligence entity called Arthur and journeys to historically significant sites, including Leonardo da Vinci's workshop, the final moments of the Siege of Chateau Gaillard, and the Mayan temple at Chichen Itza. The true mastermind behind the framing is revealed to be fellow TSA agent Michelle Visard, who kidnaps Gage and transports him to an abandoned missile silo. There, Arthur sacrifices himself to banish Michelle to another era. Gage ultimately discovers the Krynn, an alien race manipulating events for their own gain, and succeeds in stopping them before being mind-wiped and returned to his own timeline.

A Radical Reimagining of the Series

The second entry in the Journeyman Project franchise represented a dramatic departure from its predecessor. Presto Studios, the developer, made several bold choices that redefined the series. Most notably, the player character was given a full identity: Gage Blackwood, a named agent with personality, replacing the anonymous, featureless protagonist of the original. The visual presentation was overhauled with significantly enhanced graphics and animation, and the game incorporated numerous live-action sequences to heighten immersion. On the technical side, the PC version was written entirely in C++ to deliver improved performance, a deliberate engineering choice for the era. The game was packaged across three compact discs, reflecting its expanded scope. A PlayStation port was prototyped during development but ultimately never saw a commercial release. The game was developed on a budget of nearly half a million dollars, a substantial investment for a mid-1990s adventure title, and it was published initially by Sanctuary Woods in 1995.

Critical Acclaim and Lasting Praise

Critics largely embraced Buried in Time as a significant step forward for the adventure game genre. Next Generation's Macintosh review praised it as a "hipper, vastly larger sequel" whose completion felt like finishing a thought-provoking novel, awarding three out of five stars while highlighting the visually striking scenes and the unobtrusive educational element of the Arthur chip. Their Windows review bumped the score to four out of five, though they noted the game prioritized spectacle over pure gameplay mechanics. Just Adventure was even more effusive, granting an "A+" and calling it one of the best games they had ever played. Pyramid magazine emphasized the staggering scope spread across three discs, the clever puzzles, state-of-the-art graphics, and smooth scrolling transitions that were rare in the genre at the time. Entertainment Weekly gave it a B. In retrospective, Adventure Gamers' Jack Allin acknowledged the tiny viewscreen and unwieldy interface but celebrated the engaging world, detailed art, and node-to-node animation, concluding the game should appeal beyond science-fiction fans. In 2011, Adventure Gamers ranked it the 89th-best adventure game ever released, and MacUser named it a finalist for best strategy game of 1995.

A Turbulent Publishing Path and Enduring Legacy

The commercial life of Buried in Time was marked by a series of ownership changes that mirrored the turbulent mid-1990s gaming industry. Sanctuary Woods published the title at its 1995 launch but soon folded, forcing Presto Studios to self-publish. Red Orb Entertainment then acquired distribution rights in 1998, only to disappear themselves in 1999. Despite these upheavals, the game sold 225,000 units, with the broader Journeyman Project series reaching approximately 500,000 units by mid-1996. The game's release history is also dotted with technical misfortunes. The initial 1.0 version contained a late-game glitch that made a perfect score impossible, alongside compatibility issues with Windows 95, all addressed in a 1.1 patch. When bundled in The Journeyman Project Trilogy box set, a manufacturing error swapped the data on disc 2 with disc 3, rendering the game unplayable for many buyers. The title found new life on June 29, 2010, when Good Old Games made it available for digital purchase, ensuring that modern players could still experience the game.