PC adventure Paradise to be released as Last King of Africa on DS

Here's some welcome news for the ever-growing band of DS owning adventure fans. Hot on the heels of point-and-click adventures such as Myst for the handheld comes Last King of Africa, a game based on 2006 PC game Paradise.

The game obviously takes place in Africa, with you in the role of Ann Smith, daughter of the last king of Maurania. The plot goes that Ann is on her way to visit her father on his deathbed when her plane crashes near a city held by a rebel faction. Ann survives the crash – it'd be a pretty poor game if she didn't – and wakes up with amnesia in a prince's palace.

Last King of Africa is the first DS game developer Benoît Sokal has made and the DS version of the game promises to be significantly different to the PC's Paradise. For starters, the story has undergone changes, then there's the dialogue interface which can now take place on the DS top screen, allowing for close-ups of character's faces and their expressions. The original game's 3D action phases have also been given the chop in order to make the game a purer, more traditional point-and-click experience.

There's more, though. An overall layout of the game's zones makes orientation easier and there's also a help system which lends a hand at more difficult times. The game's visuals will be 2D but with detailed 3D characters.

Publisher Focus Home Interactive plans to release the game around the end of 2008. With a new Broken Sword title rumoured to be on its way, too, this could be a good year for DS adventure games. And if you ask us, you can never have too many of them.