Overview
Total Eclipse is a first person adventure game released for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS and ZX Spectrum computers in 1988. It can also be considered an early example of a first-person shooter.
Plot
The game backstory as explained in the manual is that an Ancient Egyptian priest has put a curse on a pyramid dedicated to the Sun God Re. Any object obstructing Re's shrine from the Sun would be destroyed. The protagonist is an unnamed archaeologist who learns that on 26th October, 1930, a total eclipse will obstruct the sun above Cairo, and that the curse will cause the Moon to explode, devastating Earth with debris. He decides to travel to the pyramid and destroy Re's shrine, preventing the curse.
The game starts having just arrived with a biplane parked outside the pyramid he is about to enter, two hours before the eclipse. The player has to enter and explore the pyramid, avoid traps, trigger and activate puzzles and navigate through maze-like rooms. Causes of death include dehydration, and heart attack caused by various hazards such as falling off ledges, getting crushed by falling stones and taking too many hits from poison darts. Throughout the maze the player can discover treasure to accumulate their score, and ankhs that serve as keys to locked doors.
Gameplay
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).