[4] The protagonist is a professional thief named Charles Deckard, who is hired by a mysterious organization known as the Black Order to steal an artifact from a New York museum which turns out to be the fabled Pandora's Box.

Unaware of the Box's nature, Deckard opens it, unleashing a plethora of mythological creatures rampaging throughout the world, as well as granting him a strange power (the Signet) which could be the key to resolving this crisis.

It is up to Deckard and a secret paramilitary force known as the Council of 98 to set things right, while the Black Order seeks to acquire the box and control the creatures to conquer the world.

Gameplay is similar to many other titles in the genre of first-person shooters, with a strong focus on immersion and penetrating atmosphere, creating a first person movie-like experience.

The player also has access to a PDA-style journal, which updates with messages as data is found and whenever Deckard is given orders or instructions.

The player's health is monitored by a bar in the corner of the screen, while Animus energy is represented by a spherical gauge.

When he does, he has a Signet branded onto his left hand, and the box suddenly releases a huge energy surge that shoots toward the sky.

After fighting various mythical creatures summoned by the box, Deckard finds out that LeFey has sent his private army, known as the Black Order, against him.

A deal is struck; in exchange for his associate Vivian Kane's information on the Black Order's plans, the Council will help them.

LeFey is hurled out of his control booth by a werewolf, grabbed in midair by a griffin and impaled on the machine, killing him.

A final picture shows Deckard holding his Signet branded hand out to a griffin, seemingly taming it.

[5][6][7] Eurogamer noted that the Xbox 360 version was "hilariously bad" citing unresponsive movement and twitchy crosshairs as well as Spark Unlimited managing "to take Unreal engine 3 and make it look like a 1997 Half-Life mod".

"[25] IGN said of the PC and Xbox 360 versions, "the gameplay comes across as messy and incomplete, the arrangement of hazards and threats from monsters is ineffective at best and boring at worst.