Posts Tagged ‘hidden object’

June 19th, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews 1 Comment »

Lost Civilization Review

Lost Civilization Box

Developer: Icarus Games
Publisher: Phoenix Online Studios
Platform: Mobile – Android, iOS PC – Direct, Green Man Gaming, Steam

Lost Civilization is a hidden object adventure game with some very unusual story twists. The basic setup is that you’re an archaeologist named Sarah with a husband in the same profession. Things were going along fine until your husband gets kidnapped! Of course, your goal is to save him and also unravel a larger archaeological mystery along the way. The setup is pretty cool although things get really weird by the end.

Players solve hidden object puzzles, retrieve objects from said screens, and use them to solve item-based puzzles. For the most part, item puzzles are simple and keep the game moving at a quick pace. I enjoyed seeing some different uses of hidden object screens as well. For example, some tell you to place objects where they belong in a scene. Unfortunately, this did lead to trouble when exactly what objects pair with was unclear.

Lost Civilization Featured

Visually, Lost Civilization looks great. The backdrops are well-illustrated as are the characters. It’s just a shame that Sarah’s male model-esque husband only appears a few times. Hidden object scenes are also nicely designed to keep the difficulty about average. Only a few posed issues because of unclear terms (ex: “cone” referring to a pine cone). Puzzle solutions are also sometimes cruel, such as when you’re tasked with lighting a firecracker in the middle of a pigeon gathering just to get them to fly away.

So maybe Lost Civilization’s story gets wrapped up a bit too much like a modern Indiana Jones movie… It’s still a mostly fun experience. Hints are always readily available and help move things along when you get stuck. I totally admit to using the skip function on the final puzzle simply because it was of a higher difficulty than anything else prior. In any case, give Lost Civilization a go if you’ve got two or three hours to spare.

Score: 3

3 out of 5 alpacas

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June 5th, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews No Comments »

Paranormal State: Poison Springs Review

Paranormal State Poison Spring Logo

Developer: Teyon
Publisher: Legacy Games
Platform: Mobile – iOS PC – Big Fish Games, Steam

Paranormal State is apparently a TV show about paranormal investigators that has been running since 2007. Having cut cable some point around there, I’d actually never heard of it before. In any case, the game focuses on the team as they’ve been called onto a new case in Poison Springs. A museum built near a historic Civil War battle is experiencing a haunting that only they can solve.

Many TV shows get the hidden object treatment. Paranormal State: Poison Springs attempts to bring its ghost hunting style into the game with an assortment of ghost-sensing tech. Alongside hidden object segments are special puzzles involved in sensing spirits. These end up as fairly simple minigames. I seriously appreciated that the sliding tile puzzles simply let you pick up segments and place them elsewhere. Actually having to slide picture pieces around has always been my biggest gaming weakness.

Paranormal State Poison Spring Featured

Hidden object sequences themselves are mostly standard. Some objects are out in the open while others require a multi-step procedure to show up. This is kind of annoying at times where the solution seems obvious but doesn’t work out. Of course, hints make this an easier task by casting blue bubbles around what you need most. Hints extend across the entire game. In fact, Paranormal State includes a built-in walkthrough in case you’re ever completely stuck.

There are some great conveniences in this game but it still drags on. Story pacing seems a bit off, with ghosts posing a serious threat one moment to wandering around without much pressure the next. I don’t know how the story compares to ones in an average episode, but it was alright, if hokey at times. It was pretty cool to see that most of lead characters were women and that the player character is never gendered. As for the character art, it didn’t seem the best digital paint work out there but is definitely good enough. The landscapes fare far better.

Paranormal State: Poison Springs brings a serviceable story with four to six hours of gameplay. With a handful of accessible Achievements, handy walkthrough, and additional unlockable chapter, it’s a neat modern hidden object game.

Score: 3

3 out of 5 alpacas

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April 29th, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews 3 Comments »

Angelica Weaver: Catch Me When You Can

Angelica Weaver: Catch Me When You Can Boxart

Developer: MumboJumbo
Publisher: MumboJumbo
Platform: Amazon, Big Fish Games, MumboJumbo, Steam

Angelica Weaver: Catch Me When You Can is an unusual point and click title. As with many modern games of the genre, your main goal is to solve a handful of puzzles alongside hidden object segments. Interestingly, the hidden object aspect is really downplayed in favor of a bevvy of puzzles and an overarching story that spans centuries.

You play Angelica Weaver, a special agent on the Chicago police force. She’s on the trail of a murderer who appears to be mimicking a series of historic London slayings. Because of Angelica’s unusual ability, she is able to actually travel to the past and connect the clues to help solve the modern day crime.

Angelica Weaver: Catch Me When You Can Featured

The story is unique but unfortunately Angelica is not the most interesting protagonist. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by Nancy Drew’s game persona, but Catch Me When You Can’s lead feels a lot more self-serving. Once she “solves” mysteries there is a distinct pleased gloating in her voice and words. It’s weird how she stops to praise herself in the midst of a murder investigation, but maybe I’d praise my own intelligence too…

Puzzles are not too difficult for the most part, although there are some cumbersome sections. Piecing together 30 pieces of a dress (without a reference image) is one of those moments. Thankfully after a minute or so of time these puzzles are skippable. Hint chances are also very numerous. Still, I just don’t find the mystery all that intriguing. The biggest mystery to me is Angelica’s obsession with dreamcatchers. That, and the fact that the game is called “Catch Me When You Can”.

Score: 2

2 out of 5 alpacas

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January 31st, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews No Comments »

Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy Review

Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy Boxart

Developer: MumboJumbo
Publisher: MumboJumbo
Platform: Nintendo DS PC – Big Fish Games, Steam

The Midnight Mysteries series consists of four hidden object games. The first is The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy, and so far, is the only one I’ve played. As the name implies, your focus is on the famed writer. The “conspiracy” in question is his death. To this day there has never been a definitive cause cited for his unusual predicaments surrounding his death. Midnight Mysteries takes the slant that Poe was murdered – and it’s your goal to figure out who did it.

Gameplay itself is primarily hidden object style. This means that you’re presented with a static screen cluttered with objects and your goal is to find specific things. Unlike most hidden object games, this one sometimes provides strange names for items. I’m not sure why this was done, but it doesn’t enhance the experience any. For the most part, objects are hidden in plain sight very fairly, although a few items sometimes get squished into the very corners of a screen. I wouldn’t look there much, leading to some usage of the hint system.

Hints are plentiful and come in the form of birds. If you see one, just click on it and a new hint will be added to your system! Hints actually just reveal the location of an object. If you get stressed and start clicking frantically, you’ll lose the ability to see the outline of objects for a brief period of time. These outlines are useful when the game gives you a weirdly-named object, or you simply want to see what exactly they’re asking for. Overall, there’s little to stand in the player’s way.

Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy Featured

The biggest issue I had playing The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy was simply that it runs at 800×600. In fullscreen, it made things fairly ugly, and in windowed mode the window was too small. I sometimes had to lean closer to the screen in order to view everything on it. This is all a shame since the visuals are quite nice most of the time. My best solution is to lower your computer’s screen resolution while playing so it’s easier to view the object-filled scenes.

There might be a story in this game but it’s barely important. All I cared about was finding all the objects with as little help as possible. Doing so took around three hours, and it was acceptable. It wasn’t the best hidden object game ever, but the Midnight Mysteries series shows promise. I’ll play the next three soon.

Score: 2

2 out of 5 alpacas

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