Dead or Alive 5 (a J!-ENT Video Game Review)

“Dead or Alive 5″ is the best “Dead or Alive” fighting game made so far!  It improves in every category including gameplay, controls, stunning graphics and even delivers an entertaining and comprehensible storyline this time around! As a long time fan of the series,  “Dead or Alive 5″ is a must-own fighting game for fans of the series and even those who have never played a DOA game before.  “Dead or Alive 5″ is recommended!

Images courtesy of © 2012 TECMO. All Rights Reserved.

VIDEO GAME TITLE: Dead or Alive 5

TYPE OF GAME: Fighting

PLATFORM: Sony PS3 and XBOX 360

PSN DOWNLOAD SIZE: 5.6GB

DEVELOPER: Team Ninja

COMPANY: Tecmo

RATED: M for MATURE

RELEASE DATE: September 25, 2012

DEAD OR ALIVE 5 marries the signature fighting style of the popular DOA series with stunning new graphics, new online features, and new martial arts techniques to create a strong new direction for the franchise.

It has been over 15-years since the release of “Dead or Alive” and now, “Dead or Alive 5″ for the PS3 and XBOX 360 is now here!  Featuring a more coherent storyline, excellent gameplay and wonderful graphics, suffice to say, “Dead or Alive 5″ is the best game in the DOA series thus far!

DEAD OR ALIVE HISTORY

Dead or Alive, the 3D fighting video game flagship title from Tecmo and developers Team Ninja has continued to go strong since its introduction back in 1996 when it was first introduced in the arcades and on consoles such as the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation.

Inspired with fighting gameplay similar to AM2′s “Virtua Fighter”, the games would emphasize on fighting mechanics, combos, air-juggles and most importantly, it’s countering system.

During the first game’s initial release, “Dead or Alive” was best known for its characters including Ryu Hayabusa from Tecmo’s “Ninja Gaiden” video game series, the series would also be known for its sexy female fighters and their bouncing breasts.  While controversial at the time (note: There were other Japanese fighting games that incorporated the bouncing breasts), it would become the trademark of the series and to be less offensive, “Dead or Alive” would have a clever setting in the options to set an age of a person in order to give less or more bounce.  The game would lead to a remixed version and allowed people to open up many unlockable costumes for the characters including remixed stage design and new characters.

“Dead or Alive” would introduce people to Kasumi and her half-sister Ayane, both are rivals.  And for Ayane, she despises Kasumi for becoming a traitor to her own clan.  While Kasumi, harbors no ill feelings towards her sister.  The game would also introduce players to professional wrestler Bass Armstrong and his strict upbringing of his daughter Tina, who would follow in his footsteps.

The original plot of “Dead or Alive” would revolve around the first Dead or Alive Tournament and its main protagonist would be Raidou, Ayane’s biological father and the uncle to Kasumi.  It is revealed that Raidou raped Kasumi’s mother Ayame, and Ayane was the daughter from the rape.    In the first “Dead or Alive”, Kasumi was the winner of the tournament as she killed her father.  It was revealed that Bayman would kill DOATEC chairmen, Fame Douglas and that Bayman was working for Donovan.

By 2000, with the release of “Dead or Alive 2″,  Tecmo would introduce interactive stages and also showcase tag team mode.  Released for the Sega Dreamcast and Sony PlayStation 2, another remake of the game titled “DOA2: Hardcore” was released and would be an update over its more inferior Dreamcast version and the game .  But the second game would receive one more tweak in 2004 along with the Sega Saturn version of the first game which was released on the XBOX with the title “Dead or Alive Ultimate” featuring a new character named Hitomi and also online mode.

The plot for “Dead or Alive 2″ would feature a storyline of the chaos that had taken place in the world since the death of Fame Douglas, the sponsor of the “Dead or Alive” World Combat Championship.  And now a new person who is corrupt and evil has announced the “Dead or Alive Championship 2″ tournament.

The main antagonist would be Dr. Victor Donovan who is responsible for the death of Fame Douglas.  As the later of DOATEC’s anti-Douglas faction and head of the Development Department, he created a state-of-the-art military fortress where Project Alpha and Omegas were developed.  For Project Alpha, he created a Kasumi Clone (who would be one of the bosses) known as Kasumi Alpha.  But also featured is the evil Tengu who has escaped from the Tengu World into the human world to create chaos and rule the world.

In 2003, the third “Dead or Alive 3″ would be released as an XBOX exclusive was a minor update from “Dead or Alive 2″ but featured longer counters and less emphasis on juggling combos.    The game would also introduced four new characters.

The plot of “Dead or Alive 3″ features the aftermath of Ryu Hayabusa stopping Tengu, but the Tengu of Destruction lead to a dense cloud covering the whole planet in darkness.  The corporation known as DOATEC has lead to the development of Omega Project: Project Alpha and Project Epsilon, courtesy of Dr. Victor Donovan.

Victor plans to create a superhuman known as Omega, based on Genra, leader of the Hajin Mon ninja clan and foster father of Ayane.  Meanwhile, Dr. Donovan kidnaps Fame Douglas’ daughter, Helena (who would inherit the position to become DOATEC’s new chairperson).  Helena is challenged by Donovan to win the third DOA tournament in order to gain her freedom.  Bayman seeks revenge for Donovan for using him to assassinate Fame Douglas.  It is also revealed that Hayate, brother of Kasumi and Ayane was subjected to experiments by Donovan for his Project Epsilon and that Project Omega, was an augmentation of Ayane’s foster father Genra into becoming the ultimate DOA fighter known as Omega.

In 2005, “Dead or Alive 4″ was released for the XBOX 360.  The game would feature 22 characters (including new characters Kokoro, Eliot and Lisa plus an unlockable character, “SPARTAN-458″ from the “HALO” series) and feature six game modes including “DOA Online”.  All moves were updated and tweaked and also become the first main series game to be rated M for Mature.

The game would feature Helena becoming the new DOATEC chairperson, while Donovan was working Kasumi clones for DOATEC as part of Project Alpha, a project to create the perfect fighter.  The original Kasumi clone known as Kasumi Alpha has now been turned into the evil Alpha-152, the ultimate DOA fighter.

Which now leads us to…

DEAD OR ALIVE 5

“Dead or Alive 5″ is the first DOA game to be released via multi-platform since the second game back in 1999.  Developed by Team Ninja minus “Dead or Alive” creator Tomonobu Itagaki,  the new game would be directed by Yohei Shmbori.

The fighting game would feature 25 characters.  18 characters from the “Dead or Alive” universe and would introduce new characters Rig and Mila but also feature Gen Fu and Alpha 152 as unlockable characters.  The video game will also feature three major characters from AM2′s popular “Virtua Fighter” fighting video game series, Akira Yuki, Sarah Bryant and Pai Chan.

The story of “Dead or Alive 5″ takes place two years since the last “Dead or Alive 4″ tournament.  Despite the destruction of the DOATEC TriTower HQ, despite the dissoution of the DOATEC Biotechnology Division and the Projects Alpha, Epsilon and Omega that Dr. Victor Donovan had control of and most importantly despite Helena now being the chairperson of DOATEC, it appears that someone is still working on those projects.  Who are these individuals?

Meanwhile, Helena plans to hold the fifth Dead or Alive tournament, hosted by Zack, in honor of the rebuilding of a new DOATEC.

GAMEPLAY:

Gameplay modes are a slightly different this time around for “Dead or Alive 5″.

STORY MODE:

Story mode is no longer playing a single player for their storyline. Now, it features a chronicle story mode that features every character and duration of this storymode takes about 4 hours.  In the beginning, you can select two types of modes for casual gamers or those who are very good at fighting games.

As for the story, while the main story focuses on the Dead or Alive 5 tournament, there is also an underlying story of someone continuing the project of Donovan.  Other storylines revolve around one wanting to win the tournament or wanting to find someone and fight them.

While each character’s storyline tend to have a connection with others.  Story mode features anywhere around three matches or more with each character.  There are missions that optionally can be played that requires you to pull of a move 1-3 times (which gets more difficult as you progress).  Missions include, throwing someone while in crouch mode three times or blocking a hit three times.

FIGHTING MODES:

ARCADE MODE: Arcade is a mode where you can play a character and take on other characters.  By beating the game with that character, you unlock new costumes and titles.

VERSUS MODE:  You choose who you want to fight.

TIME ATTACK MODE: How many characters can you beat in the shortest amount of time.

SURVIVAL MODE: Fight as many characters per stage (10 characters per stage).  If you lose, game over.

TRAINING MODE: With a lot of moves, you can utilize the training mode  to not only learn moves but open achievements.

ONLINE MODE: You can fight against anyone around the world via a simple match which you can start fighting immediately, a ranked match, lobby match and enable spectator mode to chat with other players.  Including an Online Dojo where you can practice and train with other characters.  Watch Mode allows you to watch replays of your match and take pictures.  During my test of online mode, I personally didn’t notice any lag during matches.  If you are competing in arcade mode and non-online mode, you will be notified if one challenges you in a match.

CONTROLS:

Controls are similar to previous “Dead or Alive” games.  One button to hit, grab or throw a character.   The game does include a power attack if you are under 50% health and knock them out of a danger zone (and fall to another part of the stage).  But there is a cliffhanger event, in which a character grabs on to an object on the stage before falling out and use it to activate an action sequence.

The game also utilizes a new critical system, such as critical stuns, critical combos and critical bursts.  Which definitely affects gameplay and one needing to think quickly of how they would counter if a critical move is performed.

Overall, controls for a character in “Dead or Alive 5″, control quite smoothly during gameplay.  I was pretty impressed of how responsive the characters were.  The more difficult holds takes a while to get down especially the critical system, but the tutorial mode will help you through that.

GRAPHICS:

The graphics for “Dead or Alive 5″ is fantastic!  There is a lot of detail in the character models.  This is the best I have ever seen of Kasumi, Ayane, Hayate, Tina, Zack and others.  When you fight, the characters get grimy and dirty, they also sweat and you can easily see the drips of sweat through their skin or falling towards the floor.

The stage design is also excellent and pleasing to look at.  I felt that previous games including “Dead or Alive 4″ felt too repetitive when it came to the arenas.  But this time around, with the interactivity of an area and how detail many stages loo, I was very impressed!

If I have to be nitpicky when it comes to graphics, it would be for some of the text in story mode.  Even playing on a 51″, the grunge typeface used for the text was a bit difficult to read.  But I figure, this may be subjective.

AUDIO:

For the most part, “Dead or Alive 5″ sounds great.  Audio is crystal clear and you can easily change the audio to Japanese or English.  Dialogue is easily understandable and while I am used to the Japanese voicework, which is awesome!  The English is very good.  So, fore those wondering if Tecmo provides both vocal soundtracks, they do!

As for sound effects and ambiance, I would have loved the audio to be much more immersive and surround channels to be used much more.  But for the most part, dialogue, music and sound effects are crystal clear and are front-channel driven.

REPLAY VALUE: 

“Dead or Alive” games are known for replay value, due to the amount of costumes given for each character.  For completionists, not only will they be playing “Dead or Alive 5″ for long periods of time to get all clothing or titles but even the trophies/achievements require one to play up to a 1,000 matches.

I’m going to come out and say it… “Dead or Alive 5″ is the best “Dead or Alive” game created so far!

As a long time fan of the series, one who has put a ton of hours into this series since the game has first came out, “Dead or Alive 5″ is fantastic in every category I can think of.  From the look of the characters, how smooth they play and the learning curve to learn other critical moves is impressive!

The amount of moves these characters have are quite impressive.  As a big Helene, Ayane and Kasumi fan, I simply love the gameplay and how I was able to to chain combos and after getting beat after a string of hits, being able to counter right back and just barely win.  And it’s one thing to be able to be excited about how smooth the game plays during offline mode, but then going online and taking on many people and seeing how smooth gameplay was online with these characters, I was very pleased!

And on the topic of characters, I also was shocked that three major “Virtua Fighter” characters were added to the roster.  Sure, “Dead or Alive 4″ may have seemed cool for “HALO” fans with the addition of SPARTAN-458, but for me, the character really had no place in the DOA timeline.  Because I knew that “Dead or Alive” was inspired by “Virtua Fighter” (and also “Tekken”), I was very impressed that three top tier “Virtua Fighter” characters were included.  As a fighting video game fan, Akira, Sarah and Pai is not only a big surprise but just the ultimate nod to fighting game fans, and I’m sure in Japan, fans greeted the addition of these three characters with amazing enthusiasm as well!

And let’s discuss the stages.  When “Dead or Alive 3″ was released, it definitely broke new ground with the multiple level within a level scenery and with “Dead or Alive 4″, while the scenes looked amazingly beautiful on the XBOX 360, for me, the stages were very good and improved in graphics tremendously.  But with “Dead or Alive 5″, I love how different the interactive arena’s were.  Some levels could take a good amount of beating or certain move to really knock someone out to another level.  Nothing is too easy, you need to learn those stages where as previous games, you pretty much knew that if you can sidestep and knock a character to a certain direction, they were going to fall.

But this time around, you really need to figure out the arenas and how to take advantage of the surrounds.  But overall, I love the detail of the stages and how the lighting effects were done.  I felt the arena’s in tandem with the beautiful character designs really made “Dead or Alive 5″ such a visually stunning game.

And as the game is visually stunning and gameplay is the best so far in a DOA game, for those who did care about the story of the series, Team Ninja, went all out in crafting a storyline that is much more easier to understand and makes sense than prior games.

To tell you the truth, past “Dead or Alive” games were getting near “King of Fighters” status in terms of storyline forgetfulness.  But this time around, because of how the story mode was presented, you know what is going down with each character.  And there are some twists and turns in the storyline that make you wonder who is truly “dead or alive”.

And for those critics who say the game is not a big step from “Dead or Alive 4″, that surprises me because “Dead or Alive 5″ improves in every category from it’s fighting mechanics, graphics and overall gameplay.  I have to say that the fighting experience this time around compared to the last game is quite significant.  I simply love this game!

Sure, If I had to be the most pickiest fighting gamer and what I wished was included in “Dead or Alive 5″, more characters and customization.  “Dead or Alive 5″ does have many characters at 25 including the added “Virtua Fighter” characters but in terms of original characters, there are only two, Rig and Mila (excluding Alpha-152).  For a newer game, you tend to expect anywhere between four to six new characters.  But once again, that’s me being nitpicky.

And in this day and age of modern fighting video games, customization is becoming a necessity for many gamers.  “Virtua Fighter” has been able to achieve part of its efficacy through it’s engaging faux tournament battles but also the game’s ability to purchase items and utilize these items to customize and change the appearance of your character.  And other fighting games started to incorporate that element.  “Dead or Alive 5″ would be one game, because of its many characters, that would have been perfect for item customization for its characters and also the ability to change a character’s appearance. I do feel that if “Dead or Alive 5″ incorporated that element, it would have made this game close to being perfect!

Overall, “Dead or Alive 5″ is the best “Dead or Alive” fighting game made so far!

It improves in every category including gameplay, controls, stunning graphics and even delivers an entertaining and comprehensible storyline this time around! As a long time fan of the series,  “Dead or Alive 5″ is a must-own fighting game for fans of the series and even those who have never played a DOA game before.

“Dead or Alive 5″ is recommended!

 

James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Games of Passion (a J!-ENT Video Game Review)

The fourth video game in the “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club” video game series makes its debut on the Nintendo DS but unfortunately developers made this game too easy for its own good.  While dedicated fans will probably play the game to follow the members of the “Women’s Murder Club”, those expecting gameplay and  hidden object/puzzle challenges similar to its PC counterpart will be disappointed.

VIDEO GAME TITLE: James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Games of Passion

YEAR OF INITIAL RELEASE: 2009

VIDEO GAME GENRE: Hidden Objects/Puzzles

PUBLISHER: THQ

MEDIA: Nintendo DS

MEDIUM REQUIREMENTS: Nintendo DS, DSi, DSiXL

RATINGS: T for Teen

RELEASE DATE: September 22, 2009

VIDEO GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

A string of murders, seemingly unrelated, unfold before Lindsay and the gang. Beautiful women go missing and turn up dead around every corner leading to an exciting climax involving the least likely of suspects.Play as Lindsay, Claire and Cindy in this thrilling adventure to solve the mystery and catch the killers.

With three video games from the “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club” having been released on PC and as there is continuing demand for more casual games, specifically hidden objects games for the portable consoles, THQ released “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Games of Passion”  for the Nintendo DS.

So, what is “Women’s Murder Club”?

In 2002, James Patterson released his first “Women’s Murder Club” novel “1st to Die” and since then created a total of eleven novels as of 2012. The novels feature homicide cases and four women who have a group known as “Women’s Murder Club” who work together to solve each murder mystery.

The main protagonist is Inspector Lindsay Boxer who investigates various homicide cases and is aided by her friends Deputy District Attorney Jill Bernhardt (who tries to keep Lindsay within the law and issues the search warrants), Dr. Claire Washburn (who works in the forensics lab) and Cindy Thomas, a journalist at the San Francisco Bee.  Note:  It’s important to note that for “Games of Passion”, Deputy District Attorney Jill Bernhardt is no longer featured and has been replaced by Yuki Castellano.

In 2007, a ten episode drama series based on the characters aired on ABC and with the popularity of the novels and drama series, hidden objects games were released on the PC/Mac and the Nintendo DS.

For the PC and Mac, a trio of hidden objects games were released: “Death in Scarlet” (2008), “Darker Shade of Grey” (2009) and “Twice in the Blue Moon” (2009) and each were collected in a triple pack titled “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection” in 2010.

While each game revolves around homicide cases, the fourth game “Games of Passion” has similarities to the first game “Death in Scarlet” and features more activity from Inspector Warren Jacobi and also Inspector Lindsay Boxer has a new partner named Ryan Silver.

“Games of Passion” begins near the Golden Gate Bridge where a woman can be seen falling over a boat, screaming.

Early in the morning, Inspector Lindsay Boxer receives a call about a homicide and Chinese letters etched on her.   As Lindsay tries to look into the murder of the woman, a man drinking some coffee at the park is mysteriously murdered.  Another homicide has taken place and Lindsay is once again checks out the second homicide.

More homicides are taking place around the city and now Lindsay with the help of her friends at the Women’s Murder Club must work together and find out who is responsible before another homicide happens in the city!

GAMEPLAY

“James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Games of Passion” is a hidden objects and puzzle game specifically made for the Nintendo DS.  Hidden objects games are best played on the Nintendo DSI XL due to its bigger screen but for those with any version of the DS, the game is played by holding it by the side (like a book).  Using your stylus, you are given a list of hidden objects to find and you click on the hidden objects.

There are puzzles involved which involve turning objects or sliding objects to form an image or other types of puzzles that are much different than its PC counterpart.  If anything, developers did a good job of trying to make the hidden objects visible for the DS/DSi/DSi XL and using the DS windows/touch pad much more convenient to find hidden objects and partake in puzzles.

In fact, I will say that aside from one puzzle in the game, “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Games of Passion” is too easy and is recommended primarily for those who are new to hidden object games (HoG).  If I rate the hidden objects game from 1 being the easiest, 3 as average and 5 as difficult, this game would be a 2 or maybe a 1.5.  I was finding objects way too easy and this is a common theme with “Women’s Murder Club” games but this one was too easy.  The puzzles were not difficult at all and for Dr. Claire Washburn, the whole bottle organization to isolating the blood has been replaced by these color-based objects that is just too easy that I was surprised.  Washburn puzzles tend to be my pet peeve because they are either too redundant or too challenging, but now…it’s too easy.

There is no penalty for overclicking and there are hints, but you are limited to three per chapter.  There is no solve button for the puzzles.

As for the puzzles, there is no doubt that THQ was going for a younger demographic.  Because of its easy difficulty but this is the first “Women’s Murder Club” where journalist Cindy Thomas does not have much to do.  In previous games, she would get her information by visiting bars and playing a wordplay game.  Not for this game…  Cindy does have one hidden objects scene but if anything, “Games of Passion” is heavily focused on Lindsay Boxer.

There was one game which involves a sliding puzzle that probably took me about 30 minutes, but other than that… I was blazing through the hidden objects games and puzzles quite easily and I finished the game probably in less than three hours.

GRAPHICS:

The graphics for “Games of Passion” is quite interesting because these characters never look the same in each game.  I would say that the first two games on the PC were more cartoon/comic book-style in presentation but “Games of Passion” is painted during the cut scenes.  And unlike the conversation cut scenes, this time you read the dialogue and they are interactive (as the members try to retrace Lindsay’s case in order to get more clues or developers wanted to rehash what you have found earlier in the chapter for added gameplay).

But graphics are good but I will say that I liked how they designed Cindy Thomas for this game, while I prefer Lindsay and Claire’s character designs from the third game, “Twice in a Blue Moon” much more.

AUDIO:

The music for “Games of Passion” has a similar style to previous games but like most hidden object games, the music is forgettable as you are more focused on solving the cases than listening to the music.

REPLAY VALUE:

There isn’t much of a replay value unless you want to replay the mahjong game or do a “Create your mystery” using the DSi or DSi XL camera.  You must take pictures using the camera on your DSi/DSi XL first and then you can create your own WMC mystery game.

While I do enjoy the “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club” games for its storyline and its characters, I’ve noticed that hidden objects games for the Nintendo DS tend to be dumbed down a bit.  May it be that developers want to cater to beginners to hidden object games but developers should have considered an easy or hard mode (like some games have for the PC/Mac versions of a HoG game) and put a little more time into it.

With the release of “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Twice in a Blue Moon”, the developers did a fantastic job with the hidden objects and puzzles and made an awesome game!  With this fourth game, granted it was made for the Nintendo DS but gameplay was too easy for its own good.  People want to get their money’s worth and I surely would have been upset if I paid over $20 for this game for three hours of easy gameplay.

Fortunately, you can find this game online for a cheap price and for me, it was a must play game because I figured, I played the first three games on PC, might as well play the fourth game and see where the adventures of the Women’s Murder Club goes with this latest game.

So, while the gameplay was too easy, as for the storyline, it was good but there were a lot of things that made me question the storyline.  For one, what happened to Jill Bernhardt?  Is the new character Yuki a Deputy District Attorney?  Why is Ryan Silver a partner of Lindsay Boxer, this character is lazy and is always out eating while Lindsay is doing all the work.

Also, most WMC games tend to emphasize the ability to play Lindsay, Cindy and Claire but they really shortened any games or puzzles that featured Cindy or Claire.

In the end, I’m not going to complain too much about this game since I bought it online for under $6 but if I paid over $15-$20, I would be disappointed because it was too easy and as for the ending, talk about a game that was too simplified and not a great way to end it.  And almost reminded me how I felt about the first WMC game and its ending.

For “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Games of Passion”, I give it a RATING: C-

 

Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove [Standard Edition] (a J!-ENT Video Game Review)

Big Fish Games’ “Mystery Case Files” are known to be among the best hidden object games available and with each release, there is always something to look forward to.  With the sixth game in the series, “Dire Grove”, this dark and creepy game features an enjoyable storyline, challenging gameplay and also videos that have that “Blair Witch” freak-you-out type of style to it!  “Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove” is highly recommended!

VIDEO GAME TITLE: Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove

YEAR OF INITIAL RELEASE: 2009

VIDEO GAME GENRE: Hidden Objects/Interactive Hidden Objects

PUBLISHER: Big Fish Games

MEDIA: (Available on several Viva Media Packs or as a download)

MEDIUM REQUIREMENTS: Windows 7, Vista, XP, (also available on Mac and iPad)

RATINGS: E 10+

RELEASE DATE: November 25, 2009

VIDEO GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

 

Natalie Brooks: The Mystery of Hillcrest High (from the Natalie Brooks: Triple Trouble Collection) (a J!-ENT Video Game Review)

“The Mystery of Hillcrest High”, The third game in the “Natalie Brooks” series is enjoyable but also quite challenging!  While the hidden objects gameplay is easy, it’s the puzzles that you will find the most challenging (and sometimes frustrating). But overall, a wonderful third game in the “Natalie Brooks: Triple Trouble Collection”!

VIDEO GAME TITLE: Natalie Brooks: The Mystery of Hillcrest High (from the Natalie Brooks: Triple Trouble Collection)

YEAR OF INITIAL RELEASE: October 22, 2009

VIDEO GAME GENRE: Hidden Objects/Interactive Hidden Objects

PUBLISHER: Viva Media

MEDIA: (Available on several Viva Media Packs or as a download)

MEDIUM REQUIREMENTS: Windows 7, Vista, XP,

RATINGS: E for Everyone

RELEASE DATE: August 16, 2010

VIDEO GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

With the popularity of the Nancy Drew games in America, it was no surprise that Russian developers at Alawar Games would make their own teenage sleuth named Natalie Brooks, who would eventually become the face of many of the Viva Media game packs.

With three games released in the U.S. (“The Secrets of the Treasure House”, “The Treasures of the Lost Kingdom” and “The Mystery of Hillcrest High”), I had to see how Natalie Brooks stands up compared to other young adult or teenage sleuths in hidden objects games.

So, instead of buying one, fortunately Viva Media has released “Natalie Brooks: Triple Trouble Collection“, featuring all three games for the price of one (note: For an even better deal, check out the recently released Mystery Masters: Secret Stories Collection – 15 Pack).

For the third game in the “Natalie Brooks” series, “Natalie Brooks: The Mystery of Hillcrest High”, Natalie is enjoying some R&R until she receives a secret message that her childhood friend had sent her.

Natalie and Chad used to have fun sending secret decoded messages to each other and when she receives a message that he is in danger, Natalie has to investigate.

And the more she digs deeper into the investigation, it appears that others are on to her and want her dead!  Will Natalie find what happened to her old school friend and is he alive?

INSTALLATION:

“Natalie Brooks: The Mystery of Hillcrest High” from the “Natalie Brooks: Triple Trouble Collection” was easy to install. A Viva Universal dashboard appears and you can select which game to install.

GAMEPLAY

“Natalie Brooks: The Mystery of Hillcrest High” is a game that is hidden objects (HoG) and interactive hidden objects (IHog) and is pretty much an adventure-lite casual game.  At first glance, I thought I was going to breeze through this game and beat it within 2-3 hours but instead, it was actually much harder than I expected because there are a lot of objects that you find, and you have to figure out how to use them.  While there is a hint button for the hidden objects, some objects require you to find out how they work.

While the hidden objects games were easy (on a scale of 1-5, one being easy, three as average and five as difficult, I give this one a 2 or 2.5 as it is easy), the challenge were the puzzles.    There are no clear instructions and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out things via trial and error or just skipping over a puzzle or two as I found it too frustrating.

And so, while many people will breeze through the hidden objects, it’s the puzzles and finding where things go, that will actually challenge the gamer.  And that’s probably a good thing because I thought this game would be too easy.  But instead, I ended up beating the game probably around 6 hours.

So, what seems like an easy game, ends up being quite challenging and that’s a good thing!  But sometimes they just made these puzzles a bit too difficult that even I had to look at a walkthrough as I found myself lost at times.

So, there are hints for the hidden portion parts of the game, there are solve puzzle moments for the game as well and no punishment for over-clicking on objects.  But the game does require at times for one to figure out certain scenes without hints.  So, be prepared for that!

If by any chance, you do get stuck and need help with beating this game, I recommend visiting this link on the Gamezebo walkthrough website.

GRAPHICS:

What interested me to this game was the fact that the character had anime-ish style look, and made me wonder if the actual backgrounds were in the same type of design.  The game features two types of designs, the cut scenes are in a cartoon-like manner, like the character featured on the package cover and the main-game is painted and is on par with a lot of Alawar Games released back in 2009.  The objects and scenery is painted well and has a sort of cartoon feel at times, but for the most part the hidden objects are painted and well-detailed.

AUDIO:

The music is actually pretty good for this game. It’s one of those soundtracks that is not as noticeable, and that’s probably a good thing for this game as you focus more on the actual game and not the music (which loops).

REPLAY VALUE:

There is no replay value for this game. You beat the game and that is it.

I have to say that “Natalie Brooks: The Mystery of Hillcrest Hight” was an intriguing game.  I like the fact that Alawar games made their own teen sleuth and that it was not a direct copy of Nancy Drew games.  Natalie has her own spunky style and she’s a person that always finds trouble and is always needing a plan of how to get out of trouble.

For a hidden objects game, the hidden objects was easy but the puzzles were often a major pain, slightly frustrating but beatable. And for those who are not that good at these games, there are hints for the hidden objects games, solves for puzzles but there are scenes that require you to figure things out for yourself.

“The Mystery of Hillcrest High” has its share of a few interesting characters and the storyline was good.  The good news is that for an Alawar game, this one actually has a longer ending and ending credits (so, no abrupt endings like other older Alawar hidden objects games).

The game is well-detailed, vibrant and has a fun storyline (the longer you play the game).  There are so many different kind of puzzles, so for me that is a plus.  Although, some of those puzzles were too frustrating and I had to resort to a walthrough.  But hardcore, experienced HoG players will have no problem with this title.

Overall, “Natalie Brooks: The Mystery of Hillcrest High” is a fun and challenging, older hidden objects game and perhaps its time for new Natalie Brooks game to come out. It’s a casual game with no timers but some puzzles may take you longer than others.

And there is a lot of potential with this character and hopefully Alawar Games continues this series.   For those who want to play the first three games, you can find the “Natalie Brooks: Triple Trouble Collection” online for the price of one game (or sometimes for around $6), so if you have ever been curious about the “Natalie Brooks” games, this triple game set is worth it!

For “Natalie Brooks: The Mystery of Hillcrest High”, I give it a RATING: B-

 

James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Twice in a Blue Moon (as part of the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection) (a J!-ENT Video Game Review)

The third video game in the “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club” video game series takes the good from the first two games and gives us the best game of the series yet!  Challenging hidden objects games, puzzles and more in “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Twice in a Blue Moon”

VIDEO GAME TITLE: James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – A Darker Shade of Grey (as part of the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection)

YEAR OF INITIAL RELEASE: 2010

VIDEO GAME GENRE: Hidden Objects/Interactive Hidden Objects

PUBLISHER: I-Play

MEDIA: PC CD-Rom

MEDIUM REQUIREMENTS: Windows XP, Vista, Pentium 1.0 GHz processor or faster, 256 MB of RAM, 89 MB Hard Drive space, DirectX 9.0, Keyboard, Mouse

RATINGS: T for Teen

RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2010

VIDEO GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

Typically, when developers release a game based on a series that same year, two things come to mind.  One is two different development teams and the second would be a rushed video game series.

With the release of the third “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club” game titled “Twice in a Blue Moon”, what we get is the best in gameplay of the first two games, spoken dialogue and graphics which are much better than the previous two games.

So, what is “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club”?

In 2002, James Patterson released his first “Women’s Murder Club” novel “1st to Die” and since then created a total of eleven novels as of 2012.  The novels feature homicide cases and four women who have a group known as “Women’s Murder Club” who work together to solve each murder mystery.

The main protagonist is Inspector Lindsay Boxer who investigates various homicide cases and is aided by her friends Deputy District Attorney Jill Bernhardt (who tries to keep Lindsay within the law and issues the search warrants), Dr. Claire Washburn (who works in the forensics lab) and Cindy Thomas, a journalist at the San Francisco Bee.

In 2008, a ten episode drama series based on the characters aired on ABC and with the popularity of the novels and drama series, hidden objects games were released on the PC/Mac and the Nintendo DS.

For the PC and Mac, a trio of hidden objects games were released: “Death in Scarlet” (2008), “Darker Shade of Grey” (2009) and “Twice in the Blue Moon” (2009) and each were collected in a triple pack titled “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection” in 2010.

Also attracting people to the “Women’s Murder Club” games was the fact that “Gabriel Knight” creator Jane Jensen was involved as a designer and director for the trilogy.

While each game revolves around homicide cases, what makes the third game much more interesting is the adversary.  What we have is a serial killer who is committing homicides copied from serial murderers such as  Jack the Ripper, H.H. Holmes, etc.

But this time, the killer is toying with the police, Inspector Lindsay Boxer and journalist Cindy Thomas.  Giving them clues before he commits the murderer, but for some reason, they are also receiving distressed letters from another person in connection with the serial killer.

This is Lindsay’s biggest challenge yet.  Will she be able to find the serial killer before he kills more victims?

INSTALLATION:

The “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection” was easy to install and had no problems with installation whatsoever. There is one icon that is installed onto your desktop and when selecting the icon, you have a choice to click either of the three games. You can not install each game separately.

GAMEPLAY

“James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Twice in a Blue Moon” is  major improvement over the past two games.  Where the first game was primarily hidden objects with puzzle elements and the second game focusing a lot more on the puzzles than the hidden objects, perhaps there were many complaints with “A Darker Shade of Grey” or a different developer because things are much different this time around.

First, the list of hidden objects to find makes its return to the “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club” game.  When “A Darker Shade of Grey” ditched it, I was upset, but the developers wanted to make sure that there was balance by incorporating the list of hidden objects of the first game to find pieces of a main hidden object of the second game, that it made it a much more enjoyable game.

As for the hidden objects, if one is easy, three is average and five is difficult, I give this game a three.  I found it average in terms of finding hidden objects.  They were not too small or too difficult to find, but there were some that were very challenging and even made me use a hint at times.  But for most of them, I didn’t need to utilize a hint, but that was fine with me.  No frustrating or hard to find (or transparent) hidden objects, they are there…but it’s up to you to find them.  I will say that there were a few that required precise mouse clicking on an object (primarily in one hidden object scenewhich featured a ripped letter sent by the serial killer that had gone astray all over the office).

As for the puzzles, the second game was challenging because it required some major mouse clicking.  The same can be said with this third game BUT I found these games much more easier on a laptop (mouse pad), where the second game…you literally needed to attach a mouse because time and timing was an issue.  This time, it was much easier than before.

With that being said, there were puzzles that were difficult and I had to click on “Solve”.  These were challenging and frustrating but would benefit those who wanted more of a challenge.  One featured journalist Cindy Thomas at a law school library and the object is to find books in shelves broken down by year.  But there are other students zipping away trying to get books and the object is not to crash into them.  I was literally playing about 20 times but kept losing at the end and had to hit solve.

The final game also features something bit similar but these two games are the ones that made me hit solve.  The others are not so bad, such as, putting a puzzle together or decoding a letter from the serial killer or a distressed mysterious person.

It’s important to note that Dr. Claire’s brown bottles of organization from “Death in Scarlet” returns in this third game and fortunately, it is not redundant and not too difficult.

A reminder that the game only gives you five hints per chapter for hidden objects and you always get a “solve” during the puzzles.  In terms of gameplay, I would say that this game will take anywhere between 4-6 hours, depending on one’s experience with hidden objects and puzzle games.

Overall, the gameplay was much more enjoyable for this third game and it’s something that developers can definitely build upon for future Women’s Murder Club games.

GRAPHICS:

The graphics for “Twice in a Blue Moon” is a major improvement.  The cut scenes are still in comic book style format, but instead of hand-drawn characters that are colored or characters that are slightly painted, this time they are all painted and the graphics for each scene look very good, beautifully detailed for a game made back in 2009.

AUDIO:

The music for “Twice in a Blue Moon” uses the same style of music as the previous two games but the biggest difference is the fact that there is dialogue.  Unfortunately, the dialogue is only at the beginning cut-scene of the game.  Not sure why they didn’t do it for the complete game but the intro cut scene has dialogue and in another scene which features someone calling out Lindsay’s name.  Other than that, audio was good and the spoken dialogue was a major improvement.

REPLAY VALUE:

No replay value.  Once you beat it, you’re done.  Unless, you want to beat the game without using a hint or solve, then I can see one wanting to replay the game.

I have to admit that the first two “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club” were games that I enjoyed its story, but felt the games had things that were good and bad, while the second game was much more frustrating despite the more entertaining storyline.  The good news is that “Twice in a Blue Moon” takes the good from the first two games in terms of hidden objects and puzzles, and with better graphics, audio and a really dark mystery storyline, it makes this game the best of the first three games.

“James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Twice in a Blue Moon” was such a major improvement in gameplay but the storyline of trying to capture this serial killer, it’s what made this game so dark.  Especially how the game tries to incorporate the creepy mindset that the killer uses from previous homicide cases of major serial killers such as Jack the Ripper, H.H. Holmes to name a few.  And where the last games had suspects, these suspects have more to do with the storyline than how the other games have utilized them before.  In the previous two games, it was formulaic and you can literally tell who was responsible for the crime.  For “Twice in a Blue Moon”, it literally kept me glued to this game as I wanted to know who was responsible.

But there is no doubt that this third game is the best in this trilogy so far.   And with the price of the triple pack at under $10, for three games that last quite awhile and are not too easy or too difficult, it’s definitely worth purchasing “the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection” for that low of a price.

Overall, I recommend the purchase of “Twice in a Blue Moon” but moreso, the purchase of “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection” because you get three games for the price of one.  So, if you are wanting to give these “Women’s Murder Club” games a try, I highly recommend purchasing the “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club collection” rather than purchasing them individually.

For “Twice in a Blue Moon”, I give it a RATING: A-

 

James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – A Darker Shade of Grey (as part of the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection) (a J!-ENT Video Game Review)

The second game in the “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club” series, “A Darker Shade of Grey” featured an enjoyable and captivating mystery storyline, better graphics over the first game and also some challenging puzzles.  But it also takes a  few steps back by eliminating the hidden objects gameplay (utilizing lists)  of the first game and instead going for something new and different, especially using timed click-based games.  Some may love it, some may hate it. For me, “A Darker Shade of Grey” was good, but not great.

VIDEO GAME TITLE: James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – A Darker Shade of Grey (as part of the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection)

YEAR OF INITIAL RELEASE: 2009

VIDEO GAME GENRE: Hidden Objects/Interactive Hidden Objects

PUBLISHER: I-Play

MEDIA: PC CD-Rom

MEDIUM REQUIREMENTS: Windows XP, Vista, Pentium 1.0 GHz processor or faster, 256 MB of RAM, 89 MB Hard Drive space, DirectX 9.0, Keyboard, Mouse

RATINGS: T for Teen

RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2010

VIDEO GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

In 2002, James Patterson released his first “Women’s Murder Club” novel “1st to Die” and since then have created a total of eleven novels.

The novels feature homicide cases and four women who have a group known as “Women’s Murder Club” who work together to solve each murder mystery.

The main protagonist is Inspector Lindsay Boxer who investigates various homicide cases and is aided by her friends Deputy District Attorney Jill Bernhardt (who tries to keep Lindsay within the law and issues the search warrants), Dr. Claire Washburn (who works in the forensics lab) and Cindy Thomas, a journalist at the San Francisco Bee.

In 2008, a ten episode drama series based on the characters aired on ABC and with the popularity of the novels and drama series, hidden objects games were released on the PC/Mac and the Nintendo DS.

For the PC and Mac, a trio of hidden objects games were released: “Death in Scarlet” (2008), “Darker Shade of Grey” (2009) and “Twice in the Blue Moon” (2009) and each were collected in a triple pack titled “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection” in 2010.

Also attracting people to the “Women’s Murder Club” games was the fact that “Gabriel Knight” creator Jane Jensen was involved as a designer and director for the trilogy.

The second game of the series “A Darker Shade of Grey” begins with the four women of the Women’s Murder Club discussing how great there are no homicides in the San Francisco area and perhaps now is the best time to go on vacation.  And right about the time when Lindsay is looking forward to that vacation, she receives a call that a teenage boy was found dead.

The teenage boy is a student of Jackson-Moore Academy, a military school in the South.

While the death of the boy looks like an accident due to falling off a cliff, as Lindsay works on her investigation to know more about the identity of the boy, Claire’s forensic evidence points to not accidental death but murder.

When Lindsay brings up the evidence to Lt. Colonel Brad Burns, he immediately wants the military to conduct their own autopsy on the boy named Winston Adams.  And sure enough, the autopsy done by the military determines that the boy must have slipped off the cliff during his jog.

But Lindsay and the Women’s Murder Club feel strongly that there may be a cover up and now Lindsay travels to the South in order to conduct her own investigation as evidence is showing that Winston Adam’s death is not an accident, but a homicide.

INSTALLATION:

The “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection” was easy to install and had no problems with installation whatsoever. There is one icon that is installed onto your desktop and when selecting the icon, you have a choice to click either of the three games. You can not install each game separately.

GAMEPLAY

“James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – A Darker Shade of Grey” is a hidden objects game that is much different from “Death in Scarlett”.  Whereas “Death in Scarlett” was a hidden objects game with puzzles, “A Darker Shade of Grey” is more puzzles than hidden objects.  In fact, there are no lists for the hidden objects like first game “Death in Scarlet”.  For “A Darker Shade of Grey”, you literally are finding two dozen pieces of shredded paper or coins or putting things back in place which lead you to puzzles that require you to put pieces back together or quickly using your mouse to click on certain objects before the time is up.

While this does add to the challenge of the game, it doesn’t help those who play on a laptop and use a mouse pointer pad on their laptop.  This is one of those games where you want to use a regular mouse connected to your laptop or computer and prepare to click things before the time ends.

Personally, I dislike timed puzzles that require quick clicking because I usually play hidden objects games while in bed.  Not sitting on my computer.  And so I’m usually using the mouse-based pad on my laptop which is not responsive during quick movements.  Especially during one puzzle which required quick clicking during a secret morse code meeting and another which Cindy has to play a duck game (think “concentration”) and find a duck and farmer before an alligator eats the duck.  Once again, you have to be quick.

The number of hints accumulate with each puzzle solved and you don’t get penalized for searching too quickly.  And for puzzles, you do get an unlimited number of “Solve” buttons.

While the hidden objects and many of the puzzles were easy, Claire’s forensic testing was not like the last game (which was redundant) but this time, I found the bottle organization system so difficult, I lost interest and clicked on solve.  And unfortunately, I had to skip many puzzles that were timed as I’m usually playing hidden object games in bed, not on a desk and with a separate, more responsive mouse attached.

I also noticed that this game was wanting more precise button clicks on objects.  There were times I was clicking on an object but it never disappeared.  When I clicked hint, sure enough it was the object I was clicking on many times before.  So, it’s another issue I had with this game is that it required exact positioning and can easily fool gamers that the object they were clicking on was not correct, when it actually was correct.

So, overall…in terms of difficulty, if one is easy, three is average and five is difficult, I give this one about a 3 or 3.5.  Because the hidden object challenges that existed in the first game was simplified, and objects were much easier to find, it’s the puzzles that are the most challenging in the game.

For those who are hardcore completionist, the good news is that there is a point system, so for those who want to get a perfect score will need to play everything without using a hint or using the “solve” button during the puzzles.

GRAPHICS:

The graphics for “A Darker Shade of Grey” featured much more detail in the painting of the characters, scenery and rooms.  The cut scenes are still done in a comic-book style format with word balloons but instead of all hand-drawn designs with basic coloring, this time they tried to give a balance of both hand drawn and painted figures.

AUDIO:

There is also an improvement of music as you do get more musical tracks, from the same guitar rock diddles to the synth suspense music.  Music was not obstructive to the overall gameplay, so that’s a positive.

REPLAY VALUE:

There is replay value for those who want to get a perfect score (via points) in the game and want to try playing without using a hint or using the solve button.

After the first game and complaining about the redundancy but enjoying the storyline, I was hoping that Jane Jensen would improve on gameplay for this second game.  But instead, the game not only gets rid of the hidden objects gameplay (ala the list of objects to find), the game is more puzzle-driven and require you to use your mouse and have quick reflexes.

For me, this was one of the first hidden objects games where there was more emphasis on the puzzles and the quick click games.  So, for this second game, you can’t casually play this lying on your bed, you need to use the mouse and prepare for timed puzzles that require you to move your mouse cursor and click.  While this will be no problem for those who play on their desktop PC and have a good mouse to count on, for those using the built-in mouse pad on their laptop will feel these timed puzzles are not worth the aggravation and some will choose to bypass them.

While I did enjoy the storyline and was happy that they gave this game ending credits, I really didn’t like the changes made to the hidden objects portion of the game, especially puzzles like the forensic lab organization system. Another thing that I disliked is that you are required to watch the cut scenes unlike the first game where one click you’ll bypass the wait for word bubbles.  But this time, you have to wait as the timed word bubbles are not quick.  In fact, if you do click while reading the cut scenes, it will ask if you want to skip the whole thing.  I did not want to skip the storyline, I just didn’t want to wait for each word bubble to come up in a slow pace.  I liked how the first game allowed you to click after you read a word bubble and quickly get to the next scene.

While the storyline, graphics, music and some hidden object games and puzzles were a step up, “A Darker Shade of Grey” was also a step-back for some gameplay elements.  I was surprised they dumped out so many of those elements (and without spoiling the third game, they did return to the basics and also improved gameplay for the third game, “Twice in a Blue Room”.  But it’s unfortunate that the positive things about gameplay in the first game “Death in Scarlet” was removed.  The problem for the first game was redundacy (for the forensic lab games) and small, hard to find objects.  Those could have been fixed easily in the second but instead, they changed the whole gameplay style and I wasn’t enjoying the puzzles as much.

Granted, there are some fun puzzles such as alluding the guard checking the hallways to using all washer and dryers at once but the timed quick click games that required near precise clicking, and also on hidden objects was another pain to deal with.

Fortunately, the storyline was too good to bypass and it made playing this game worthwhile.  I really enjoyed the storyline of this second game over the first.  And with the price of the triple pack at under $10, for three games that last quite awhile and are not too easy or too difficult, it’s definitely worth purchasing “the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection” for that low of a price.

Overall, “A Darker Shade of Grey” was a game that featured an enjoyable and addictive mystery storyline but the gameplay that I enjoyed from the first game was left off the second.  Sure, “A Darker Shade of Grey” is not a perfect game and has its share of problems but fortunately, you do get enough hints and infinite solve buttons that the game can be completed, for those having difficulty playing the game.  It’s definitely a different gameplay style than the first game but there were a good number of improvements in “A Darker Shade of Grey” as well.  So, it has its good and bad points.  Fortunately, more positives than negatives.

So, if you are wanting to give these “Women’s Murder Club” games a try, I highly recommend purchasing the “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club collection” rather than purchasing these games individually.

For “A Darker Shade of Grey”, I give it a RATING: B-

 

James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Death in Scarlet (as part of the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection) (a J!-ENT Video Game Review)

The first game in the “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club” series is a pretty challenging but enjoyable hidden objects game.  Unfortunately, there are games that are too redundant and start to take the fun out of the game, but overall, with a enjoyable mystery storyline and the ability to use three different players makes this game quite enjoyable.   Plus, for the low price of “the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection” triple pack, it definitely makes this set worth buying!

VIDEO GAME TITLE: James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Death in Scarlet (as part of the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection)

YEAR OF INITIAL RELEASE: August 29, 2008

VIDEO GAME GENRE: Hidden Objects/Interactive Hidden Objects

PUBLISHER: I-Play

MEDIA: PC CD-Rom

MEDIUM REQUIREMENTS: Windows Vista, XP

RATINGS: T for Teen

RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2010

VIDEO GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

In 2002, James Patterson released his first “Women’s Murder Club” novel “1st to Die” and since then have created a total of eleven novels.

The novels feature homicide cases and four women who have a group known as “Women’s Murder Club” who work together to solve each murder mystery.

The main protagonist is Inspector Lindsay Boxer who investigates various homicide cases and is aided by her friends Deputy District Attorney Jill Bernhardt (who tries to keep Lindsay within the law and issues the search warrants), Dr. Claire Washburn (who works in the forensics lab) and Cindy Thomas, a journalist at the San Francisco Bee.

In 2008, a ten episode drama series based on the characters aired on ABC and with the popularity of the novels and drama series, hidden objects games were released on the PC/Mac and the Nintendo DS.

For the PC and Mac, a trio of hidden objects games were released:  “Death in Scarlet” (2007),  “Darker Shade of Grey” (2008) and “Twice in the Blue Moon” (2009) and each were collected in a triple pack titled “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection” in 2010.

The first game in the video game series is “Death in Scarlet” and would feature the work of Jane Jensen (best known for creating the popular “Gabriel Knight” series), who was the designer and director of the “Women’s Murder Club” PC/Mac games.

The story begins with a jogger finding a dead Chinese woman laying near the harbor, as inspector Lindsay Boxer is called in to investigate the homicide, she notices a woman with Chinese characters branded onto her chest.  Who is this woman and what are these letters?  Also, how did she die as there are no external wounds?

Next thing you know, another woman was found dead and this time it’s the popular Chinese newscaster on television and similar to the earlier death, she also had been branded on her chest and no external wounds.

Now the Women’s Murder Club must work together and try to find out if there is a serial killer on the loose and who is responsible before he/she kills another.

INSTALLATION:

The “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection” was easy to install and had no problems with installation whatsoever.  There is one icon that is installed onto your desktop and when selecting the icon, you have a choice to click either of the three games.  You can not install each game separately.

GAMEPLAY

“James Patterson Women’s Murder Club – Death in Scarlet” is a hidden objects game with puzzles.  You get a chance to play three of the four women.  Inspector Lindsay Boxer takes on the homicides and investigates various locations.  Hidden objects games if rated 1 for easy, 3 for average and 5 for difficult, this game would probably get a 3.5 or 4 depending one one’s experience with hidden objects games.  Part of the challenge is that each chapter, the player is only given 5 hints.  So, for those typically use a lot of hints, you have to make sure you use your hints wisely.

Most of the hidden objects were easy for me (as I play a lot of these games) but I admit that some were so small to find that those were the only moments I used my hint button.

The challenges are usually the puzzles.  While putting puzzle pieces are easy, one will find certain puzzles challenging and the good news is there is a “solve” button for each puzzle, for those who get easily stumped.  I have to admit that I used the “solve” button quite a bit primarily with Dr. Claire Washburn as each time Lindsay takes a blood sample for Dr. Washburn to analyze, you have to go through a redundant process of organizing the bottles (after finding the bottles, petri dishes and eye dropper which are all over her lab) in the correct order.  It’s one thing to do a redo a puzzle twice or even three times but in this game, you have to do these re-ordering of bottles quite often and I grew tired of them and ended up hitting “solve”.

Possibly the most entertaining games revolved around journalist Cindy Thomas who got to play a “guess the word” type of slot machine game in order to get a prize in exchange for information from fellow informants. Cindy gets into a lot of interactive puzzles such as controlling Cindy to visit an underground tunnel area to solving a variety of puzzles.

And with the storyline, for each of the three women, you visit and revisit areas to take on various hidden object challenges.  And some objects you need to utilize in an investigation or utilize in a puzzle.

As for hours to complete, I say about 5-6 hours at the most.  It all comes down to one’s hidden object searching skills but for the most part, this game is accessible for anyone with hidden object video game experience including beginners.

GRAPHICS:

The graphics are very good and are on par with many hidden objects games created back in 2008.  The actual storyline is told in a comic book fashion, with panels and word balloons.  But the main game is painted characters and scenery.

AUDIO:

The music is features a mix between guitar diddly to synth suspense.  It’s actually pretty good but for the most part, audio was good, not obstructive during gameplay.

REPLAY VALUE:

There is no replay value for this game. You beat the game and that is it.

I have been wanting to play the “James Patterson Women’s Murder Club” games for awhile and for the most part, one of the reasons why I wanted to play these games was that I’m a big fan of Jane Jensen’s work.

While I enjoyed the storyline of “Death in Scarlet” and its various twists and turns, part of what hampered this game a bit were the redundant games, especially involving Dr. Clarie Washburn’s bottles for blood testing.

There was just too much of it and I understand that her character is typically stuck in the forensics lab and most of the time you are doing blood tests but it started to become too redundant for my tastes that I skipped them by hitting “solve”.  It was fine for the first four or five times but when it started happening more often, I grew tired of it.

Otherwise I did enjoy the hidden objects part of the game and the challenge of only being given five hints per chapter.  While I didn’t have to use the hint button all that much, there were times were objects were just too small and I found myself having to get the monitor so close to my eyes, so I can see in the darker rooms.

I noticed that the TV series tend to focus on the women’s social lives outside of their career, I would expect the novels to probably do the same but “Death in Scarlet” focuses on the case and never strays away from it.  It’s about four women working together to solve a crime and that’s it.

While there is no replay factor in my opinion, for an earlier hidden object game, it was good but not great.  It definitely had a better storyline than some (including a longer ending, although I felt that it ended a bit abruptly on the final reveal) hidden objects games which tend to not put much towards the final scene.  And there was quite a bit of a challenge as the hidden objects and puzzles were also a bit challenging. And also, the ability to play three different characters was also quite fun!

And with the price of the triple pack at under $10, for three games that last quite awhile and are not too easy or too difficult, it’s definitely worth purchasing “the James Patterson Women’s Murder Club Collection”.

For “Death in Scarlet”, I give it a RATING: B-

 

Echoes of Sorrow (a J!-ENT Video Game Review)

“Echoes of Sorrow” is a fascinating, dark, hidden objects game with a very good story but also a game that has a few quirks such as its frequent loading times and questionable mouse positioning for exiting a scene.  But the gameplay and storyline made up for those little quirks and in the end, I really enjoyed “Echoes of Sorrow!”

VIDEO GAME TITLE: Echoes of Sorrow

YEAR OF INITIAL RELEASE: April 20, 2011

VIDEO GAME GENRE: Hidden Objects/Fractal Objects/Interactive Hidden Objects

PUBLISHER: Viva Media

MEDIA: (Available on several Viva Media Packs or as a download)

MEDIUM REQUIREMENTS: Windows 7, Vista, XP, 1GHz, 1 GB of Ram, 400 MB, Video Card 256 MB VRAM

RATINGS: E for Everyone

RELEASE DATE: April 20, 2011

VIDEO GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

Viva Media is a distributor known for releasing hidden objects and adventure-lite video games created by Russian video game developer/publisher Alawar Entertainment.

And most often, there are some games that are featured in a variety of collector’s editions or video game packs.

One of those games is “Echoes of Sorrow” which can be found in the “Sacra Terra: Angelic Night – Collector’s Edition”, “Legends of Terror -12 Game Mega Pack” or the most recently released “Mystery Masters Secret Stories Collection – 15 Pack” or available online via download.

“Echoes of Sorrow” revolves around a young woman named Rose and the game begins with Rose running away from a man who appears to be after her.  She trips and hits her head on a rock and is taken to the hospital.

As Rose lies unconscious, she is take into a dreamworld where everything looks dark.

In the middle of a courtyard is a statue of a woman chained and four areas that can be visited.  A home, a college, a prison and a church.  What do these areas signify for Rose and who is this dark ominous shadow looking at her?

Help Rose through her unconsciousness, piece together important and tragic moments of her life and bring her back to consciousness.

INSTALLATION:

“Echoes of Sorrow” was included with my “Sacra Terra: Angelic Night – Collector’s Edition” and installation was easy. Viva Universal dashboard appears and you can select which game to install.  While others had problems with the downloaded version, the versions included with the packs have no problem on my Windows XP laptop.

GAMEPLAY

“Echoes of Sorrow” is a game that is hidden objects (HoG), fractal objects (FRoG) and interactive hidden objects (IHog) and is a casual game with very few puzzles.  If anything, this game is a straight-up hidden objects game but definitely one of the better storylines in an Alawar game (that is included in several packs).

The game is dark and eerie but it fits perfectly with Rose’s storyline as she has suffered quite a bit of tragic moments in her life. With that being said, this is not a horror video game but a game about one young woman trying to piece together things from her life, tragic moments that lead to a surprising conclusion.

The storyline is well-presented with cut scenes and movement (not fully animated) but the good news is that these scenes are longer, especially how things are ended.  It’s not as abrupt like other Alawar Games, there was a build up of storyline and I’m glad the developers focused not just on gameplay but also the storyline.

The areas you visit are areas that are familiar to her and require one to play through a hidden objects area, open up a special item which then can be used in another area.  As you progress in the game, certain things can only be found  in one area and you’ll have to backtrack to that area later on in order to complete it.  So, there is interactivity with the hidden objects and a few fractal objects that you need to put together.

The gameplay takes about 4-6 hours depending on one’s ability to find hidden objects.  But there is a hint button that can be used during the hidden objects section and it reloads quickly.  You will not get penalized for multiple selection mistakes and the difficulty level, if one is easy, three is average and five is difficult, “Echoes of Sorrow” would get a three.

Personally the hidden objects sections are not that difficult but it took awhile to figure out that you can’t complete one section 100% (that is what took me awhile to figure out), you need to keep progressing in the game by visiting areas when they are open and then get these objects to bring them back to another area.  Puzzles are mostly putting pictures that were ripped together or putting pictures in an album or wall, but because the shadow of the pictures can be seen, you can figure these puzzles quite easily.

While the hidden objects gameplay and the storyline were very appealing, the game does have three quirks.

The first will most likely test beginners as the hint is only for the hidden objects.  It will not tell you where to go put the objects or where you should go next.  Fortunately, there are not many scenes to visit, so it doesn’t get too confusing but you need to observe and move your mouse around to know which objects you need to find later in the game.

The second quirk is the mouse positioning to exit out of an area is too high.  Typically, you need to go towards the edge of the screen to leave an area, but in this game, they didn’t do that.  So, you need to make sure that if you are an inch or an inch-and-a-half away from the edges of the screen, that if you are trying to search for a hidden object, you aren’t whisked away from that scene.

And this leads to probably the worst quirk of the game.  It’s the loading times.  It’s something you don’t usually see in Alawar Games as going from one area to another is fluid, but for this game, each scene will bring up a load screen.  Some that takes seconds to load and others that may take a minute to load.  So, with the mouse positioning quirk, I found myself going back and forward to scenes which took a while to load and while my patience was slowly getting tested, those who don’t have any patience at all, will probably go crazy by the load times.

But aside from the loading screens, “Echoes of Sorrow” had really good gameplay and a much better storyline compared to other casual Alawar Games that I have played.

GRAPHICS:

As for the graphics of this game, the settings are well-detailed, dark and eerie.  But it’s a game that looks very good although a game that looks as it was developed several years ago and was released in 2011.

AUDIO:

The music is actually pretty good for this game, but like other hidden objects games, it’s piano and synth-based and doesn’t interfere with overall gameplay.  One of those soundtracks that you hear mostly during the loading screen or the title screen but since you are focused on the gameplay, you’re probably not going to remember the music all that much.

REPLAY VALUE:

There is no replay value for this game. You beat the game and that is it.

For a game that comes with various Viva Media packs, “Echoes of Sorrow” is a fun game and those who want to slowly get into more dark and eerie type of games.

To tell you the truth, aside from the look of the game and certain scenes of violence, by no means is this game horror-based.  Without spoiling the game, all I can say is that Rose has suffered a lot of tragedies from her childhood, her teenage years and adulthood.  She is a person that has suffered a lot of pain and the object of the game is trying to help her out and piece things together.  But when you find out what happened in her past, you can’t help but be surprised by certain story elements.

It’s important to note that while this game is available for download, if you are a frequent purchaser of Viva Media/Alawar Games, I recommend purchasing the “Legends of Terror -12 Game Mega Pack” or the most recently released “Mystery Masters Secret Stories Collection – 15 Pack” as you get more bang for your buck as you get other games that you will probably be paying $8-$10 for.  But instead, will pay between $16-20 for a dozen or more games.

As for the game, it’s a straight-forward hidden objects game for the most part with some interactivity and some fractal objects that have to be found. There are very few puzzles, but they were very easy to complete.  The game is overall a casual game and it gives players anywhere between 4-6 hours of gameplay.

The game does have its quirks and the mouse positioning of going from one scene to another, plus the long loading times is a bit of a drag, but to play this game and really get into the overall storyline made it worth it.

For “Echoes of Sorrow”, I give it a RATING: C+

 

Amanda Rose: The Game of Time (a J!-ENT Video Game Review)

“Amanda Rose: The Game of Time” is an enjoyable sci-fi game but it’s also a very easy hidden objects game.  The fact that the game can be found in various Viva Media collection packs, the game is primarily for casual fans and beginners of hidden object video games.

VIDEO GAME TITLE: Amanda Rose: The Game of Time

YEAR OF INITIAL RELEASE: 2010 (the 4-pack was released in 2012)

VIDEO GAME GENRE: Hidden Objects/Fractal Objects/Interactive Hidden Objects

PUBLISHER: Viva Media

MEDIA: (Available on several Viva Media Packs or as a download)

MEDIUM REQUIREMENTS: Windows 7, Vista, XP, 1GHz, 512 MB ram, 405MB HD, Video Card 32MB 3D, DirectX 8.1 or Later

RATINGS: E for Everyone

RELEASE DATE: April 27, 2011

VIDEO GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

Viva Media is a distributor known for releasing hidden objects and adventure-lite video games created by Russian video game developer/publisher Alawar Entertainment.

And most often, there are some games that are featured in a variety of collector’s editions or video game packs.

One of those games is “Amanda Rose: The Game of Time” which can be found in the “Sacra Terra: Angelic Night – Collector’s Edition”, “Legends of Terror -12 Game Mega Pack” or the most recently released “Mystery Masters Secret Stories Collection – 15 Pack” or available online via download.

“Amanda Rose: The Game of Time” revolves around a young woman named Amanda Rose who receives a message from her father that she will be receiving news that his plane has been involved in an accident, but he is doing fine.  But he has discovered something that will require the help of his daughter, but first she must head to the crash site and find a cube that was left for her.  And off Amanda goes to retrieve this cube that her father had left for her.

What is going with her father?  And why is he sending these mysterious messages to her?

Sure enough, as Amanda goes to retrieve the cube, she collapses…but when she wakes up, she’s no longer in her own time period.  Apparently, she was sent back in time possibly sometime during the 1800′s.  With messages left with people in town for Amanda, it appears that her father and a friend also went back in time but have discovered something amazing.  But what did they discover?

INSTALLATION:

“Amanda Rose: The Game of Time” was included with my “Sacra Terra: Angelic Night – Collector’s Edition” and installation was easy.  Viva Universal dashboard appears and you can select which game to install.

GAMEPLAY

“Amanda Rose: The Game of Time” is a game that is hidden objects (HoG), fractal objects (FRoG) and interactive hidden objects (IHog) with a few puzzles and about 15 chapters of quick gameplay.  If anything, this game is casual and in terms of hidden objects, the game in difficulty if 1 is easy, 3 is average and 5 is difficult, it would be about a 2.5.  Everything was very easy to find, puzzles were not difficult and as games typically get more challenging towards the end, this is one of those games that gets easier.

First, let’s discuss how gameplay works.  “Amanda Rose: The Game of Time” has Amanda first searching a room for hidden objects, followed by a second round of hidden objects which can be interactive.  Some objects are needed to open a door, drawer or activate some machine or vehicle.  The scene is not isolated to one scene as objects may require moving to a room next door or room upstairs, but the load times are fairly quick and not noticeable.

And there are times where you run into a few puzzles but this game was too easy in the puzzle department and if anything, the focus is more on the hidden objects.

As for the storyline, the storyline is not CG-animated but told in a comic book panel type of way.  But at least the storyline is coherent, easy to follow and does make sense.  As each chapter is focused on, I found myself breezing through each chapter fairly quickly, some less than 5 minutes.  Average gameplay time is about 3-4 hours at the most.  And fortunately, the ending is not as abrupt like other early Alawar related games which last only a minute.  This one lasts a few minutes but at least the ending coincides and supports the cut scenes.

I did encounter one major glitch and that is the final astrology-based puzzle.  While the game crashed, when the final chapter reloaded, the puzzle wouldn’t load.  All that is displayed was a swirling background and  all I can do was skip the puzzle, since the puzzle wasn’t loading.  And sure enough, by doing that, the game was over.

But overall, gameplay was fun, fairly easy and not as challenging. But for those who are looking for something not too difficult and are a beginner to these type of games, “Amanda Rose: Game of Time” is perfect for the beginner.

If by any chance, you do get stuck and need help, I recommend visiting this link on the Big Fish Games website.

GRAPHICS:

As for the graphics of this game, the settings are well-detailed, I liked the use of the comic book style panels but for the actual game and hidden objects, the scenery looks very good!

AUDIO:

The music is actually pretty good for this game.  From a piano-based medley to sound effects that benefit that certain setting (such as an investigator’s radio or Native American drums).

REPLAY VALUE:

There is no replay value for this game. You beat the game and that is it.

For a game that comes with various Viva Media packs, “Amanda Rose: The Game of Time” is a fun game but it’s way too easy and probably not much of a challenge for experienced HoG gamers.   It’s a very casual game that beginners to hidden object games will probably want to try out, but even intermediate fans may like the overall gameplay and also its fascinating plot of time travel.

Also, the graphics and audio are pretty good considering the game’s easy difficult level.  But the positive of this game is unless you are downloading this game, this game can be found in other it Viva Media packs or the “Sacra Terra – Angelic Night – Collector’s Edition” for free.

But despite the game being free, it still plays better than some other games I have played from Alawar Entertainment.  And I liked how it incorporated hidden objects, fractal objects and also interactive hidden objects with puzzles all in this one game.

But there is potential with the Amanda Rose storyline and perhaps Alawar Entertainment can follow-up with her character in a brand new storyline.

Overall, “Amanda Rose: The Game of Time” is an enjoyable, casual and easy PC game for those wanting a hidden objects video game without the frustration.

For “Amanda Rose: The Game of Time”, I give it a RATING: C+

 

Insider Chronicles: The Stolen Venus 2 (as part of the Insider Chronicles: The Complete Collection 4-Pack) (a J!-ENT Video Game Review)

“The Stolen Venus 2″ takes several steps forward in gameplay but stumbles when it comes to storytelling.  But at under $8 for four “Insider Chronicles” games plus three bonus games,  “Insider Chronicles: The Complete Collection 4-Pack” is recommended!

VIDEO GAME TITLE: Insider Chronicles: Secret of Casanova (as part of the Insider Chronicles: The Complete Collection 4-Pack)

YEAR OF INITIAL RELEASE: 2010 (the 4-pack was released in 2012)

VIDEO GAME GENRE: Hidden Objects/Fractal Objects/Interactive Hidden Objects

PUBLISHER: Viva Media

MEDIA: 1 PC DVD

RATINGS: E for Everyone

RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2012

VIDEO GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

Whenever there is an art heist, there is one well-known investigator to call.  And her name is Francesca Di Porta.

Francesca Di Porta is the brilliant detective who is known to take on the major art heist cases and having appeared in four hidden objects games which include “The Stolen Venus”, “The Stolen Venus 2″, “Missing in Rome” and “The Secret of Casanova”, video game publisher Viva Media has released “The Insider Chronicles: The Complete Collection 4-Pack” in March 2012. (Note: Previous releases of the game had it titled “Insider Tales” not “Insider Chronicles”).

With a 3-Pack released back in 2010, this brand new 2012 version includes the latest game in the series, “The Stolen Venus 2″.

As a person who is passionate about art, loves going to art museums and also enjoy mystery storylines, I figured that I would give the “Insider Chronicles” series a try and having played the first three games, I couldn’t wait to see if time has been kind to the latest game in the series and hopefully improve as they have on storyline and gameplay.

When I first reviewed the first game in the series, “The Stolen Venus”, the 2009 game that frustrated me as the difficulty was too high and the objects were transparent and very difficult to find. The fun of the first game was dampened by its hard-to-find objects that one had to use the hint button too often, while those who refuse to use the hint button, quit the game before completing it. Add in a ridiculous ending and sure enough, I gave it a rating of a C-.

But yet, I was a bit more lenient as it was an older hidden objects game, it did have an intriguing storyline and I enjoyed the detail of the graphics. But most importantly, with the release of “Insider Chronicles: The Complete Collection 4-Pack”, for under $8, you get four games (including an extra game provide with each “Insider Chronicles” game), so it’s hard to complain that for the price of one game, you’re getting all games in the “Insider Tales” series (note: The games were once called “Insider Tales” but the collections are now referred to as “Insider Chronicles”).

So, how does “The Stolen Venus 2″ fair in comparison to the first three games?

Well, this time around, during an cruise art expedition in the Mediterranean featuring the Venus, the Venus is once again stolen.  And now, Francesca must travel through Greece to find the Venus but also find out who is responsible for this heist?

INSTALLATION:

I installed “Secret of Casanova” on a Windows XP laptop and did a full installation. I will say that the games of the “Insider Chronicles: The Complete Collection 4-Pack” were a pain to install.

Upon inserting the CD, you get the Viva Media screen where you select which game to install. I have never had a problem with this, but this game…I kept getting this message of “click on the Viva Media Universal program”. I kept doing it over and over and nada. And this window titled “Game Center” kept popping up. What is this game center? And why is it asking me to install all these other games not related to “Insider Chronicles”?

Sure enough, I found out that the Game Center is perhaps a joint company or related to Viva Media which allows you to keep in track of all your game installations. And sure enough, you do get a few free games and trial games with each of the first three games (not with Stolen Venus 2).

Not sure why it was a pain to install each game and often at times I would have to go to the CD directory to click on the actual game but problem with that is that there was no activity and figured that the game wouldn’t install but realized there was a lag of maybe five minutes before this Game Center screen came on and because you attempt to click on the setup over and over, many installations start showing up and you have to close them all but one down.

I wish installation was as easy as the other Viva Media games but not sure if this problem will happen to everyone and it may be because I am using an older XP laptop.

So, if you do install this game, after clicking on the install of the Viva Media installation screen, just remember that the Game Center that will pop up, must be installed.

From there on, you can access all “Insider Chronicles” games plus the bonus games that came with each game including trial games that can be installed and accessed.

GAMEPLAY

“Insider Chronicles: The Stolen Venus 2″ is an intriguing concept with a lot of potential and I felt that the developer did a good job in making things much more enjoyable with “The Secrets of Casanova” and “Missing in Rome”.  While these were fun, compared to the other hidden objects games, the storyline and gameplay were more for casual gamers and not hardcore elite players.

First, let’s talk about the hidden objects part of the game. Thank goodness that the developers ditched the frustration from the first game such as the transparent objects and the same color on background objects that frustrated many players. This was very important and was so happy that the frustrations have been eliminated.

Like “The Secret of Rome” which let a player scan through the left and right of a scene, that gameplay does return for the fourth game.  But most importantly there are more puzzles/mini-games plus also the inclusion of fractal hidden object gameplay (FROG) which feature an object but are in pieces.  There are times where you have to put objects together in order to continue.

It also seems that “The Stolen Venus 2″ took a page out of “The Mysterious Island” games as you can access a map and visit various areas as objects from these areas will be needed to access a locked object in another area.

While the hidden objects has improved dramatically over the first game, in a rating of 1-5 with one being easy, three being average and five being difficult, I still feel the game is more average.  Not so hard, not so easy but with that being said, the puzzles may be a bit of a challenge for some people.

Like the previous game, if you click on various areas too quickly, you will be penalized and unable to find anything for a short while. The good news is the penalty is not that long.  Probably, a few seconds at the most.

While “The Stolen Venus 2″ does try to include Francesca helping others before obtaining a clue, similar to “Missing in Rome”, so that is another positive.  So, you can expect to make a pizza for a chef or even try to find a way to get a museum guard off his seat, while you secretly investigate a backroom and more.

I did notice that there was a glitch.  Early in the game, you have to put glass shards together like a puzzle in order to find a finger print.  While you need to move things around in order to see, there was one time where I put the glass shard towards the upper left.  But everytime I tried to access the shard, the game thinks I’m trying to exit out of the puzzle scene.  It was the only time where I couldn’t finish the puzzle and had to skip.  So, that was one that I’m surprised was not caught during game testing.

As for the hours of gameplay, it took me about 5 hours or so. There was a lot more gameplay involved in this fourth game and that is a positive.  The games were pretty short before, but you do get a little bit more of a challenge with “The Stolen Venus 2″.

With that being said, as for the storyline, once again, you get a quick and abrupt ending, which gets on my nerves.  And the cut scenes were not as involving as previous games.  It seemed as if the developer wanted to focus more on the actual hidden objects and puzzle gameplay and not put so much in the overall story.  I like a good balance and with how games are today, you expect a good storyline.  And while I can forgive the other games as they were older and other older games tend to end abruptly, for a newer game…you just don’t want to see this old style of non-existent storytelling in today’s games.  There is a story but it’s not as involving as the previous games.

If by any chance, you do get stuck and need help, I recommend visiting this forum on the Big Fish Games website.

GRAPHICS:

As for the graphics of this game, there is an improvement over the previous older games. The scenery and characters were well-painted, very detailed and vibrant.

AUDIO:

Aside from the music which didn’t get on my nerves considering it was pretty much the same music being looped.

REPLAY VALUE:

There is no replay value for this game. You beat the game, that is it.

“The Insider Chronicles” has a great concept and the fact that this 4-pack is sold on Amazon for $7.99, the price is absolutely fantastic and you are getting a great deal for the money.

With the frustration of I experienced with “The Stolen Venus”, the good news is that all those frustrations I had with the first game does not exist in “The Stolen Venus 2″. No more transparent objects or white on white or green on green objects that made “The Stolen Venus” such a frustrating experience. While there are some small objects, they are easier to find in this second game.

But with “The Stolen Venus 2″, it was a step up as the gameplay and puzzles got better with each game.  And with this fourth game, a little longer gameplay and a bit more of a challenge this time around.

While there are improvements that were made for the game, I felt storywise, it was a step back.  Especially with the build up of “The Secret of Casanova” and “Missing in Rome”, the storyline was short and almost like there was not much put into it.   There is so much potential with the Francesca Di Porta character but the developers really need to give her something much better than they have, especially in 2012.  The concept of short cut scenes and non-existent endings (ie. shorter than the main cut scenes and endings that last almost a minute long) has to end.

So, while “Insider Chronicles: The Stolen Venus 2″ is a definite improvement over its predecessor in gameplay, for its storyline, I didn’t care for it.

Now is “Insider Chronicles: The Complete Collection 4-Pack” worth buying?  Definitely for under $8 for 4 games in the “Insider Chronicles” series plus three bonus games.  And for those wanting an even better deal, you can get 11 more games with the Viva Media “Mystery Masters: The Secret Stories Collection” (only available on Wal-Mart for $19.99 not at Target nor on online stores as of May 2012).

So, if you are looking for a casual game that is not too long, not violent but straightup hidden objects and puzzles with a simple storyline, you can’t go wrong with “Insider Chronicles: The Complete Collection 4-Pack”.  As for the fourth game in the series, “The Stolen Venus 2″ takes several steps forward in gameplay but stumbles when it comes to storytelling.

For this fourth game alone, I give it a RATING: B-

 

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