“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:
Intrigue and suspense take a new twist, as you travel around the globe in search of the clues in (4) challenging mystery adventures in this Complete Collection of Case Files from the Insider Chronicles – including the latest installment The Stolen Venus 2 – for one incredible price. It’s up to you to solve the biggest art robbery in decades and recover a stolen masterpiece in this mysterious Hidden Object game! The Stolen Venus puts you on the case to track down the criminals responsible for the theft of Botticelli`s The Birth of Venus. Discover centuries-old hidden facts and enigmas, and enjoy addicting mini-games on your pursuit of justice! What is supposed to be a relaxing vacation doesn’t quite go as planned, as you embark on a cruise around the Mediterranean in THE STOLEN VENUS 2. While on exhibit aboard the cruise ship, a world famous work of art goes missing. As the famous investigator who gained notoriety the first time the masterpiece was stolen, you are called on again to find the culprit. Explore the luxurious interiors of the cruise ship, talk to guests to gather the clues, and visit some of the Mediterranean’s most beautiful locations as you search for the art thief on the high seas. Can you find the masterpiece in time? Stroll through the gothic and gloomy alleys of Prague, listen to chansons on the streets of Paris and enjoy the elegant and light architecture of Venice as you search for clues to shed some light on Casanova’s life and reveal his greatest secret. Unfold the mystery that is Casanova, the world`s most famous lover and adventurer, in THE SECRET OF CASANOVA! When the winners of Italy’s largest lottery mysteriously disappear, and it’s up to you to track them down. The case takes on a whole new light when you discover drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci that could unlock the mystery. Without a minute to lose, you must put together the clues, unravel the riddles, and solve the puzzles in the exciting seek and find adventure MISSING IN ROME!
- THE STOLEN VENUS 2 – While on exhibit on a cruise ship, a world famous work of art goes missing. As the famous investigator who gained notoriety the first time the masterpiece went missing, you are called in again to find the culprit.
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-