Hallowed Legends: Templar Collector's Edition
4.3
5
128
128
Great game
If you don't want to find yourself stumped early on in the game, don't play in hardcore mode. This game is a bit more difficult than some other HO games. I finished the game in HC mode, but not without a bit of help from the Strategy Guide.
The HO scenes are pretty good, some objects are harder to get to than others (you'll see why). Some of the mini games are a little difficult, but maybe that's just me. The soundtrack is good, and you get quite a bit in the extra content; the gameplay is pretty decent.
November 21, 2011
Shorter than their more recent games - bonus review at end
The time before elephant giving us the transporter map and how I miss it here! Although this has the bells and whistles of a CE and is a very good quality game, compared to their other later games it?s not a 5 star game although I had a good time playing this game but I think this is the shortest game I?ve played from them which was disappointing.
The really good graphics and in the HOS are here, as well as their usual great cutscenes, although you can see how they have improved on the live actors (although lip synch here is good and later games it?s not) and tweaking in other areas. As well as live actors they have this dialogue box which comes up and on it static picture of the character speaking which I didn?t like.
Choice of 3 hardness which you can change mid game. There is also a diary, and you can replay all cutscenes.
If you are a fan of the knight templars you really have to play the whole game to understand what is going on, that?s all I will say as I don?t want to spoil anything.
21 PUZZLES
A couple are unique but quite a few are ?oldies?. They are varied hardness but most are easy or easy/medium. I did enjoy them.
17 HOS
All list type quite a few were junk pile or really cluttered. All interactive and on top of that, you need an inventory item for the HOS so you may have to come back to the HOS if you haven?t found it yet. No random click penalty. A fair few were hard to find but didn?t find any tiny just some small items.
CE EXTRAS
50 collectable doves ( there are over 50 but it doesn?t record the extra ones)
achievements
9 wall paper
12 concept art
4 music tracks
SG
Bonus play
BONUS PLAY
The main story I felt was tied up in main game and would have been happy if I was a SE player, but I would have guessed where it was going. The plot was a bonus (over and above) and followed on from the end and two main characters were in it. I enjoyed the plot especially at the very end where you are giving a choice as to what to do, so you choose the ending of the plot!
Bar one scene it was all in old area. Good amount of quality cutscenes, and the quality was the same as the game.
5 puzzle (3d jigsaw, rotating rings, one unique, couple of others)
4 HOS
It was just on the hour for me, which is the bare minimum. I did not skip any puzzles in the bonus but if you do it will be very short as most of those puzzles took me a while.
TIME ? Main game just over 4hrs (but I did skip one puzzle which was a two part and that would have taken me a while)
bonus - plus another 1hr
October 17, 2012
nice graphics but the story is a bit of a stretch
in this hidden object puzzle thriller, you have traveled to a small town in France visit your brother and his wife and find yourself trust into the heart of a mystery. apparently, the knights templar have "gone rogue" and are determined to destroy this small town. your job is to find your relatives and to learn what is the cause of this problem.
graphics: generally well-done. some of the hidden objects were REALLY difficult to see. additionally, the hidden object scenes often required some form of interaction to combine two objects to create a third, which was on your list of items (a lit candle, for example). an interesting twist on the theme was the use of inventory items in some hidden objects scenes. cut-scenes used real actors, but the quality of the acting was disappointing. these scenes could be replayed in the diary. my favourite scene (in demo) was when the arrow flew straight towards me in slow motion.
music and sound effects: music is "meh" whilst the sound effects are quite nice.
gameplay: hint button recharges quickly and can be used in hidden objects scenes as well as whilst wandering around -- and there is plenty of back-and-forth, too. puzzles have an "information" button you can click to learn the goal for that particular puzzle. each scene has a "golden dove" (almost never gold coloured, though!) and you had to find at least 50 of those. (but what is the purpose of the doves?) the game awards "achievements" for completing certain tasks such as finding three hidden objects in three seconds.
my complaints: i was a bit bothered by certain aspects of this game. for example, i didn't like how that unconscious man was left sitting at the table surrounded by knee-high water. he could have moved, fallen into the water and drowned! why isn?t saving this man an essential element in the story? why was this unconscious man included at all?
storyline: i was entirely unconvinced by the plot and by the characters. for example, why did the knights templar suddenly "go rogue"? the logical progression of the story was confusing at times, too.
my interaction: one hour demo, casual mode (the game has three modes of play; casual, advanced and hardcore).
hidden object fans will enjoy this game (they will be best served by purchasing CE since it has that helpful strategy guide as well as the extra chapter of gameplay), but those who enjoy a coherent storyline will be disappointed. for the reasons outlined in this review, i have awarded this game 4 stars and recommend it with reservations.
June 13, 2012
Frustrating
I was very disappointed in this game. Lucky enough to buy the C/E version for $6.99, I though I had hit the jackpot.
Unfortunately I found the game tedious, the story line could have been good, but it was too fragmented.
Objects and items seemed to me to be inappropriate for their application and having to leave a HOG scene to find additional objects to complete the scene, just made me cross.
I was so bored I played the game almost from start to finish using the hint button.
Having said all that, the graphics, voice over?s, hint system and strategy guide were very good and it is a very long game maybe 7 or 8 hours even using the hint system regularly.
My favourite Elephant games are: Raincliffe C/E, Lost in the City 1 & 2, and Urban Legends the Maze.
I can only recommend this game to people who prefer HOG games to adventure games and don't mind using the hint button all the time.
February 27, 2012
Not just another pretty face
This game is so visually stunning, it makes the real world look pretty blah. I wanted to crawl inside my laptop screen and look for Carl and Helen myself. In advanced mode the mini games were mostly a firm challenge, which is not always the case, in my opinion. I enjoyed being challenged with this one, I got really stuck on a HO scene at one point until I finally realized that I needed to use an inventory item, that was an AHA moment. Highly recommend this game, ones like this keep me coming back for more.
November 22, 2011
i really like this ghostly game
you have to go back and forth to find and complete the projects. but it's nice to have the 3 levels and the guide if you get stuck. visual is awsome. i play without sound so not sure about that. i really like this game
November 15, 2011
Wasted Opportunity
Neither a few very nice gameplay innovations (including interactive hidden-object scenes which require items from your inventory to solve) nor some top-notch visuals (live action videos and some stunning creature animation in the later stages) can save this from devolving into an incomprehensible mess.
The story starts off taut and interesting, with exciting in-game events which block and unblock routes across the map and some human obstacles instead of just relying on the normal mechanical locks and traps. But by the end all the usual problems have set in: the story isn't explained properly, with important plot elements appearing and disappearing without warning; the translation gets gradually worse, going from competent to awkward to plain incomprehensible in the space of a chapter; the ending is rushed and confused, with no attempt made to explain the motivations of either the antagonist or the supporting characters. It's clear the developers know what story they're trying to tell, but they haven't worked out how to get any of this information across to the player. The end result is a disappointing and turgid mess, made somehow worse by the huge promise shown in the initial stages.
Still, if you don't pay attention to the stories in these things, the rest of the game is well done. But plot lovers should steer clear!
November 12, 2011
Very disappointed
I purchased this game during the 1/2 price sale of CE games.
Also the few reviews at the time recommended it. When i played the hour demo it looked interesting. So i bought it. I am glad i bought the CE at half price. I don't know if it was the silly inventory items used for certain tasks. (I would never have logically figured you used that item for that task) or the human actors used in the storyline (terrible acting by the way) but as the game progressed i just got more bored and could hardly wait until the game was done. The only highlight was the HOG games. Liked that you had to use some inventory items to finish the HOG's. Something different. The Templar storyline was very thin. Not anything like what i hoped it might be. Lots of back and forth which i don't mind in a game. But for some reason in this one i didn't like it. I am not going to recommend or not recommend this game. I would wait until it came on sale.
January 21, 2012
Blown Away!
Raincliff is one of my favourite games and as many have said this offers many of the same challenges and excitement. I love that this game is never static-- that is, you click forward and could come across a baddie or a beautiful cut scene rather than just a locked door! The graphics are beautiful and the story is very original. Long live Elephant Games!
January 12, 2012
Nice Hidden-Object mystery...very challenging, but just not one of my favorites
Nice hidden-object game. Graphics are very well-done. There's not a lot of intrusive dialogue. The mini-puzzles are challenging. The circle puzzle is driving me crazy! Still haven't solved it.
I like the mixture of medieval and modern themes, but for some reason, this HOG is not resonating with me, which is more of a personal preference rather than a reflection of the quality of the game. I think other hidden-object gamers will like it, especially the challenge level. You have a choice to play at casual level with a lot of help or more advanced with little or no help. Maybe that was my problem. I played at a more advanced level during trial play and I am a beginner. I find several of the puzzles difficult.
The hidden-object sequences are about average and the level of difficulty about average IMO. It advances at a good pace for me. It just is not one of my favorites. I've played HOGs that I like a lot better and I probably will not buy this one, at least not right now.
November 24, 2011