Haunted Manor: Queen of Death Collector's Edition
4.5
5
125
125
Fun and entertaining
The game does not come in widescreen.
There is no voice-over.
There is no choice of casual or advanced mode - the game only plays with sparkles.
There is no journal and no map.
There is a choice of custom and system cursor. I would recommend using the custom cursor, because the system cursor is static and won't change when you move over different areas.
The graphics are great, and so is the gameplay. The puzzles are nicely done, and the SKIP button doesn't take forever to fill up.
The HINT button also works outside of the HOS (Hidden Object Scenes#, and is very helpful when you are stuck - an arrow will show you where you have to go to next.
The main game was a good length, and the bonus game took me a good hour to complete.
All in all, I had a wonderful time playing this game, and recommend it to anyone who is a HOG #Hidden Obejct Game) fan.
November 21, 2011
Extraordinary HOG!!!
This is game is worth every dime and then some. It is the first CE that I have played where the bonus game was not some afterthought just so its creators can call it a collector's edition.
The graphics are lovely and interesting and the story has a surprising depth.
It took me multiple hours to play even though it had 'sparkles' and no expert level. Indeed, my only criticism is the lack of choice of expert play. Everything else is spectacular.
November 20, 2011
Really enjoyed this one
Pros:
Amazingly clear graphics that did not take an age for my 7-year-old computer to load.
Interesting gameplay, a good variety of mini-games, and HO scenes that were pretty much true to the story and time period.
Skip button available on the mini-games. Story was not overly original but interesting enough.
Music did not irritate, if it does, there is a music volume option.
I hate voice overs in general, usually with bad actors and worse fake British accents, this had none.
Good length - hours of game play for me, and a well thought out bonus game.
Cons:
The story scenes were slow to load the text: I'd start thinking it was like a comic book without text and hit "next" just as the text started to appear. Irritating.
Hint button recharge was really really slow.
For those who care (I don't, I nearly always play Casual level) there did not appear to be different skill levels.
Couple of times mini-game puzzle instructions were confusing enough that I had to use the strategy guide to see what was the expected outcome.
In general, I had a lot of fun with this game. It took several sittings to complete, although I was tempted to play straight through. I will probably play it again for the games thatwere difficult or that I (shamefully) had to skip because I was tired of trying.
November 22, 2011
Creepy 'The Shining' Twin Girls Adventure
You are a twin sister asked by your twin to come to her aid after your parents have died. The inference is that you are the good seed; she is the bad seed. There is something spooky (read: demon-oriented) going on at your family's seaside mansion and you are request to help. The gameplay is smooth enough. The atmosphere is kinda creepy but nothing unsettling. Graphics are clear and crisp. However, there are no voiceovers, there is no difficulty settings option, and there are sparkles everywhere. Also, the puzzles I encountered were exceptionally easy. This might be a good enough game as a SE or a DD, but definitely not a CE.
November 20, 2011
Great game, But not as a CE
Good morning lovely Fishies
Well I have demo?d this game for and this is what I thought after playing the full demo.
The demo version is 332 megs compared with 713 megs of the full CE
I was expecting to be disappointed with this latest offering, mainly because we have had a few very good games released as SE, and with a little bit of tweeking and extending could have made excellent CE?s.
Todays offering falls very short of the mark in some aspects.
The options are sound, volume , custom curser and full screen, but in this CE the full screen does not extend to my lap top unlike yesterdays SE game.
There is NO voice over, although the music is quite nice and fitting and although the game offers NO difficulty mode, there are sparkles galore. In fact i like sparkles, but they were even annoying me by the end
Also in the trial version you can only access the first chapter and first page of the second chapter in the strategy guide. There is absolutely no indication of how many chapters there are or how long the game is. Other bonus?s such as sketches, music and wallpapers are only available when you finish the game, (If you can wait that long)
However, my review is not all doom and gloom.
The story starts out cheerfully enough. You get a letter whilst at school from your sister, telling you your parents are dead & so off home you go. <rolls eyes>
The game is a mixture of inventory based adventure and Hidden Object Locations (Hol?s) The few minigames I have come across were unusual and very enjoyable, if a touch on the easy side.
The HOL?s were beautifully done and I had no problem finding the items if I looked carefully enough. The hints fill up rather slow though.
It is such a shame as actually I quite like this game and it will be a definite buy for me, as an SE, however, as it lacks certain finesse as mentioned earlier,( when clearly as other games have shown they are quite feasible to include) and no indication of length (or value for money).
I hate to put the dampeners on games like this, but it just isn?t up to the mark.
Jojo
November 20, 2011
Great game!!
Beautiful graphics, lots to do! Some objects in HO scenes are very small but still fairly easy to see. There were a lot of puzzles I had never seen before and enjoyed them all. Loved the music, it fit the scenes very well. Didn't mind not having voice overs, they're not always good. I'm not familiar with this developer but I thought this was a very high quality game and I'm looking forward to more from them. I would recommend this to anyone who like HO adventure games.
November 20, 2011
Finally a game that has it all !
Gorgeous graphics, beautiful music (Mozart's Requiem, you can't miss), usually I don't listen to the music I find it boring, except for The Great Gatsby, but it's really a major player in this game. I played only 15 minutes knowing right at the beginning that I will buy it.
November 20, 2011
What a great game!
Loving the HO games I was wondering if this would be quite short and not value for money. I was very wrong! The graphics are just stunning, the objects fit nicely, the puzzles are a challenge and I thought there was a lot of value here - especially compared to recent CE games.
I like the idea of going back and forth and also the number of actual HO scenes was quite impressive.
The music is also quite beautiful...
November 22, 2011
This prequel is even better!
I was part of the Beta test for this game and I loved it! I only buy games occasionally but this one was a winner. This a prequel and a wonderful idea where you are one of the twin sisters. The puzzles and HO scenes were a perfect challenge for me.
November 20, 2011
Buggy Bonus Play but otherwise outstanding
So I had been planning to say that this was one of the best HOS/Adventure games I have played to date and perhaps I still feel that way.
Music and graphics were excellent. Storyline was straightforward but intriguing and stayed spooky without being dark or creepy. The HOS and mini-games were easy but fun.
The HOS items were well done and interesting, although I did get tripped up a couple of times trying to find a "divider" which turned out to be an old fashioned compass.
HOWEVER, as the game play began to reach the end things started acting flaky. One cut scene locked up in the parent's bedroom and would not go away - good thing the game was done with the room by then. One mini-game shortly after that locked up so I had to hit skip, which I do not like to do.
The strategy guide completely omitted one section having to do with obtaining a wheel for the final mini-puzzle, so the time I actually did get stumped I had to go elsewhere for help.
Lastly, at the end and in the bonus game, there was a lot of running back and forth getting tools then finding out they needed to be sharpened before used. -Don't really get the value of repeatedly backtracking to sharpen tools.
Once used as usual, the tools would go away only to have to be reacquired in a HOS later on. - and for the record, at the end of game as well as in bonus play there is a LOT OF HOS required to continue. Fortunately the beautiful artwork and music took some of that tedium away.
The game ending was abrupt as was the end to the bonus play which is too bad as everything was staged for a very dramatic and memorable close.
Minus the buggy behavior and repeated backtracking from room to room, I'd love to see more games like this one. Again - graphics, artwork beautiful, music and all else were extremely well done.
I definitely recommend this game.
January 28, 2012