Shattered Minds: Masquerade
3.8
5
50
50
Very disappointing game
I purchased this game based on the wonderful reviews here, but these reviews must be for the CE edition. There was only one mode of play..no choice. There were no morphing objects in my version at all. It was a very short game and the puzzles were not difficult at all. The story was predictable and when you needed an object to complete a task, you didn't need to look very far for it. The ending was puzzling..either it will be continued, or the developers got as bored with it as I did, and just ended it. If you are new to HOGs you will like this game. Anyone else...there are much better games out there to spend your money on.
December 31, 2011
Mildly Horrifying, Highly Enjoyable
A well balanced blend of HOG/Adventure with challenging puzzles of various levels of difficulty, with a few of them very innovative, and the whole lot all nicely wrapped up in a pleasant package made of a good intro, good jazzy music, good voice-overs and superb, detailed graphics, quite colorful on a dark background and all immersive.
There are two Difficulty Modes.
The HO Scenes are neat, though a bit of a junkpile, yet straightforward, and the HOs not too difficult to find.
The Hint System refills quickly, is helpful but up to a point only as it tells you "Nothing to do here"
Although most tasks are similar to those we see in other games they are good fun nevertheless.
There are many locations to explore but navigation is easy and not much backtracking to do, except towards the end.
However some scenes and cutscenes might a little disturbing for highly sensitive players; I will not explain why here as that would be a spoiler.
The plot is pretty solid, intriguing and complex enough to make you wonder who the true bad guys are as most of the characters you encounter and interact with will try to stop you in your investigation, though many will not respond as they have fallen victims of the villain.
On the downside some puzzles are lacking adequate instructions thus forcing the player to resort to the trial-and-error method. But they can all be skipped.
There is no widescreen option
I actually purchased the CE on BFG's Christmas wonderful 3 day deal [hope you didn't miss that !] to complete my Punch Card. The end of the SE, though abrupt, is satisfactory but the extra chapter adds more information on unanswered questions thus providing a more complete ending. Either way, both endings leave the door open for a sequel.
Lengthwise, count about 5 to 6 hours for the SE, if you do not rush through it.
Notes: don't miss the morphing objects. Finding 10 of them [out of 20] will unlock the "Replay Puzzles" option. The CE lets you have a sneak peak at the developers' other games and their next release: Nightfall Mysteries: Black Heart.
My rating 4.5.
December 28, 2011
Takes the Cake
I waited for the S.E.After playing the trial version. I couldn.t get enough ,Played the whole game all at once,I'll rate this game in point version.
Sound-was great,had to turn it down or up at times
Graphics-crystal clear, stunning
Voice over- well done
H.O. scenes-clear and precice , not a "church rumage sale"
Story line-has you guessing as to who the villian is[I was wrong]
Difficulty-you decied for yourself[I consider myself very good at this type of game and at times I had to use the Hint ]
Length-sorry can't say,I do so many other things at the same time[cooking,laundry,animals wanting in and out etc.]
Mini games-some are easy others extremely difficult
Morphing objects-there are none in the S.E., and believe me I looked,so don't bother looking[doesnt take anything away from the game.
I really enjoyed this game and hope you do as well.I will replay this game ,as I know most of us do[I have a habbit of memorizing the objects so I let some time go by first]
All in all it is a keeper ,,so enjoy fishes!!!
January 2, 2012
Pleasant game
Good game, good sound, good graphics.
A lot of mini games, a lot of interesting locations.
Could be more challenging. Too much sparkles.
December 28, 2011
Just not long enough
This game was fun. Not too challenging for an expert though. The storyline could have been better. It ends in an abrupt way that's kind of weird. Overall it just needed to be longer!
January 2, 2012
What happened to the ENDING?
Having played the Demo of this game I was impatiently waiting for it to come out for general release so that I could finally see what happened after the car got lifted into the air by the Plant.....
So after finally getting to meet the evil man himself.... imagine my disgust when that was basically the end of the game! There was a very short end to what could have really been a good game.
If your looking for the standard HOG this is it... if your looking for an interesting end of game... look elsewhere.
January 6, 2012
Great game.
Couldn't drag myself away to eat & sleep. Longer play than most. Many areas to explore. Really great fun.
December 31, 2011
Only lasted a few hours.
I bought this because I really enjoyed the try before buy preview. It should be two dollars instead of the 6.99 for members. I only spent a few hours playing and am by no means smart at these kind of games. I'm pretty disappointed because of the value factor.
February 6, 2012
Loved It.
Played the trial and can't wait to buy. This game will really test your ability to think beyond the obvious. Can't review the music and such because I was really engaged in the game play. HOG easy to find, good mix of games, and game bright for easy viewing.
December 30, 2011
Fun and challenging hidden object game
I had to reload it once to get the "fishing pole" to go together, but it was well worth it.
December 28, 2011