White Haven Mysteries
3.4
5
69
69
A Great Thriller - story is more interesting than the game itself!
What took me most, was the story: cutscene at the beginning is very well done and really appealing.
A beautiful girl, who wants to help us, leaves a doubt: it is friendly or not?
"Bad Man" is very realistic with his ironic voice, and the things he says - like comparing a child to a lab rat - are unbelievable, left me speechless!
Very well done sound, atmosphere and graphics also.
Each place has many different things to be done, but puzzles and HOS are very easy, except one where everything is the same color and some objects are tiny ! WOW !!
This was challenging !!! I hope there is more of this kind.
A great entertainment. Now we got the SE I will buy ... and know the end, finally!!
By the way... I do not have to play with the lights on ...but caught me off guard twice !!!
February 17, 2012
Wow! Fabulous!
Based on the demo.
Great cut scenes and many of them which draw you into the story. Recommended to play in the dark and has a warning for those of a sensitive nature. I read the review of the other four people who played this game and one said it wasn't scary at all. I don't agree with that! Also I think that the developers were only covering themselves by giving us a warning. The music and sound were eerie and suspenceful and helped with the dramatic tension. The graphics were good bearing in mind this is not one of those "beautiful" games such as Dark Parables or Beauty and the Beast. Looking through the eyes of someone who had been drugged and was having halucinations was very unusual and something I have never seen before. Puzzles were quite challenging. Plenty to do in each scene which I like and not too much running back to the beginning etc. I recommend all big fish members to try the demo. Definitely worth a game credit. Bought it immediately I had finished the demo and that is unusual for me.
February 17, 2012
WOW!
Playing this game was an awesome experience. The visuals and audio were fantastic. Some of the hide & seek puzzles were insanely difficult, but that was a nice change of pace. The game suggests playing in the dark with the sound on, and I can't imagine playing it any other way.
February 17, 2012
Decent, fairly interesting, but not out of this world
The one hour demo took me past half of what I suppose is the first chapter.
What I saw and did I in that hour didn't really blow my socks off.
At the start, the game advises you to play in the dark, loud speakers on, and warns you that the "adventure" is frightening and might no be suitable for the fainthearted.
I didn't find it scary at all..... but I am not hypersensitive.
I also turned the speakers down; the permanent sound effects and the music track get very annoying after a little while.
The strong point of this game is the voice-overs; truly professional. very natural, in one word, perfectly realistic. The dialogues are well worded and what the mysterious man says, the way he says it, is highly convincing.
Intro and cutscenes are very well done.
Oh, yes, the plot: the heroine has been drugged [we don't know how or why] and wakes up in what looks like a haunted mansion, except that it is not haunted at all. The inside is, or so it seemed to me, that of an abandoned, derelict mental asylum. Our heroine's goal consists in finding the antidote, escaping, and in the process, I suppose, defeat the man and save a little girl. Not a novel idea but it gave me the impression it was well developed and fairly interesting.
Graphicwise, nothing exceptional. The artwork is good, somber as befits the atmosphere, colored with talent.
Part of the game is an adventure, though the tasks are simple, unoriginal, and do not require much mental effort. They all respond to some logic in some way.
A large part of it is left to HO Scenes. These are neat, not overly populated, and fairly easily managed, save one: imagine dozens of objects, not even half an each in size, all of the same color more or less, and crammed up on... a telephone !!
I was happy, for this one, to be on Casual Mode [there are only 2 Modes], with a Hint System recharging almost at warp speed. Besides, you can click as much as you want without penalty. Hints also show you what to do next.
But it's difficult to get stuck; the linearity prevents that, and the number of locations to explore is rather limited, at least in the first hour. That's probably why you have no map.
Simple, too, are the objectives; moreover they are clearly stated in the journal.
I was hoping for numerous fiendish puzzles. In vain. The first one was a piece of cake, the second, in fact a minigame [make a chicken soup... LOL], perfectly uninteresting, even silly. I didn't get to play a third one which, probably, comes up later on. Puzzles are skippable.
I didn't see a wide screen option. Gameplay is fluid.
All in all White Haven is not exactly a paradise for true adventure lovers and puzzle aficionados, just another decent game for those who are keen on HOGs and simplicity.
However, bearing a full and perfectly objective judgement is difficult in the avsence of further information; we don't know how successfully the storyline unfolds, what the rest of the game has in store, and whether it is long or short.
As is this game is okay, though I have seen better, so I can only give it 3 stars and I very much doubt I will ever purchase it.
February 17, 2012
White Haven Mysteries
This is what i want in a HO game! Creepy atmosphere,enthralling storyline.A very fun and enjoyable game.The graphics are excellent by far plus the sounds are creepy and eerie as the game itself.How can you not like and get spooked at the same time hearing a little girl singing"Ring around the rosies".Voice overs are well acted liked the fact that there's a bit of an echo to it adding that ''Dread" feeling.The challenges are very straight foward not too hard or easy,which can be enjoyed by beginners and experts alike.Definitely you would want to add this game to your collection.
February 18, 2012
Breath-takingly Awesome
This game grabbed me right from the tune "Ring around the Rosie", then there was a complete surprise with the phone scene .Well done!!!I played both the trials and then bought the S. V.,I waited over a month for it's release[heavy sigh]. Anticipation just about drove me nuts.O K on to the game.There are two modes of play,hint recovers quickly, there is the option to skip mini games.The graphics are excellent,color brilliant,and the sound FX suit each scene,story line is the same old song-with a twist.The HO scenes well done very precise,,mini games were almost easy. I make a point of never using the hint button and that is just a personal thing, there are a few scary parts but this just adds to the story line.This game was very easy to follow -very little grey matter used,almost no back tracking. It is well worth the $$$.This game reminded me of a spooky movie.I should mention that as you go along you start collecting two inventory items at a time.Different from the norm of one-at-a-time.Only turned the volume down once in the pumpkin patch scene[the crows drove me coo-coo] In the same token this scene has to be one of the best I have ever seen for a HO.Truly a pleasure to play, over and over again.Bravo Zulu!!! Bigfish . Give this one a try!!You will be surprised.Highly reccommend.
February 20, 2012
One Creepy!!!!!!!!!!!!! Game
Stunning graphics, sound excellent.
Suggested you watch in the dark with the sound on (makes it creepier ). I also had a raging electrical storm going on outside as I played in the dark - AWESOME.
Enthralling game that is beautifully presented.
VO text added to the suspense (creepy bad guy with his comments in the background).
HOS uncluttered with objects not difficult to find.
There were only a couple of mini-games during the one hour period - fuse puzzle, portrait puzzle and light the candelabra (all relatively easy).
The rest of the game consisted of finding objects to use later and missing parts of objects and then assembling them.
Unlimited hints and the hint button recharged very quickly.
The journal keeps track of your objectives and the newspaper clippings you collect along the way.
Consult your journal regularly.
Overall an enjoyable game.
February 17, 2012
Just OK
Good storyline. There were one or two scary parts, but certainly not enough to require the warning in the opening credits. I liked the graphics, the voiceovers and the music.I did not, however, find this game at all challenging. HOGs were simple and the puzzles didn't require much thought. The journal entries were confusing, as they didn't appear in the order they were found. I didn't even read most of them because they had very little bearing on the game play. Most of all, the game was much too short! I finished it in less than two hours. My advice: play the demo version and don't waste your money on the full version.
February 18, 2012
A little different and wonderfully creepy.
This game was different in a way I cannot really explain. It wasn't a negative thing - I really enjoyed the game. It was just different. It was usual in several ways: options were offered for music, sound effect, screen size..the usual. The music was unremarkable and I found one sound rather annoying. Every so often, there would be this rather wheezy air-like sound as if you'd stepped on a bagpipe..no music or squeals, just an annoying whoosh of air that got on my nerves for some reason. Graphics were great...clean, crisp, and colorful, for the most part. There were a couple of scenes that were more gray or black and white and appeared more "drawn" than others, but most were very colorful and the hidden object scenes were clear and items were pretty easy to find. The hint button was available both in and out of hidden object scenes. There was a journal that stored all of the clippings you collect throughout the game to carry the story along and there was no map. There was not much need for one, as the hint button would let you know where to go if direction is needed. Puzzles and mini-games were not as challenging as more experienced gamers might prefer, but they were just right for me, but a couple could have provided a bit more instruction than was given. There were voice-overs that were done well and the "creepy" fellow's voice was that type that could send shivers up your spine - much like the crazy person in the "Dorian Gray Syndrome" game. In the story, you are drugged with something that could prove fatal and you're in this asylum of sorts, wandering about trying to save a young girl. That's the main mission, but it tends to get a bit lost as you go from one hidden object scene to another and you also tend to lose the whole plot now and then. Overall, the game was very enjoyable, good length...about 6 and a half hours for me, good characters/voice-overs, a decent story, good graphics, and a bit on the creepy and scary side. If you enjoy that kind of game, this one would be perfect. Throughout the game, however, were some list items that I would call mislabled. One that pops to mind is that you are asked to find a "vice" and it turns out to be a C-clamp. There were several items mislabled, but the hint button helps.
February 18, 2012
Awful
What a waste of a game credit. The puzzles are ridiculously easy, a six year old could whiz through them. The hidden objects are so obvious it's laughable to call them hidden. And after wondering why the heck you are doing things because there is seldom an obvious reason, you come to an ending that is totally unbelievable even if you know very little about psychiatry. The ending is also extremely abrupt. Bang, it's over and you're staring at the monitor going, "What?"
The voiceovers were good, what there were of them. The graphics were passable. And that's the best I can say about this game.
February 18, 2012