Secrets of the Dark: Eclipse Mountain
4.4
5
76
76
Delightful Adventure/Puzzle/HOS Game That's Hard To Put Down
Very nice mix of HOS ( not too many, and varied in format), reasonably challenging but not maddeningly difficult puzzles, and use of logic and memory in using found items. Hints do not point you towards needed screens, but do let you know if there is nothing to do where you are. Like a good novel, I whiled away a number of hours, stopping for the night only when my own brain had had enough. Seemed to have a lot of playable length compared to a number of others. Script was classic save your loved one from unspeakable horror butt flowed well in terms of logic and progress within the game. Graphics were OK and music was repetitive and sometimes familiar but not obnoxious. Solving each little secret to get to the next was addictive and fun. A few of the found objects are not needed until much further into the game and a few secrets in earlier screens will eventually require a revisit, but the total number of screens is not overwhelming. Virtually all of the challenges will yield to patience, logic and persistence. There are no timed challenges, always a welcome relief for me; play at your own pace and return when you choose to. Like so many of the best BFG products, perfect for seniors and/or stoners and all others looking for a laid back good time vs. necessity to perform under pressure.
April 19, 2013
Great game.
Really enjoyed this one. It took me a while. It was a long one for me. It has a pretty cool twist on the game-play. Some of the rooms morph when you hit a light switch or source, or handle, with tasks to do in each.. so you need a good memory or a strategy guide ( of which I have neither, lol ) to remember what was where. Haven't seen that before. Really like that concept. Glad that I didn't have a S.G and that the hint button is pretty useless this time though. I would have cheated a bunch of times. This way, it lasts longer. The HO scenes (which I generally don't care for at all) were not overwhelming in number, and were easy to see and easy to solve. The puzzles were pretty easy too, which is fine with me. This is one I'd play again.
March 6, 2013
Creative HO Game
Great game - I loved that changing between dark and light changed the rooms. It made it that much more challenging to remember what to use where and where to find puzzles. There was some back and forth involved, but it wasn't too much because of the dark/light thing. The amount of hidden object scenes was well balanced - not too many that you didn't lose track of the storyline. They also changed it up with scenes where you had to put the objects back where they belonged.
I played Temple of Night and bought this one right after. I definitely recommend it!
November 19, 2012
Good, but not exciting!
A rather good game. Good graphics, voiceover, music. But I haven't found something to excite me. The usual puzzle types, not a special story.
November 3, 2012
Thailand!
A nice change of scene. This game is set in Thailand, and the artwork is beautiful. Lots of animation and special effects with a good story. Many, many puzzles of all skill levels plus some semi-interactive HOS too. I liked the locations that morphed into another time/space when you changed the illumination in the room. Lots of inventory at times. Some tasks are left undone for quite awhile, so it might be good to have a pencil and paper to keep track of what needs to be done or what item you need to do it. All in all, very fun, and I stretched it out over several days.
November 2, 2012
Good, but feels rushed.
Fun, but seriously short on actual hidden object scenes. Maybe just my luck recently, but more and more of these games have more running back in forth with a found object or two and don't offer much in the actual type of game play that they're labeled under. I miss the old school types, I suppose.
Running around with objects to complete tasks can also be a bit frustrating as developers likely haven't had to multitask with a screwdriver, crowbar or hammer before... pretty standard.
Overall a good H.O.G. but towards the end of the game, (no spoilers) things feel very rushed, as if developers ran out of time to complete things.
Minor Spoiler
The end scene has to be the shortest in history and further adds to the rushed feel.
July 19, 2012