Haunted Halls: Revenge of Doctor Blackmore Collector's Edition
4.3
5
68
68
The best of everything!
I'm impressed. We'll start with the graphics. I like this type of artwork. It's colorful and smooth and more like a photograph than a drawing. It's neither dark nor gloomy. The music is soft and melodic, appropriate and not annoying. Very pretty, actually.
It has all the essentials... a hint, a skip, a book of notes, a very concise strategy guide and a kit for experiments.
The puzzles are really neat and do-able and judging from the demo, plenty of them. I came across one HO scene. I don't remember it being interactive.
The storyline is a continuation of the Haunted Halls Saga and the third in the series. Dr. Blackmore has created an explosion and kidnapped you and Tim. He tells you that he will let you have a chance to rescue Tim but of course he doesn't think you'll escape. You must rescue all those Dr. Blackmoore has imprisoned along with Tim.
The play is fun and surprising.. Some things are predictable but then they are "nature of the beast" types of things. Like needing a hammer or axe to break something or needing a tidbit to attract some animal so you can collect an object you need.
I do hope, though, that this is the last of Dr. Blackmoore. It's time for a new nemesis now.
I played the demo and promptly bought the game along with Fears From Childhood.
September 27, 2012
Fun Conclusion to the Story
I really had fun with this game. It is not overly challenging, but I enjoyed it. The HOS at the beginning of the game are really excellent, you find objects, combine them, reuse them to find more objects. The game is very linear, with explicit tasks. The journal is okay, I didn't refer to it very often. The music during the main game was excellent....not intrusive, not annoying. The voice overs were acceptable. The cut scenes are excellent. The mini games were not overly challenging, but were enjoyable. I had a lot of fun with the "lab case" you use to make potions. It was somewhat goofy, but I really had fun with it.
The SG is built in and excellent. You won't have to use it very often, but is a nice addition. The hint button seems to recharge quickly. I only used it a couple of times.
The bonus chapter was a nice conclusion to the story. The way the main game ended, you were left hanging. In some ways, the bonus chapter was more fun than the main game. The animals scattered throughout the game were so funny. Some of them made no sense whatsoever, but most of them made me chuckle.
The few annoyances in the game are the Dr. Blackmore voice over (which is really annoying), the music in the bonus chapter (it has a pounding beat and I muted it quickly) and a technical glitch where I got stuck and couldn't pick up an item (I exited/restarted the game and it worked without a problem).
While the first game in this series was the best, I enjoyed this game and recommend it.
October 22, 2012
Good game
The game was fun at first... afterwards it got a bit boring. The graphics were pretty good not best i have seen. The music was nice and the storyline was kind of weird. I play alot of hidden object games so this one was easy to complete.. not very challenging. Overall i found it ok but will not play it again. I just did not like the storyline i guess.
October 11, 2012
Entertaining but not challenging
I really liked playing the game. It varied on the hidden object format, so that made it interesting. Played on advanced level, didn't notice any time penalties. The puzzles weren't that challenging, so barely used hints. Used hints mostly when I lost my train of thought, otherwise, you can easily follow the logic to know how to find tools to move the story along.
October 11, 2012
FUN, CREEPY GAME!
This game is all you expect from the Haunted Halls collection, and a very good CE. Creepy, and sometimes humorous graphics. Very well thought out storyline. Lots and lots of things to do and puzzles to solve! Not too hard, not easy. I love the kangaroo! This game is worth the money.
October 2, 2012
Great Creativity = Awesome Game
Hi gamers, I started playing this game today. Within the first 1/2 hour I was smiling at how cool the game is. More creativity within a game in a long time. There have been a few excellent games released in the last two weeks. This should be at the top. I'm at a loss for words...its just THAT cool. I never get too into what to expect anyway, if you're like me the element of surprise is soo worth it! Happy Gaming!!
October 1, 2012
Great! Simply Great
This is the most beautifully made and entertaining adventure game I played recently.
The graphics are detailed, realistic and yet artistically rendered. I don't see any of the blur or dirty yellow-blue-gray color combination that ERS used to have in their graphics here. Very refreshing I would say. How I love that deserted school scene!
Game play is very nice. I would love to keep exploring the next scenes when playing and never feel bored. There are some HO scenes but they vary from silhouettes to fragments to words.
BTW, animals are cute!
September 29, 2012
Another hit, another buy!
I am a huge fan of this series. The opening scene was totally unexpected and well done. There is definitely a mixture of funny and creepy in this game. The music is perfect, just enough to keep you creeped out, yet not annoying like most games out there.
I played in expert mode. I can't get enough of Haunted Halls and Dr. Blackmore! Pure perfection.
September 27, 2012
Love it Glad he is back
This one is just as good as the others. I even like that it has a hint button but only tells you that there is nothing to do in that area. The graphics are great and the music is not bad. The HOS are few and different but fun. Not hard. The puzzles can be difficult at times. Has a good flow and not running all over the place too bad.
November 29, 2012
Flat. Again.
For me, the whole series has flatlined. This for me was no exception.
Good Parts:
The graphics were good.
I actually really liked the Hidden Object Scenes. They really were something different,
The storyline started off a major bore, but got better as the game went on.
Hint charged very fast.
OK Parts:
Most puzzles were annoying. There were a few exceptions, which included the 12 o clock hands puzzle.
The strategy guide didn't provide much use for me. To use it. I had to skip to the page to what I was up to, and that wasted time.
Bad Parts:
There were few points in the game that I would consider fun. The story got so boring I was going to give this 1/5.
The one utter hatrid I had was the skip button. It took way too long to recharge, and if I exited the puzzle to wait, it started all over again.
The hint would prove to be useless at times, directing me to places I didn't need.
Overall, this was one rollercoaster of a game that I wouldn't go on a second time. This confirms my lack of interest for teh Haunted Halls series, and puts ERS within one striike of losing me forever.
October 17, 2012