Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat
4.5
5
19
19
Another Edgar Allen Poe story made into a game
Review after finishing the game:
The Good:
+ long game
+ adequate graphics
+ classic Edgar Allen Poe Story (which I did not know before)...
+ that for some reason sent some chills down my spine, even though there was nothing scary about it
+ good mixture of puzzles ranging from the brain dead easy to the impossible (slider puzzle)
The Neutral:
o Items are put back into a given hidden object scene
o would have liked a minimap for fast movement...
o ...and a little "Area clear" sign
The Bad:
- Items not true to size
- Some riddles make no sense: Why not just move the rocking chair aside instead of building a contraption? Why do I have to light one candle on a chandelier (how do I reach it when one scene later I can't climb a fountain?) and the next in a chimney (chandelier doesn't work on the second candle)?
- lots of senseless running around to find something to do in a scene
Bottom Line: Despite some quirks that wouldn't have been necessary this one is a very good game.
December 22, 2011
Loved it but; not as good as Premature burial
I purchased this game because I enjoyed/loved premature Burial so much but this game someone got lazy. They did not have the inspector do any talking, you had to read the coversation; which was not as enjoyable. It is a delicate balance between too much talking and not enough I guess. For those who really like alot of HO and puzzles this is excellent becase ther seems to be more in this game as opposed to Premature Burial.
November 16, 2011
So Very Good, A Must Buy
Great game. Challenging. Tough puzzles. Great HOG.
Not being a Poe fan I wasn't sure it I really wanted to play this but thought I'd give it a try. WOW what a great game. The graphics were great. I really like games that are true to the period and relative size of things. This game was. The objects were not hidden in a column or beam unless it was a number, images or the like. If it was an object, it was or it was obviously a drawing. I like that too.
It was long also. I like that too. You know where the plot is going but hey, it's Poe so that's no surprise. The HOGs were great, the puzzles fantastic. I'm going to try out other Dark Tales, even though I don't really like dark themes. If the game play is good I can pretty much ignore the rest.
November 23, 2011
Another Good Story
This story was good like the prior game to this Murder's In The Rue Morgue. Although, in this game I found it was a little less fun because most of the problems were repetitive (i.e. You need a key for everything to unlock every door and chest).
There was A LOT of search and finds in this game more so than puzzles and the puzzles were made too easy. Basically, once you unlocked a box or a door, it gave you the answer for another puzzle, which practically did the puzzle for you so you would not have to think about solving it, but you were missing a piece to solve it so you are given yet again another search and find to get the missing piece.
The search and finds were somewhat made more difficult because the graphics was made poorer on those and the image you were shown was really jammed with stuff so your eyes could not focus properly. They did draw the people and the surrounding scenery good, but just not the close ups of things.
Other then what I have mentioned above. I did continue to play because I wanted to know what happened to Monsieur Mark Davies' wife. Which was worth playing until the end.
November 21, 2011
Good game, but not the best
Overall, an enjoyable game. If you like Adventure/Hidden Object games, you should enjoy this one. Good story (find missing woman) and good graphics (cartoon-like but mostly well done.) Long in length. Lots of places to explore!
You have a tophat-wearing assistant (?) who periodically explains things to you, although, not too much. The mini-games were ok. The challenges are not particullary inspired (about seven steps to wash clothes), but it did hold my attention.
Kind of heavy on the Hidden Object scenes for me and they required a very minor amount of interaction (open a box, move a curtain). I did use a few hints, but most of the objects were findable. Some HOS were on the darker side.
I played in advanced mode (longer hint recharge) and wished I had chosen the easier one. Had to use the walkthrough four or five times and that is too much for me. I failed to find a few critical items and not all solutions are obvious or intuitive.
Note that flat work surfaces are there so you can perform some sort of work on them, like putting together items (or taking them apart). Some of these work areas are used more than once.
While I do recommend this game, I am glad I didn't pay full price.
January 8, 2012
The Best!!!
I found this game to be one of the best games ever! However I was tying to get through it without the help of the walkthrough.......no way!! Expect the unexpected!
December 6, 2011
THE coolest game! COULD NOT put it down!!
kept my interest PEEKED on thru the very last scene! Great hidden object pages! absolutely great story line.challenging yet fun!! i give this game 2 thumbs up OVER 5 stars!!!!
November 17, 2011
Repetitive Scenes!
This was another HOG that I purchased as a dual pack by BFG and glad that it came this way instead of regular price.
The visual is really nice quality, however, some of the HOG was difficult to see. The audio was annoying, so I muted it. You have to read the entire storyline, so I skipped them. I'd rather the characters speak to me instead.
They keep you going back and forth in this one, way too much to be enjoyable and it seemed rather aggravating to me in many of the scenes. Like others stated, you have to sometimes create something or perform actions that didn't make a great deal of sense to do in the first place.
This has a nice relaxing mode and has different challenge levels. It's an okay game, but I've played better.
December 27, 2011
Dupin and A Black Cat - Such Fun!
PLUS = After playing Murders in the Rue Morgue, I decided to try this one and LOVED it. The story kept my interest, and surprised me at the end. I enjoyed moving from place to place, and the graphics were wonderfully pleasing to the eye. I got stuck a few times and had to use the walkthrough, but that's ok, it means that the game was not too easy. Also means I will have lots of replay value playing it again and making myself NOT use the walkthrough. Another great game from ERS
MINUS = None that I can think of!
November 27, 2011
Mystery challenge with adventure every where.
Great sound and visual. HO's and puzzles kept one busy looking for clues while going here and there to use them excersised your memory. Very intriquing use of machinery attivation was mindbogling as programer's ability showed great talent. Wonderful game.....
December 28, 2011