lsr103's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.4
- Helpful Votes:61
- Reviews Submitted:18
- First Review:August 27, 2012
- Most Recent Review:March 25, 2021
- Featured reviews0
You’re on a train in the middle of nowhere, and a band of dangerous thieves demand you tell them where to find the Hope Diamond’s shards. As the newest Hidden Expedition recruit, you’ve got to find the shards before they do…
Overall rating
3
/
5
4 of 6 found this review helpful
It does what it says on the tin.
PostedJanuary 5, 2014
lsr103
fromDerry, Ireland
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
This struck me as uncharacteristically lacklustre. The production-values were typically high (it was, after all, helmed by Big Fish) but the storyline was dreadfully formulaic and the whole experience was over in a trice. The mini-games were often no more than a series of clicking exercises - little if any challenge - and in one instance (the peacock tail puzzle) seemed utterly incomprehensible. This kind of post-Indianna Jones secret-temple hokum is ten-a-penny these days in the gaming world. I'm surprised that after the wonderfully imaginative "Devil's Triangle" and "Uncharted Island," the next "Hidden Expedition" has reverted to such a pedestrian recipe. It isn't remotely terrible and is - as I have mentioned - nicely turned out, but I, for one, found myself plodding through yawn-inducingly familiar territory starved of anything remotely akin to a wow-factor. Not great, I'm afraid.
I don't recommend this game.
Judge Dee is the newly appointed magistrate of Yiwang prefect. Help him uncover the truth behind a town's dark secret, its corrupt officials and the true cause of a mysterious illness!
Overall rating
3
/
5
4 of 4 found this review helpful
Surprisingly enjoyable
PostedDecember 13, 2013
lsr103
fromDerry, Ireland
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
The clunky mechanics - loads of gratuitously necessary clicking - and some silly hidden objects, for example find "wooden statue" when there are about three of them! Ditto "chopsticks" and a "black vase" which wasn't black - took the shine off what was very nearly a lovely game. The insufficiently specific HOG identifiers did become irritating after a while. I didn't mind having to read the story - I enjoy reading! The primary problem, though, was that the hidden object scenes and rather arbitrary mini-games felt dislocated from the primary plot, so - even though you were playing the game - you weren't really immersed. This is a harmless and rather atmospheric offering. If you're not a bookworm and aren't keen on Hidden Object games, you'll hate it. If, on the other hand, like me, you appreciate attractive graphics, a neatly turned ancient Chinese whodunit and like the thought of relaxing by dragging and clicking away an afternoon, give it a go. The only real quibble I have is that the hidden object scenes allow you to reopen and replay them as often as you like. If you don't keep up with the plot, you can spend ages going round in circles hunting objects to achieve goals you have long since completed.
I recommend this game!
Something wicked has taken over Fate’s Carnival!
Overall rating
5
/
5
4 of 8 found this review helpful
Pretty close to unbeatable: buy it - you'll love it!
PostedDecember 8, 2013
lsr103
fromDerry, Ireland
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
This game is a remarkable achievement - utterly engrossing and beautifully turned out. Firstly, the bonus content in the collector's edition is more than worth the extra outlay, so I'd strongly recommend getting the deluxe version. Now for the game: I set the challenge mode to the toughest and had - on and off - three days' worth of highest-quality entertainment from this game. The artwork is quite simply beautiful throughout. The puzzles are - with two minor exceptions - mesmerisingly brilliant. (The owl's feather and current-switch puzzles aren't up to the standard of the rest, but this is a niggle so minor that I'm in two minds about whether or not to leave it out.) When I think of the remarkable journey on which this game took me, I'm simply astonished and delighted that a bunch of minds so imaginative and inspired could have collaborated on this minor masterpiece of the genre. Atmosphere and detail are worked through to the Nth degree - and then some more. The characterisations are consistent and engaging. (Please may I suggest that you have future game instructions crash-tested to destruction for spotless English? Slightly wobbly grammar is the one, tiny lapse of production values in the whole offering). I must say I'm glad that the self-consciously revolting "Escape from Ravenhearst" has been superseded by this plot-driven, puzzle-laden jewel of a game. I don't want to spoil any of the treasure-house of surprises contained in "Fate's Carnival," but if, like me, you're addicted to the puzzle-driven, hidden-object filled world of this genre of gaming, I'd say "Fate's Carnival" is pretty definitely the jewel in the crown. With "Fate's Carnival" the genre has just mutated into something significantly more complex and engaging. A final note of encouragement: if you loved the puzzle-locks in the earliest "Ravenhearst," "Fate's Carnival" serves up a banquet of absolute beauties of these mind-bending utterly ingenious brain-teasers - quite literally dozens of the things. That's it - I'm resorting to hyperbole, so had best sign off. Congratulations Big Fish and your wonderful team of developers; you have created something truly magical.
I recommend this game!
Enter Ravenwood Park and discover the secrets hidden in the mists...
Overall rating
5
/
5
0 of 1 found this review helpful
Terrific - right up there with the best of the genre.
PostedOctober 21, 2013
lsr103
fromDerry, Ireland
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Marble Popper, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
The story is gripping and utterly logical. The scares are surprisingly genuine. The hidden object scenes are carefully conceived to propel and enhance the plot without being littered with the silly anachronisms to which so many shabbier offerings succumb these days. The mini-games are a little too simple (and too few, if I'm being picky) but the well-groomed, albeit rather macabre, plot makes a welcome change from the many mind-numbingly formulaic offerings with which the broader market is currently awash. If you enjoyed the pinnacles of this genre - Dire Grove, Return to Ravenhearst and the best of the Hidden Expedition series, go right ahead and buy this - it is as good as the best of them.
I recommend this game!
Play as a clairvoyant detective and investigate the baffling disappearance of a carnival magician in this colorful Hidden Object game!
Overall rating
4
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
This shouldn't work - but it does!
PostedSeptember 27, 2013
lsr103
fromDerry, Ireland
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
The artwork and music in this game feel as if they were done on free-download software in someone's back bedroom. The plot is barely worthy of the name. I can't explain why, but this is just so cute in its hokeyness that I forgive it everything. Actually, I think the string-and-selotape quality of the artwork - it honestly looks as if it's been clipped out of a 1980s mail-order catalogue - is largely responsible for its charm. The music is barely competent and yet, somehow, also has the inept cuddliness of a dog-pound puppy with a torn ear. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing earth-shattering here, but especially while it's available for next to nothing to Game Club members, why not give it a go? Apologies if you hate it - you might - but I didn't!
I recommend this game!
Track down a missing detective and fight an evil curse!
Overall rating
1
/
5
10 of 14 found this review helpful
Just another pale story with hopeless plot defects
PostedSeptember 24, 2013
lsr103
fromDerry, Ireland
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
I love "MCF," "Hidden Expedition," "Drawn," "Puppet Show," "Azada," "Mystery Trackers," "Reality Show (a wonderful surprise) - there are quite literally hundreds of engrossing and very rewarding games of this genre out there. With "Enigma Agency - Case of Shadows" I am so mindnumbingly bored (especially irritating as I parted with good money to purchase this twaddle) that I have reached the point when I can't be troubled to finish the thing. A shovel won't clear some earth. Why? Items repeatedly carry out bizarrely inappropriate tasks to which any number of items already in my inventory would be ideally suited. (I won't say more as I don't want to include a spoiler). This total lack of logic feels like the key to what is so catastrophically wrong here. I don't care about anyone in the narrative and for large swathes of the plot I have no idea why I'm doing what I'm trying to do. The main character seems dim, inept, frail and incompetent to the point where - frankly - humane euthanasia would probably be the kindest act to bestow upon him. I really am horribly underwhelmed and - very unusually - will delete this unfinished. My time is worth more than the money I spent on the game.
I don't recommend this game.
The residents of Bitterford, Maine have fallen prey to a terrible curse. It’s up to you to unravel the series of mysterious events that led to the town’s downfall and uncover the evil that was responsible.
Overall rating
3
/
5
2 of 3 found this review helpful
Good but not great
PostedDecember 15, 2012
lsr103
fromDerry, Ireland
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I've been reading a good deal of pretty uncomplimentary reviewing about Shadow Lake and almost didn't buy it. I'm glad I did, though - there's enough to enjoy here - but we are not remotely in the Ravenhearst/Dire Grove league with this game. The very first low-tech Ravenhearst got me hooked on casual gaming in the first place and I've been wondering what it was which that prototype had to offer that an incredibly polished offering like Shadow Lake does not. I guess it's ingenuity and style. The puzzle locks in the first Ravenhearst are quite simply inspired. Someone set to work devising beautifully drawn utterly ingenious mini-games which I have never seen beaten anywhere for wit and compulsiveness. The best analogy is the cream of black and white movies compared with film-making today; Laurel and Hardy still soar like eagles not on account of their production values (which by today's standards are preposterously basic) but because their movies are touched with incontestable talent and inspiration. Shadow Lake is excellently produced, but there isn't a mini-game a variant of which I haven't played somewhere else and there isn't a plot turn a moderately seasoned gamer will not have encountered in some guise a million times somewhere else. There are also some lazy plotting issues, the worst of which - don't worry, this isn't a spoiler - is a dark passageway in which night-vision goggles don't work when the plot cannot allow them to and which miraculously begin to work when the plot equally arbitrarily requires them to. Silly, messy and fundamentally unsatisfying stuff like this seems a shame.
Shadow Lake game isn't remotely awful, but neither is it particularly memorable. In a casual gaming market awash with mediocrity and cliche, this is a nicely turned out but fundamentally unremarkable addition to an already burgeoning breed.
I recommend this game!
A new breed of virus has spread throughout the City of Oxford. You must search the city for a missing girl who holds the key to stopping the global epidemic!
Overall rating
2
/
5
16 of 18 found this review helpful
So near yet (I'm afraid) so far...
PostedAugust 27, 2012
lsr103
fromDerry, Ireland
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
First, the caveat - several people seemed to have enjoyed this game, so I might be in a minority - but for my part it was terribly disappointing.
The premise - a Stephen King "The Stand" style plotline - is inspired and genuinely novel. Unfortunately the game-play is so pedestrian that the experience never really manages to get the adrenaline flowing. One finds oneself collecting innumerable coins for slot-machines which do things which - well - slot-machines simply don't do. Likewise, having to assemble family crests to unlock doors is just plain silly in this context. I might accept this device in the realms of Harry Potter or the Hobbit, but "Infected - The Twin Vaccine" is meant to be set in an oh-so-ordinary North American small town. A salt-of-the-earth railway worker has a back-gate sporting a Gothic heraldic shield! Too much about this game feels ludicrous and completely incongruous. More generally, it's all just a bit too boring. Too often the gamer finds him/herself having to squint for yet another inexplicable key among twilit rubble or a hammer or a crowbar. Frustratingly and rather illogically, intelligently chosen tools won't perform perfectly reasonable tasks (a paint-scraper, for example, refuses to peel back a photograph or a hammer and chisel can't be used to remove some flakey plaster).
And there's the rub - the whole experience soon feels like a punitively dull series of mechanical processes, rather than an engaging recreational adventure. This is just lazy plotting. The best adventure games in this genre create the impression that the player is constantly being given genuine options. This is, of course, wholly illusory and one is embarked on a linearly driven narrative, but at its best - "Mystery Case Files", "Puppetshow", "Drawn", "Hidden Expedition" - one is hooked throughout and goes with the flow. "Infected - The Twin Vaccine" is so uneventfully wearisome, featureless and flabbily plotted that, notwithstanding its over-short game-itme, one is nonetheless pleased to have got the whole thing over with.
I'd give this a wide berth if I were you - dull as ditchwater.
I don't recommend this game.