A famous actor has literally stepped off the screen to kidnap your niece. Now you must find a way into the dangerous and exciting world of the film to save her!
Three minutes into the demo I had to find...yes a key, a battery, a lighter and a ladder. The ladder of course let me climb to a crow's nest where I found a screwdriver? Nope. Guess again. A wrench of course. And I would have to find a way to scare the crow away. Usually you scare the wild life away or you lure them with a treat. Anything from cheese to red meat to a fish, depending on the species. I'm sure if I played still further I'd have to find a shovel, hedge shears, and who knows how many more keys. I think I've made my point.
This game is the same old same old. I realize it's a 2014 game but even at that there were more interesting (as in creative) games 2 years ago.
I own over a hundred Big Fish games and until the developers come up with something fresh, I think it's time I start going back into my archives.
If your a newbie to the genre than this might be a game for you. It's certainly not the worst. And may actually be a good introduction to the genre. Me, I'll pass.
This is one of those games that comes along every so often that I want to play through because I am having a blast. Not because I bought this dumb game and have to play through it...maybe it will get better (yeah, right).
For starters I live near Great South Bay and have always been a "shore" person, so the setting was just right for me. And the graphics were right up my alley. Moody and a bit grim much like Maze Subject 360. No overly saturated colors and no cutesy pie animal helpers. The art fit the story perfectly.
There are plenty of reviews here that will fill you in on that story. Let's just say that this game is an adventure with a nice variety of HOs and puzzles, decent cut scenes and a great atmosphere. My only gripe is that some of the creatures are not up to par with the surroundings in terms of scary/moody. And the hint button gives you three hints in a row when all I wanted was a hint. Perhaps I was playing on an easier level. In any case this game is up there on my list of favorites.
Wow! A wonderful game. And as I played the first half hour, and got into this creepy mood I'm thinking this is promising! The dreary slightly cloaked atmosphere blew me away. The intro cut scene was a great indication of things to come. It, along with some of the other BF reviews warning of some scary stuff suckered me in. Well the stuff wasn't THAT scary, but there was def a nice creepy feeling all around. And the little girl/demon put the cherry on top of this sweet dish. The voice acting was outstanding.
At one point in the game, when I got to the outside world I was suddenly ready to down rate Maze because of the drastic change in it's look. From creepy moody wonderful to 50's Golden Book. Ah, here's where the junior art team takes over. Then I realized it was part of the plan. Inside world/outside world. Contrast. (I hope my realization is correct).
Anyway this game left me needing to write a very positive review. I'm usually a 2 Star guy. If you're into serious stuff as opposed to fantasy worlds with cute animal helpers, go for Maze: Subject 360.
This review will be short (yep) and sweet (nope). From the get go the surroundings as rendered were mediocre. One reviewer said cartoonish. I prefer Golden Bookish. The game play was nothing out of the box...I found my wire cutters, screw driver, etc. Nevertheless I plodded on thinking to give this game a fair shake but what made matters worse was the trial and error it took while trying to use an item. I know I need a screw driver to loosen a screw and a piece of cheese to lure out a mouse, but how many times should it take to make the item connect with the object? Too many clicks.That was it for me. And there were other errors, but enough said. Two thumbs down.
You came to the town of Brownville, Louisiana hoping to find a new job. But you weren't expecting to stumble upon a strange adventure in a world filled with beauty and danger!
"Holy Moley" ... I cringed because when I launched the game this was one of the first words I spoke (me?) and the realm was one of 50's Golden Book art that I know very well. I'm an old guy. And as the game began…Brownville isn't safe...there were (take a guess) yep broken pipes to fix. The old proverbial key to find and soon after I got a "Congratulations you've found a bag of gold." My thought was been there...done that. Many times. How much gold could I possibly need? Now being a graphic designer, I can stay with the worst story line and stilted cut scenes if I'm in a beautiful place. I just kind of explore and take in the atmosphere. And tune into the art. If the story is well crafted then it can't get better for me. That would be 5 stars, and I've played a precious few of these gems. I think the developers are getting lazy story wise and also trying to make their graphics "more life like" which sadly rarely works. This isn't Hollywood so best to say within your means. There are 3 or 4 year old games that far surpass the newer stuff in visual intensity. And pretty much define the genre. So, IMHO, this game is nothing to lose sleep over if you miss it. Of course demo it and judge for yourself.
You came to the town of Brownville, Louisiana hoping to find a new job. But you weren't expecting to stumble upon a strange adventure in a world filled with beauty and danger!
"Holy Moley" ... I cringed because when I launched the game where I was transported to a world where this was one of the first words spoken and the realm was one of 50's Golden Book art that I know very well. I'm an old guy. And as the game began, Ohmigod, there were (take a guess) yep broken pipes to fix. The old proverbial key to find and soon after i got a "Congratulations you've found a bag of gold." my thought was been there...done that. Many times. How much gold could I possibly need? Now being a graphic designer, I can stay with the worst story line and stilted cut scenes if I'm in a beautiful place. I just kind of explore and take in the atmosphere. And tune into the art. If the story is well crafted then it can't get better for me. But I think the developers are getting lazy story wise and also trying to make their graphics more life like which sadly never works. This isn't Hollywood. Stay within your means, There are 3 or 4 year old games that far surpass the newer stuff. They're not golden books. More like Tales From The Crypt if you remember EC comics.
I won't get into the story line here since many reviewers have covered it well. But in addition to the wonderful location renderings (and there are many for sure) the extra kicks like finding the morphing objects and collectibles and the rhyming hints for the HO's and the HO's themselves all make for a really nice gaming experience. And the CE besides giving you another shot at getting back into the story (which you will def want to do) offers up a bunch of puzzles, HO's and more.
But in the end, for me at least, the clincher is the look and feel of this game. Not over polished like the latest Nevertales, which is a very good game but just too slick and kind of soul less in its look. Phantasmat: BTMC offers top notch cut scenes and voice acting and scenic renderings that make for a great gaming experience.
I recommend this game!
+1point
2of3voted this as helpful.
Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart
Dive into an epic journey as a museum owner in pursuit of an undead pirate who has kidnapped your daughter in Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart!
I say that because this could have been a GREAT game...but not for me.
First the good. Lots of HO's which I personally love, though some are REALLY hidden. Gorgeous graphics. An interesting story line and great locations. Also the fact that the map doesn't beam you to your proper location was a plus for me. I found it to be more fun making my way through all those atmospheric locations. A minor gripe— the cut scene voice of the slimy pirate on the chest is too upbeat and totally out of character with his usual drone of "Showww me a coin".
Now the bad. The worst that could happen is when a game falls apart just (and I mean JUST) before the end. Signs began 2/3s in when the map started to fail showing available tasks. And at the end I was one coin short of completing the game. So I spent an hour going through the walk through's to no avail. The Big Fish forums listed the same problems from other gamers but sadly there were no replies.
I would have loved to give this game a 4 1/2. It's a great game if you want to take a chance.
From the moment you begin this game and look at the horrific child's book style renderings you just know this won't be a keeper. The graphics are terrible, the music is terrible, and my 7 year old grand daughter who loves to play Big Fish games had no interest. "This looks silly Pop Pop." Umm, yeah Lila I agree. I've seen people turn into trees in other Big Fish games. Ominous. These tree people looked more like cartoon firewood. I would have rated the game a 1 but for a few decent puzzles. Road of the Kings is a road best not traveled.
Where to begin? Ech! Basic outdated art. No map. A hint button that is useless, for example it continues to point you to a fire in a fireplace over and over while you have no clue as to extinguishing the fire. Also I had hoped to get a little feeling of Christmas in the visuals but as far as I got there was a lot of brown. Maybe things pick up further on but I won't waste my game time on this piece of coal.