I found it impossible to get 3 stars on even many of the early levels. Once I resigned myself to silver/bronze, it was not a bad game. I did not have an issue with rent lowering my appeal, but did find it very difficult to raise the appeal to the required amount (had to max out upgrades) even on the very early levels. I may buy it when it goes on sale, or if I need one more game to fill a punch card, but I will let it pass for now.
I recommend this game!
+3points
6of9voted this as helpful.
PuppetShow: Lightning Strikes Collector's Edition
The women of Paris are being turned into puppets! Can you find out who's pulling the strings?
Overall rating
3/ 5
1 of 2 found this review helpful
Doesn't live up to its predecessors
PostedAugust 23, 2014
calculuscat3
fromIA
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Brain Teaser, Time Management
I finished the "hour" demo in 24 minutes. It was extremely easy, even though I was playing on the medium level (no sparkles, but skip was available). I only skipped one "puzzle," one that required coordinated motor skills rather than thinking skills. There were no real HOP scenes, just some "collect all of the same item" scenes with only a few items to collect. I own all the previous PuppetShow games, but I won't be adding this one to my collection. I wish I could give it 2.5 stars instead of 3.
I found some of the hidden object scenes dark and the items were hard to see. It was difficult to determine where to go next. Some items did not appear as something to pick up on the first/second try. I'm not against the older style games (I own quite a few), but I'd like them to work properly and I do like to be able to see the items I need.
This could have been a really good game if it had just been refined a bit more. The game controls were clunky and hard to figure out. Multiple clicks were needed to get the response desired. Help (other than the unhelpful tutorial) was only available on the main game screen (as far as I could figure out). I think I ended up in casual mode without having checked that box, and the only way to change it would have been to start over. The dialogue should have been run through a spell checker and grammar checker as well. As it stands, the game is more frustrating than fun.
Favorite Genre(s):Word, Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
2/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
2/ 5
Level of Challenge
2/ 5
Storyline
2/ 5
This is a typical HdO game. It may be one of their better works, but it is still low-quality. The dialogue is stilted English, and the graphics are not high quality. Some items are hard to find, while others are just "given" to the player. Some items are mislabeled as well. If you like the HdO brand/series, you may enjoy this game. However, if you are not a fan of the brand, this is just another game to avoid.
Favorite Genre(s):Word, Time Management, Hidden Object
Fun Factor
3/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
3/ 5
Level of Challenge
1/ 5
This was a really short game. By the end of the one hour trial, I was about 5 minutes from finishing the game completely (based on checking the walkthrough for length). I used only a couple of hints to find items that were too small to see, and did not skip puzzles. In fact, I probably wasted more than ten minutes of my trial just trying to figure out where to go next. There were very few HO scenes. I really didn't have to look at the lists until the last couple of objects, as the lists were basically "find what doesn't belong in the scene."
Favorite Genre(s):Word, Brain Teaser, Time Management, Hidden Object
Fun Factor
3/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
3/ 5
Level of Challenge
2/ 5
I finished the entire game with 3 minutes left on my free trial (and I didn't rush or use many hints). I realize some games are made by people who do not speak English as a native language, but the grammar in this game was awful. Non-words appeared in the HO lists, and there were numerous text errors which a grammar check program could have found. Some objects were nearly impossible to distinguish from the background.