AverageSizeFish's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:2.8
- Helpful Votes:2,910
- Reviews Submitted:173
- First Review:June 2, 2014
- Most Recent Review:May 1, 2017
- Featured reviews0
Status:
The Smithsonian Castle’s secrets lie in a Civil War past.
Overall rating
2
/
5
40 of 59 found this review helpful
Not just bad for a Hidden Expedition game - it's just plain bad
PostedDecember 25, 2014
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
The graphics are washed out and done in a limited, dull color palette. The characters look almost cartoonlike. The voice overs are, for the most part, wooden sounding. The music was frequently far too dramatic to match what was going on in the game and, at times, sounded hectic instead of stirring.
The storyline is something of a jumble that isn't well defined enough to stand out against the tedium of actual game play. I got the basic gist that my character was trying to catch someone who was doing mysterious things at the Smithsonian and that my investigation involved time travel.
The fact that I, a female character dressed in modern day garb, didn't cause any raised eyebrows when I was hurtled back to the mid 1800's was just one of many annoying flaws in the logic of story. Another character runs around the Smithsonian dressed in a hooded black cape and yet, for some reason, is so well disguised she continually eludes capture.
Game play consists largely of looking around in various areas for inventory items. This proceeds in a three steps forward, two steps back, two steps forward, one step back fashion so you spend a lot of time looking at the same few dull looking areas. Nothing in the inventory collection component was particularly innovative or very interesting. Oddly shaped keys abound and only a slim bar can open certain cabinets.
HOS were too few in number and too easy. They also featured this annoying lack of responsiveness so I had to click the found item over and over before the game would accept that I had found it. This was rendered even more problematic by the fact that sometimes the silhouette of the list item didn't clearly indicate what exactly it was I was looking for.
The puzzles were present in greater number and were even easier. Examples include spinning three irregularly shaped disks until the pattern matched the surrounding plaque, putting a puzzle together that had all of 7 or 8 pieces, and dialing through numbers to get them to match a year I was just told by another character to enter. I hate to say it but honestly these mini-games are something that might entertain a child of pre-school age. Offering them up for the entertainment of adults is insulting especially when you continually receive an achievement upon completion of them. It's a complete joke.
This is another really lackluster entry into the Hidden Expedition series that, like the last, doesn't live up to its predecessors. It has come to the point where this developer has basically trashed the reputation of the series. I no longer expect anything special when I see the words Hidden Expedition in the title of a game. Even as a standalone game this one is pretty poor.
I don't recommend this game.
Several young women have gone missing in Paris. Now only you can stop a maniac's murderous trail of fragrance and deception!
Overall rating
2
/
5
3 of 5 found this review helpful
Boring game with mediocre graphics
PostedDecember 24, 2014
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
This is an older game and the graphics are showing their age. The game looks grainy and washed out on my newer machine. The music was acceptable but nothing to write home about.
The storyline is ridiculous. You play a bumbling detective who, in the short time I played the demo, stands there doing nothing as two people are murdered right in front of him. For no apparent reason he also must make perfume because, as we all know, some things won't open unless you have the right scent that makes it open...or something. I didn't get that part and I found the "scent collecting" contrived and stupid.
Gameplay consists of far too much running around doing nothing but looking for inventory items. The inventory collection component is predictable and tedious. There are not enough HOS and puzzles. The HOS and puzzles that are there are too short and far far too easy for a game designed for adults to play.
I really don't understand all the positive reviews for this game. It's boring, boring, boring. I quit before it made me fall asleep at the keyboard.
I don't recommend this game.
Natalie must travel to the Wild West and find the love of her life, Luka! Travel all the way from Europe to the American West!
Overall rating
3
/
5
7 of 9 found this review helpful
Forgettable
PostedDecember 24, 2014
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I played the entire trial and now, although it's only a couple days later I can barely remember what this game is about.
I know I didn't buy it because the HOS have lists asking for one thing that require you to find another in order to cross it off the list. I'm not a big fan of HOS with mislabeled items.
If you're looking for a straight HO game try an older Mystery Case Files game or Hidden Memories of a Bright Summer. Those are better made than this one.
I don't recommend this game.
Search a magnificent garden on a huge property to uncover the secret to your inheritance!
Overall rating
4
/
5
60 of 62 found this review helpful
A Fun & Pretty HO Game - Based on finished game
PostedDecember 24, 2014
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
The graphics are sharp, clear, and very nicely done. The music is unobtrusive and fit the theme of the story. There are no voice-overs which is fine with me. I would rather have a game with no voice overs than with poor ones.
The story has you playing a young woman who has just inherited an old home which she visited once as a child. She arrives at the estate and, while walking through all the rooms, she reminisces nostalgically about her time there. She also discovers a mystery that she must solve by finding hidden journal entries and tablet pieces.
Game play is very like earlier HO games in that it centers on a map of the estate and you select various locations on the map to visit. Each location has a HO and opens to several other places there that you can visit before returning to the main map. Each of those is also a HO.
The HO rewards you with an inventory item that you can use in another location to unlock further areas to explore. You also occasionally receive a tool which goes into your pack. These act as inventory items do but, once used, they return to your pack so you can use them throughout the game.
The HOS themselves are beautifully drawn and can be quite challenging. They feature a zoom similar to that seen in IPad games and it adds an extra dimension to the search. Even in the zoom view the graphics are very sharp. I think the developer meant for some items to require the zoom and it serves the same kind of purpose as those games that have a dark room you search with a flashlight. It adds to the challenge and made this game different than others of its kind.
The one thing I would have liked to see done differently is that the journal pages you receive arrived in sequential order. Receiving them out of order forced me to wait almost to the end of the game to really be able to get the whole gist of the mystery. Even with that though I found the game very enjoyable and a welcome change from the tedious too and fro activity seen in many HOPA games right now.
Overall this is a very well made game and people who like doing HOS should give it a try. The inventory component is very light and the HOS component is nicely challenging. I purchased it after the trial and had fun with it all the way to the end.
I recommend this game!
During the finale of The Maze, the transmission is mysteriously stopped. Now it's up to you to find the missing contestants!
Overall rating
3
/
5
3 of 3 found this review helpful
Visually unexciting game with no story - 2.5 stars
PostedDecember 20, 2014
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
The graphic quality is mediocre and grainy. The sound track is unexceptional.
The basic premise of the game is interesting and a little different. A reality tv show has been infiltrated by an evil-doer who has kidnapped the cast. You play the detective sent in to apprehend him. Unfortunately that is all the story you get. There is no plot development at all. There are hardly any characters to flesh out the action. Basically you catch glimpses of the madman periodically but, other than that, the whole place is vacant and you're on the set all alone.
Game play consists of going to and fro in the same very few locations looking for inventory items. While some games make this work by having interesting locations this game fails because the locations are ugly, dirty, garbage filled rooms rendered in a very limited grimy looking color palette. It's bad enough looking at these rooms once but by the twentieth time I just wanted a break from the bleak appearance of it all.
There is occasional relief from the monotony of all the inventory collection in the form of infrequent HOS and moderately frequent puzzles. The HOS are decent and range up to moderately challenging at times. The puzzles are very simple.
Overall, this is a game based on an interesting story idea that is never developed into an interesting story. Because nothing is going on in the story it relies on game play for any interest. Unfortunately game play consists mostly of click click clicking through the same 4-5 dismal rooms over and over and over...and over. It's just dull.
I don't recommend this game.
Welcome to Holy Mountain Hotel, where all criminals are punished.
Overall rating
3
/
5
7 of 7 found this review helpful
Same old same old
PostedDecember 19, 2014
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
The visual and sound quality of this game are both top notch. It's a very well made game.
The story is a common one for HOPA games and this developer did nothing to add anything that makes it unique in any way. As a result the story doesn't contribute anything to the game. I found myself skipping all the parts where the story is delivered.
Game play consists of all the usual tasks. You need to find a ladder, you need to find something that will pry an ax out of a wall, you need to find strangely shaped keys...the list of things you need to find is quite long but extremely uninteresting. If you've played a game like this before you've found all these things. Doing it again to progress in this dull story was more work than fun so I ended quitting this game about 20 minutes in.
There were not enough hidden object scenes. The puzzles weren't incredibly original but they were not horrible.
If this game had a decently innovative story or some creativity in the "adventure" component it wouldn't be bad. As it is it's just boring. So boring I couldn't even play through to the end. I understand that some reviewers are wow'ed by a game that looks good and works well. This one has both of those features. What it lacks is anything that makes it remotely interesting.
I'm not one to be wow'ed by the fact that the game runs and looks nice. Those things should be a given and to me, if a game has that and nothing else it certainly doesn't deserve more than 2.5 stars. Rounding up gets this one a generous 3.
I don't recommend this game.
A deadly secret lurks in the woods of Dire Grove!
Overall rating
1
/
5
49 of 55 found this review helpful
A sequel to Dire Grove in name only
PostedDecember 19, 2014
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
The graphics and sound packages are fine. That's about the only good thing that can be said about this lifeless, joyless game.
The story line is a plodding disaster notable only for offensive motifs like leg hold traps and crazed caricatures of woodsmen running wild shooting guns at animals for no good reason. It had about as much relation to the previous Dire Grove story as a soup can label does.
The HOS are few in number, too short, and too easy. The mini games are the same old mini games we've seen in HOPA after HOPA. The large puzzles are similar to the type first introduced in Madame Fate and they are the only redeeming factor in the game. The adventure component is clichéd, predictable, tedious, and, at times, completely lacking in cohesion or common sense.
The game includes some really annoying features. For example, when your character talks to another a box pops up with sentences in it for you to choose as your end of the dialogue. It doesn't matter which you pick because you have to go through them all to get out of the dialogue scene. This kind of contrived idiocy serves only to make an already slow, dull game even slower and more dull.
The problems with this game go well beyond the fact that it isn't a worthy successor to Dire Grove which is admittedly a tough act to follow. As a standalone game it's just absolutely lacking in challenge, story, or fun factor. The only creative component is the large puzzles and they aren't sufficient to carry the rest of the game. Toss in really offensive elements like leg hold traps and ugly stereotypes and the game's quality sinks to irredeemably poor.
I don't recommend this game.
Venture inside the beautiful hidden world of Japan, as a young apprentice Geisha. Discover mysterious secrets, ancient arts and heart-breaking love.
Overall rating
2
/
5
13 of 17 found this review helpful
Couldn't be worse if they tried
PostedDecember 17, 2014
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
The visual quality is that of an older game. The sound quality is fine but there is nothing interesting going on in the soundtrack. There are voice overs but they're stilted.
The storyline develops so slowly that it rapidly becomes extremely boring. Unfortunately, game play is tied to the story line and it is equally as boring. All your time is spent running around between the same few locations looking for inventory items. Game play consists of you meeting another character who tells you to perform a mundane task like feeding an ox. Then you go round and round in the same 3 locations, over and over, searching for whatever item you need to perform the task they set. It's very dull.
There are not enough HOS and I didn't run into a single puzzle. The one HOS I did encounter was childishly simple. I expect a hidden object game to...you know...actually have hidden object scenes as a major component of the game. If they don't they should not pretend to be a hidden object game so people looking for a hidden object game wouldn't waste their time downloading them.
I spent my time and got a story about finding a doll and feeding an ox. This story took me to 3 boring locations. This game could not be worse if the developers were actively trying to make it unappealing.
I don't recommend this game.
Escape from the clutch of the spiteful innkeepers! Can you help Cosette have a better future?
Overall rating
4
/
5
45 of 50 found this review helpful
Old fashioned HOP Game
PostedDecember 16, 2014
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
It never fails to amuse me to see people who downloaded a hidden object puzzle game complain bitterly when the game they downloaded has lots of hidden object scenes. On the other hand, it's too bad when these people tear a game apart because it is what it is and not the type of game they prefer. It isn't the game's fault they wanted a HOPA and downloaded a HOP instead. This game's quality is not accurately reflected by the ratings it has received from people who downloaded a hidden object game in spite of not really caring too much for hidden object scenes.
It is an older game. Whether or not you think it's fair to put it out as "Today's New Release", as Big Fish did today, it's silly to rate a game based on your annoyance at receiving an older game instead of a brand new one. The game doesn't deserve the poor ratings it got from people who don't think it's fair to call it a new release and are venting their annoyance in their review.
The graphics are very sharp and visually appealing. Game play is straightforward with HOS at every turn, frequent puzzles, and a very minimal "adventure" component.
Unlike many modern HOPA games with amazing graphics and childishly easy HOS/puzzles this one has great HOS to match the great graphics. Things are well hidden but not small. The scenes are clever but not cluttered. The puzzles are generally easy but fun to do.
The story is a good one borrowed from a major classic novel. The music fits the theme and is unobtrusive. I didn't hear any baby crying noise or any other sounds that were a problem.
Drawbacks include a mildly laggy custom cursor that cannot be traded for the system cursor and an inventory that won't lock.
I really like this game. I have purchased others designed like it in the past and had a lot of fun with them. If you're a fan of HOS games and would like a break from the tedious to and fro running around in more modern HOPA games you might like this one too. If you don't like HOS you should give it a miss...what you shouldn't do is download a game you know you won't like just so you can pile on and complain about it.
And hey, given that it's being released in December it's also a very, very welcome break from the deluge of sappy Christmas HOPA's that Big Fish has been shoveling out lately. Quite honestly, that alone is enough to make this game stand out as desirable right about now.
I recommend this game!
Lost City of Z
Explore the exotic rainforest to find valuable clues and follow the trail of a missing National Geographic researcher!
Overall rating
2
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
Poor game design
PostedDecember 11, 2014
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
This game could have been a very good game.
Problems that make it a poor game:
Enforced tutorial: it can't be skipped and it is annoying.
Multiple pop up boxes appear in every HOS: little cards pop up with comments by the diarist the story is written by when you find something. They won't go away unless you hit an X to close them. This happens so frequently it become an obstacle to playing the game.
Items aren't named correctly: for example you're told to find an axe and the item the game wants you to select is some stone age item that has no resemblance to an axe.
Items are very difficult to select: There are items that are very easy to find and yet when you click on them you can't select them unless you hit the one tiny spot the game is looking for. As you click along it you get a message saying that random clicking won't help and you have to close that to continue clicking along the item until you eventually find the sweet spot.
The game is pretty to look at even though it's an older game. The story is a little dull but not too bad. What kills it is the constant interruption of game play with pop ups and items that can't be selected until you've triggered a misclick penalty several times. I wanted to love the game but playing it is too annoying.
I don't recommend this game.