Off the Record: The Final Interview
Based on the CE and SE Demos.
It's 1952 at the Devonshire Derby. And the winner is .............. NO! Impossible! Was the race fixed????? The famously reknowned Calvin Reedly calls you, Ms. Dunn, to investigate ............ just what happened!
Graphics a little toned down from the harshness of most games of today. Lots of orange/brown on the buildings (was this a custom color during the '50's???? Cuz it's EVERYWHERE! ). Music was very nicely done as were the voice overs - trouble with an accent here and there - and the sound fx.
Easy, Medium, Hard and Custom difficulties.
HOGs (hidden object games) - variety, variety and more variety. I don't think I did the same thing twice during the demo ---- list, silhouette, frags and more. Mini Games - WOW! Just sayin'.
There is a transportable map but I had trouble figuring out just exactly how to use it. There were little symbols to the bottom left of the screen that stood for .....'did I find something?', achievements, and something else. Banners come out from the edge of the screen when you find other things.
I TOTALLY dislike the sound that's made when you click on something. Yes, my friends, so bad it's a deal breaker for me. Ugh. AND, I had to turn off the custom cursor (how's this ..... turn off the custom cursor and you get a smaller version of it anyway. .... hmmmmm ).
CE Bling: In addition to the usual fare of wallpaper, replayable games, etc., etc. there are:
* Collectible Symbols - 43 teapots
* Morphing Objects - 16 (found in the HOGs)
* Collectible Letters - 17 (i.e., a, b, c ... so why only 17???)
* Collectible Hats - 6
whew (wiping sweat off my brow).......AND the kitchen sink! No. Not really the kitchen sink.
I was soooooooooooooooo excited about the story line. Not one I've seen before. So, yes, very excited. But, then the story line and the game play gets lost in all the collectibles and morphing objects and find this, find that and, yeah. It's a nice touch that there are only 17 collectible this and 16 collectible that but then you are so busy (shoot, call it what it is - DISTRACTED) looking around for this and that and ............ sigh. The game play gets lost, the story line gets eaten up, by everything else on the sideline. Not really a game supported by a novel storyline so much as it's a big hide and seek game ...... period.
I wanted to like it. I wanted to LOVE it. Horsies!!!!! But, no. Just too much distraction. Maybe the SE will be better without all the extras. Wouldn't THAT be novel - lol. So, not a purchase for me but for everyone else at the Devonshire Derby ....................
ENJOY!
Overall Impression: Even the SE left me with a lot of .... well ...... meh. IMO go for the SE if you must but I think I was so put off by the CE it ruined the SE for me. Sigh.
Based on the CE and SE Demos.
It's 1952 at the Devonshire Derby. And the winner is .............. NO! Impossible! Was the race fixed????? The famously reknowned Calvin Reedly calls you, Ms. Dunn, to investigate ............ just what happened!
Graphics a little toned down from the harshness of most games of today. Lots of orange/brown on the buildings (was this a custom color during the '50's???? Cuz it's EVERYWHERE! ). Music was very nicely done as were the voice overs - trouble with an accent here and there - and the sound fx.
Easy, Medium, Hard and Custom difficulties.
HOGs (hidden object games) - variety, variety and more variety. I don't think I did the same thing twice during the demo ---- list, silhouette, frags and more. Mini Games - WOW! Just sayin'.
There is a transportable map but I had trouble figuring out just exactly how to use it. There were little symbols to the bottom left of the screen that stood for .....'did I find something?', achievements, and something else. Banners come out from the edge of the screen when you find other things.
I TOTALLY dislike the sound that's made when you click on something. Yes, my friends, so bad it's a deal breaker for me. Ugh. AND, I had to turn off the custom cursor (how's this ..... turn off the custom cursor and you get a smaller version of it anyway. .... hmmmmm ).
CE Bling: In addition to the usual fare of wallpaper, replayable games, etc., etc. there are:
* Collectible Symbols - 43 teapots
* Morphing Objects - 16 (found in the HOGs)
* Collectible Letters - 17 (i.e., a, b, c ... so why only 17???)
* Collectible Hats - 6
whew (wiping sweat off my brow).......AND the kitchen sink! No. Not really the kitchen sink.
I was soooooooooooooooo excited about the story line. Not one I've seen before. So, yes, very excited. But, then the story line and the game play gets lost in all the collectibles and morphing objects and find this, find that and, yeah. It's a nice touch that there are only 17 collectible this and 16 collectible that but then you are so busy (shoot, call it what it is - DISTRACTED) looking around for this and that and ............ sigh. The game play gets lost, the story line gets eaten up, by everything else on the sideline. Not really a game supported by a novel storyline so much as it's a big hide and seek game ...... period.
I wanted to like it. I wanted to LOVE it. Horsies!!!!! But, no. Just too much distraction. Maybe the SE will be better without all the extras. Wouldn't THAT be novel - lol. So, not a purchase for me but for everyone else at the Devonshire Derby ....................
ENJOY!
Overall Impression: Even the SE left me with a lot of .... well ...... meh. IMO go for the SE if you must but I think I was so put off by the CE it ruined the SE for me. Sigh.