Morphopolis is simply a distraction for an hour or two, with an interesting visual style, but nothing beyond that. All you really have to do is search for hidden objects, followed by a puzzle you have to solve, rinse and repeat. Puzzles aren't very interesting, and seem to be of the trial and error variety, and the only difficulty they possess is trying to figure out what the rules are - what goal you're trying to achieve. As for the hidden objects, most of those you notice straight away by moving around the level, long before being tasked with finding them. The only difficulty arises from just how slow your character walks. There isn't any plot, nor anything of note happening in any of the levels, nor is there any ending - the game just ends after five levels, and felt like it could continue for twenty more. Not a bad game, but not very memorable either.
Unlike Hound of the Baskervilles, Love Kills seems to have been beefed up so much, you almost forget it's just a collection of puzzles. It features so much dialog and so many jokes, as well as the occasional animated segment, that the plot begins to eclipse the puzzles, which, compared to "The Baskervilles", are subpar. There are more interesting puzzles here than in the Sherlock game, but they rarely seem to rely on anything but trial and error. Puzzles also seem to only be either fairly easy or fairly hard, with nothing much inbetween. They also get repeated far too often, with many puzzles having three segments you need to solve - meaning you get to solve the same puzzle on varying difficulties, before you can advance. Luckily there are enough different puzzles that this game feels like a proper challenge, and feels fairly long. There's still an over reliance on hidden object segments, which are the cheapest part of the game, and only serve to bring the plot to a screeching halt. Especially since those segments feel extra cheap due to the weird viewing angles chosen, the weird angles items are in, sometimes even showing you their back, or being almost completely hidden by other objects. At times objects don't seem to match their word completely, and sometimes two objects seem to fit the description, with only one being the right one. Objects are also mapped in a weird manner, causing clicking on them to register as clicking on another object at times, possibly because of how close they are to other objects. But the strength of the game is its plot, which is fairly campy with everyone hamming it up, and Dracula being accompanied by a comic-relief Igor. You start by trying to revive Dracula's former glory, only to come across a vampire that's trying to take over the world, causing you to join Van Helsing in an effort to defeat her. Sadly, Helsing is dubbed so poorly, he might as well have not been included. But the game's ties to the book are its weakest points.
Lost Sea has the looks and mechanics of a game for kids, and elements that would interest a completionist, but it tries very hard to distance itself from those two segments, for some reason. The game is divided into several worlds, and in each world there are several islands - or levels, located one after the other. All you really have to do is search for tablets hidden in each island, and the number on those tablets tells you which island in the string you can land on next, until you reach the boss and hopefully beat him. Levels aren't very different from one another, and seem to only differ in how big they are and how many enemies they house. Not being able to decide which islands you're going to land on means you can either have a quick and easy time reaching the boss, or you might jump from an easy level to a hard level, to a medium level, and struggle all the way. If you want any control on which island you're going to land on, you need to find as many tablets in each island as possible, so you'll have a choice of how many steps to take. You can't combine tablets, and they can't be carried over to the next island. You can only decide between landing on a relatively easy island, or advancing as many steps towards the boss as possible. Frankly, combat is so cumbersome, regular enemies can be harder to beat than the boss, especially when they swarm you. To make the game easier you can add companions with various skills to your party, and you can unlock skills using coins you collect in the level. Most skills are fairly useless, and the ones that aren't cost so much, you'll have to scour every inch of every island you land on to have enough coins to unlock them. Die once, and you lose all your progress - all skills, coins and companions. Some companions can revive you, but only once, and you can only save having beat a boss. But it only saves which world you've reached, so dying still reverts you back to the start of that world, without skills, companions, etc.
This is basically yet another hodge podge of puzzles loosely connected to one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes mysteries. It uses the voice over artists from the Frogwares Sherlock Holmes series, which was a nice touch, but it introduces hidden rooms, time travel and grants Holmes supernatural abilities, making it The Hound of the Baskervilles in name only. The creators just needed a spooky mansion to place the game in, and a possibly supernatural force for you to go up against. This new version of The Hound of the Baskervilles is subpar to the original, naturally, and also subpar to almost every adaptation of it. So to enjoy it, you need to completely forget about Holmes and focus on the puzzles. Which as a whole, aren't that bad. Some are too easy while some seem to rely on trial and error, but if you get stuck there are hints, and you can always skip a puzzle. The map also tells you which rooms still have items you need to collect, or puzzles you need to solve. So it never becomes too difficult. But it never rises above being yet another puzzle collection, mainly due to its over reliance on its hidden object segments, which are there to pad the game. I would have much preferred more unique puzzles, especially since I can't stand hidden object games, which I find extremely cheap.
Being my first foray into the franchise, Hitman 3: Contracts is a fairly disappointing start. I was expecting a game like Thief, where stealth is a must, and there' s a nice plot to tie all the levels together, but instead I got a game where stealth is a hindrance, and you're better off running and gunning. A stealth approach means spending an hour in a level, while running and gunning means finishing it in under 7 minutes. Which is a shame, since this game is designed for stealth, making it much more fun. You can look through keyholes, pick locks, silently kill people and steal their clothes, shut off electricity to aid you in your skulking, etc. But playing this game, it became apparent that going about it stealthily meant going about it in the path the game's designers meant for you, which isn't very fun. Early on you'll realise that each level has a ton of guards in the level, and only one path you can take to avoid most of them. Seeing as being disguised doesn't really help - enemies can see through your disguise somehow, you're forced going that route. But going that route you'll also encounter various drops left there for you, signaling to you what you ought to do. Going that route you'll find new costumes just lying there, vials of poison everywhere and plenty of guns and ammo, with some rooms containing several cases of guns and a table full of varied ammo, just because. If you intend to run and gun, you can still use that path, since it means avoiding as many guards as possible. But enemy AI being so bad, there's rarely a reason to sneak around. Enemies can't see you from a distance, and shooting at their buddies garners no response. I once opened a door, shot someone several times, closed the door and he forgot all about me. There's also a map showing you where every item of interest is, and shows enemy movements. Not that you need it - you can rely on headshots and slow enemy reactions. Level locations are interesting, level design not so much.
Rusty Lake Hotel isn't a bad game, it's just not put together well enough. It's very short, its puzzles repeat themselves, it has no plot to speak of, it's jittery and slow moving at times - as if my computer can't handle the game, and it seems like a flash game you'd find for free a couple of decades ago. Puzzles can be difficult at first, but once you understand how the game operates, they become easier. Trying to use logic won't get you very far, since the game is fairly nonsensical. There are plenty of visual cues for the various puzzles - some serving as outright solutions, but sometimes they only appear if you solve the puzzles in the correct order. But you needn't bother with that - the same puzzles appear in several rooms, so solve one and you can solve them all. If that doesn't help, you can simply brute force them - which is easier and takes a lot less time than figuring them out. Plot-wise, there isn't any. You need to enter each room in a hotel and kill the guest staying there in an elaborate and needlessly complicated way. The deaths aren't very imaginative, the characters aren't very interesting, and although the game is gory, the art style makes it impossible for it to have an effect. Annoyingly enough, once you enter a guest's room you can't leave it until you solved all the puzzles there. The game just isn't designed very well. For example, going from the lobby to the dining room causes no effect, but going back to the lobby brings up a cue card that says "lobby" for a few seconds. It creates the effect of a loading screen in a game that doesn't need to load anything. There are also unnecessary collectibles strewn throughout - I just wish the time spent making them would have went to polishing the game instead.
Broken Sword 4 is two games in one - if you only listen to the audio, it's a decent yet underwhelming Broken Sword installment, but if you look at the visuals it's a bargain bin adventure game you'd buy for a couple of bucks. Not to say visuals are everything, but if you want the humor of a Broken Sword game, you'll have to first traverse the ugly visuals and the boring start to the game. It took me several playthroughs before I managed to get past the opening scene and actually get to enjoy some very good jokes, and actually start to enjoy the game. Sadly, the graphics aren't the only problem of this game - Broken Sword 4 simply feels rushed. The plot you get to experience is as uninteresting as possible, with yet another templar treasure you need to find. Instead of Nico you get a companion that just tags along and does absolutely nothing, and most levels are located in closed areas, no matter which part of the world they take place in. In those levels you'll also encounter a lot of barriers forbidding you from exploring the place, instead you're nudged along a path chosen for you, with a string of mostly easy puzzles strewn throughout, to slow you down. Puzzles are at the level of come across a locked door, walk two steps right, pick up the only item available, walk two steps left, use said item on door and advance. You'll rarely want to use a walkthrough, if at all, since even the tougher puzzles can be solved using brute force. The only problem I had was with the minigames the creators inserted into the game - mainly the computer hacking minigame. Once or twice they're okay - a cheap way to add difficulty to the game, but they get repeated so many times, after a while I got sick of having to solve them to advance the plot. Not to say the plot is any good - it's as nonsensical as the solutions to the puzzles, and the ending is a huge whimper, preceded by uninspired puzzles - some tough, some incredibly easy. Drama just doesn't work in such a humorous game.
1979 tries to take you back to the Iranian revolution and put you in the shoes of a witness to it all. While you travel the various levels you'll also come across items from the actual time period, and once you click on them you'll get a new entry in a book you can access outside of the game, with information about said item. For example, finding a cassette in the middle of a protest, clicking on it will give you info on it, as well as the contents of the cassette, which is the strength of the game. Sadly, everything else is clunky and underwhelming. 1979 plays as a Telltale style game, with you being able to choose which direction to take the story in. Sadly, most choices are fairly obvious, and whatever you choose doesn't really change the game. It's also fairly jarring when in the middle of a serious game inspired by true events you get some mini-game to play or a string of quicktime events. Witnessing a protest turn violent, the last thing I wanted was to play a mini game in which I remove glass shards from someone's body, or dodge bullets by using cover. Levels are also fairly small, linear and filled with barriers preventing you from going anywhere but the very narrow path the game's makers chose for you. In some levels, for example, you need to take photos of everything around you, but you never get to choose what to shoot. Levels also repeat themselves - see one protest, and you've seen them all. It doesn't help that a level can be completed between a minute to several minutes, and that you can't interact with most of it. You might as well be staring at wallpaper. The game is also divided into too many chapters, making you jump from event to event in a jarring manner. But my biggest gripe with the game is how uninteresting the main character is. He's the stereotypical man in the middle, with family in the regime and in the protests. A man who takes no stand, and is deeply westernized, so any player can put himself in his shoes. He's a cardboard cutout.
