Recent reviews by Atisz

The quintessence of a great puzzle-mystery adventure is whether its puzzles and riddles can be solved by hard thinking (and some minimal amounts of guessing) or through trial & error. Escape Memoirs: Mansion Heist manages to pull this off, but it does throw a few ones at us which - at least in my experience - are too vague and doesn't make much sense. The free-to-play Escape Memoirs: Mini Stories is the direct sequel to this game, but unlike there and as the title suggests, we don't really have to escape here, this one is about a theft. It requires much more convoluted thinking, than its successor.

We play as a master thief recruited at the last moment - since the previous thieves were caught before they could carry out the assignment - hired to steal a head-sized golden nugget from the exquisite home of an inventor... who - as it turns out - specializes in security devices.

After falling out from an air duct, leaving our (not so) precious equipment behind, we must use what little help we can find lying around to crack the difficult riddles and locks of the mansion in order to gain entry to the main door on the second floor.
This time around the game doesn't really rely on our perception - although we still have to keep an eye out for small items and subtle clues - we must use convoluted thinking trying to figure out how the clues can be connected to the given obstacles, lock, safes and other contraptions. The clues/instructions themselves written either by the designers or the master of the house are usually hidden behind doors and within safes... funny thing is these are usually addressed to the wife of the inventor...

Again we have an inventory with 6 slots and except for 2 cases it should be enough: as soon as we solve a specific puzzle, the related items can be thrown away - not that we couldn't pick them up and inspect them again anyway. While there's still no option to increase brightness, we acquire a flashlight early on to explore dark areas (and search for clues and items around the corner).
There's no step-ladder we have to carry this time around, but we can climb onto a harp (!).
Strangely the game throws the 'hardest' tasks at us earlier on, namely the vase/weight puzzle which is either the worst one in the entire game or I failed to notice/understand something. Without spoiling it (it's already spoiled) the sheet we find provides help to some of the vases, but the rest we have to figure out experiment with blindly, since the wave pattern doesn't make any sense... if it's 0 (and it apparently isn't) why listing it?

The magnet switch puzzle was also a bit strange: while it does provide help which of the 6 picture should be chosen, the arms still have to be set manually to highlight the displayed letters, which is somewhat tedious and I felt like I missed something.
It's really a shame, especially for the vase puzzle, since the rest - although requiring some weird thinking - are somewhat logical, not to mention the numerous creative solutions the developers used to try to derail us: like the one where we pull out a drawer and a bottle of ink spills over onto a document making part of it obscured (it doesn't seem to play any role though), the broken statue or the suitcase full of clues for puzzles we've solved (and struggled with) already :/

Using code books and the some instructions is tedious - unless we have excellent photographic memory - as we have to place them near the actual puzzle itself, so we can take a look, without leaving. Unfortunately in several cases there's simply no place we can put them down somewhere visible and holding them makes the letters blurry for some reason, not to mention the sheet of paper can obstruct a fair bit of the puzzle itself. Maybe in co-op mode it's better, since the other player can hold the necessary document? :)
Another small remark: while we aim to get the golden nugget, there are plenty of other valuables (the goblet with gemstones?) around which seem to be worth more than the 'grand prize' itself and I'm not sure why the Lord hides these behind breakable glass, while keeping clues, such as code sheets well protected inside sturdy safes...
There are also 25 golden cat figurines we can collect purely for achievements. They are tiny and can literally be anywhere.

I'm quite sure now that the game uses Unreal Engine 4 - the dynamic reflections on the floor in front of the fireplace look way to good for UE3. Compared to Escape Memoirs: Mini Stories there are warmer shades of colours used instead of the bleakness of the police station from there.
We get the same subtle suspenseful music - and sound effects - from the other game as well, but this time with additional ambient raining outside with occasional thunder (it can be quite loud sometimes).

Escape Memoirs: Mansion Heist is a harder version of Escape Memoirs: Mini Stories offering more puzzles, so we could call that free-to-play sequel a teaser to this game, but I'm not really sure whether it's that better and offers much more. Sure it's a prequel, but the gameplay area is still very small and the difficulty is mostly higher due to the fact that most of the puzzles are more obscure. The positives outweigh the negatives however, so it's not hard to recommend it, but I would advise to play the sequel first.

PROS
+ the story is the prequel to the other game
+ good general atmosphere
+ some great puzzles requiring a lot of thinking...

CONS
- ...and some require just experimenting
- doesn't really offer much more than the other one
- a few minor illogical design choices

RATING
5.5/10

Thank you for reading my review. If you enjoyed it, please follow IndieGems for more reviews like this one. We also have a YouTube channel if you would rather see game play footage with reviews.

Escape Memoirs: Mini Stories is one of those so-called 'escape room' puzzle games, where we have to meticulously search for clues in order to solve puzzles, find keys and unlock combination locks, progressing from room to room.
While it possesses some degrees of the usual wonkiness of free-to-play games, it's also a high quality product and despite its super short nature (just 5 rooms + 2 corridors), it can take up to several hours to finish.
Even though it's called 'Stories', in reality it contains just a single scenario - if we don't take the DLC into account.

While it's unspecified, I would put the game into the early 1900s (or even earlier): we are locked in a police station - caught after an unsuccessful heist. Not long into the game, we get help from a mysterious associate who hands over (well, almost) the key to our cell, but the real challenge just begins from that point.

Our perception is what's put to the test the most: we have to spot hidden items behind or under different objects - often in the dark, which are vital for progression. Using these items, which can be a simple knife, a special key or a box full of punch cards we must overcome various obstacles. These items can be actively used, stored for later use (our inventory has 6 slots) or just simply read as one of the game's numerous notes or documents, which contain seemingly unimportant information at first sight... and very useful leads upon the second one.

test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3422659472

The intricate puzzles are well-thought-out, requiring attention to details and information lying around, but some of them require trial and error method instead of thinking - at least for me: the Evidence Storage fuse box and the electric cabinet puzzle in the final room both were like this. I also had problems with the punch card puzzle - not with the actual puzzle itself, but the task of successfully inserting the box of cards into the machine... after trying it for almost half an hour (yes, as long as the lockpicking - definitely the toughest one in the game!), I tried doing it sideways, from the left of the desk and it finally began to work -_-
The puzzles can't be reset to their initial position, but they can't be irreversibly screwed up either. There is an autohelp feature though, which I can't tell much about since I didn't use it and the same goes for the multiplayer mode.

Before we leave the last room - I intentionally refrain from mentioning 'escape', since we just get to the point where the DLC begins - we should start looking for the missing collectibles which we can check in the menu. There are 16 of these small copper/bronze figurines in total, carefully hidden in weird locations. One of them we have no chance of finding without a guide which I did use, since having 15/16 would have just been crazy... Most of them are out of reach even if they are spotted, so that step-ladder we carry around is necessary to grab them as well.

test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3422660113

If we wish to earn all the achievements we must invest in the DLC.

The game uses Unreal Engine 3 (could be 4 considering the relatively large file size while it's such a short game) and it does look decent despite its subtle nature and displaying indoor environments only. The only character we 'meet' is cleverly concealed.
Sound effects are simple but clear and the surround sound is done well (just like in all games using Unreal engine) with a constant light whirring ambient in the background.

Escape Memoirs: Mini Stories is a very short, but good little puzzle game, which everyone should try who likes a challenge and the genre. Plus it's free too.

PROS
+ great puzzles requiring a lot of attention
+ makes good use of the notes scattered around
+ generally good graphics and sound design
+ relaxing...

CONS
- ...except for a few wonkiness here and there
- one of the collectibles is basically impossible to spot
- the ending is not that satisfying - forcibly pushes us into buying the sequel

RATING
6.5/10

What happens if we expect a game to be something else than what it actually is? Obviously it's our own fault. But what if the game itself insinuates that it is indeed something else by showing heavy similarities to one of the best horror movies ever made[en.wikipedia.org]?
Initially called simply Distrust, now Distrust: Polar Survival - it's never a good sign when a brief description of the game is included in the title - strangely doesn't build on the very essense of The Thing: trust, or rather the lack of it - whereas a group of Americans in an Antarctican research station are hunted by an alien lifeform that is able to take the appearance of those it came in contact with (killed, to be more precise) and soon no one knows who can be trusted, who is still a human being. Skipping this vital feature, Distrust prioritizes secondary elements instead, such as freezing cold, sleepiness and hunger which make a fine basis for a survival/resource management game, but due to this the game loses (almost) any connection to the previously mentioned masterpiece... and with horror itself as well.

After receiving a distress call and crash-landing due to a strange bright light, 2 (or 3 if we unlock the option) survivors try to stay alive and discover what caused the death of the crew members of a research station somewhere in the Arctic. The notes we find lying around provide additional details on what's happened.

While the game defines itself as a procedurally generated survival game, calling it a resource- and thus a time-management game would describe the gameplay more precisely, because that is exactly what we are going to do throughout the game's 5 zones (the 6th is a special one, the endgame). As mentioned before, instead of the core element of The Thing - yes, distrust - here we have 3 others we have to manage: warmth, stamina and satiety, shown by the bars in the upper right corner of the screen. Any of these 3 dropping to low levels leads to losing health, thus slowly - to death.
The one we'd think is the worst - cold - is the easiest to handle: all we have to do is find one of the many furnaces and light it up with either wood (dry or rotten, but we need more of the latter) or coal. This provides a fair bit of time our characters can stay and warm up in the given building, provided all the windows are closed. If there's no light in a building, our movement speed is halved. Early on furnaces are still active, on latter levels they are in ruins, so we have to repair them first. We can also use some of the many types of food (cooked potato, soup and coffee) to fight cold. Jackets are useful to slow down the rate at which we lose warmth.
We are going to have a much harder time keeping our sleepiness and hunger at decent levels, since food supplies are very limited and while sleeping isn't, it counts as a rather dangerous activity. Lack of stamina causes hallucinations and madnesses, but besides being annoying they don't change the personality of the given character - despite the description. The worst is Myopia, which prevents us from using the map when giving orders. Getting rid of them requires sleep.
Whenever any of our characters goes to sleep (either a bed or a sofa will do), there's a chance that a monster will appear randomly nearby. The game falsely claims that it occurs during deep sleep as they are summoned by delta waves, prompting us to sleep for just short sessions, but no - 'anomalies' appear even when sleeping for a few (in-game) moments...

There are 4 types of them - little floating monsters initially that can be chased away by light or warmth, but the other 2 can only be killed with a special trap (like in the movie Ghostbusters) or a pistol. Since the last type of monster can kill our characters instantaneously, bullets should be preserved to be used against it.
There are also strange alien objects scattered around, which can cause random events if touched (filling one our bars to full or empty it, but can cause immediate death as well).

The game has a slight change in gameplay as we progress through the zones: 1-3 are about scavenging and hoarding up as many useful items (/everything) as we can. On the 4th and 5th zones however we should waste no time searching around and just rush through for multiple reasons:
- all buildings are dark and unheated, many are in ruins (repairing and refuelling them takes a lot of time)
- as opposed to the earlier levels, there aren't many items to be found
- the anomalies that appear here are very dangerous
Obviously what we can't skip, we must always do and that is opening the exit gate to reach the next zone, this is the primary objective of the game afterall. The required task - just like everything else in the game - is procedurally generated. They can either be unlocked by a simple key, may require an access code, or even a snowplough to move the snow away.

While I see procedural generation as a lazy solution as opposed to a creatively thought-out and well-made level design, I must admit that it works in this case, there are many things we may encounter each time - even if many probably won't bother after 2-3 failed AND 2-3 successful playthroughs. A successful one takes 4-5 hours depending on luck and the game has 4 endings + 12 extra unlockable characters, each with different attributes and a unique trait.

With procedural generation comes the most problematic element: dependence on luck. Although everything can be countered, we can still find ourselves in a dead end, despite having a great deal of resources just minutes ago. This especially applies to our toolkit of which we may (/will) eventually run out completely (all items lose durability on use) and we need it for pretty much everything throughout the later zones. The coin-toss checks, which can cause critical success or failure, random food poisonings and cuts are just additional nuances compared to this.

In order to play the game with all its functions, challenge mode should be chosen, as certain endings are available only here, adventure is the easy one, where functions of different buildings are shown as soon as we enter a new zone.
As soon as we reach the - final - 6th zone, we basically won. Depending on the choices we make here, we get 1 of the 4 endings with 1 requiring a special prerequisite.

test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3413547823

As unfair as the game may seem at times, success is almost guaranteed if we follow a few basics:
- our characters should never be idle - time works against us, the icon above their head shows what they are doing and when they are going to finish
- pause the game while scrolling through the map
- choose wisely and take advantage of our characters' special traits
- quick solutions are not always the best - crowbars open doors quickly, but will break them and freeze the room - except for interior doors

Co-op mode, while easier in theory - 2 players controlling 2 characters - the fact that players have to be near each other to exchange items (in single player there is no such restriction) is such a huge disadvantage, that it outweighs the benefit of controlling characters separately.

Graphicswise the game is nice, but the monsters are characterless and the isometric view kills any horror - which the game should have utilized. The 3 tracks (1 of which is rather similar to the main theme of The Thing) the game works with are OK, but there's no voice acting.

Distrust isn't a bad game on its own, using its unique resource-management mechanics, but it's a prime example of false advertising and missed opportunities.

PROS
+ enjoyable survival/management mechanics
+ 4 different endings
+ the randomized gameplay actually works

CONS
- fails to deliver the essence of its own title
- monsters aren't scary looking
- the 'Lucky Ticket' achievement can't be unlocked anymore

RATING
5/10

The most effective way of starting a fiction is with an in medias res beginning: being thrown into action right away. But what happens when we get no clarification regarding our background, not even later on?
Several games and movies (in books it can't be evaded) utilize amnesia, as an effective means of hiding our protagonist's background, but if it isn't revealed later on, i. e. our hero is NOT amnesiac, then something's not right.
A certain level of exposition is always mandatory, no one wakes up knowing nothing about themselves, their surroundings and not be surprised about it, without sharing any information with the player. It works in a game, but otherwise it's practically unimaginable.
That aside, Threshold works undeniably well - great even - as one of those 'experimental' (which are usually awful, to put it mildly) horror games.

Dropped into an unsettling, claustrophobic, industrial environment we are tasked with a seemingly simple and monotonous job: at regular intervals - as our coworker, Mo instructs us - we have to blow our whistle straight into a horn in order to urge the neverending carts of a freight train passing nearby into reaching an optimal speed.
But there's a catch: the air is thin for some strange reason (we are on a mountain, but it doesn't seem to be that high) so we need constant supply of oxygen. Small air canisters are provided by a machine if we have tickets, which we receive regularly - as long as the train moves at the "expected pace". If this wasn't strange enough, these air cans are made of glass, which our character (who we have to name each time when starting a new game) has to break open with his teeth...
Amongst the numerous questions (why is the central building locked, what happened to Ni, our predecessor and why does the stream next to the railroad drain, whenever the train slows down, etc.) the most intriguing one of course is:
What is the train carrying?

test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3408564140

Well, without spoiling it, it's the 2nd (OK, maybe the 3rd) most relevant thing we would think of. Yes, it is disturbing and thought-provoking. Makes us think, but not without resolution - instead of lazy, metaphorical nonsensical symbolism - it does offer us proper(?) ending(s) - 3, as a matter of fact (at least that's how many I managed to find) - or at least conclusions.
If we do what we're told and have our suspicions at the same time, we judge and act accordingly - the plot should make sense even after the 1st playthrough.

While our task seems like a monotonous stroll between the horn, ticket- air can machine triangle within the (really) small gaming area, a not so tight time management for air, there are several other points of interests we should visit. Our colleague retires while we are on duty, however it is mandatory for progression to call him from time to time by blowing the same white whistle we use for the horn to speed up the train into the microphone next to the elevator where we arrived. He will happily answer our further questions that may arise (yes, we also need to use our whistle to gain entry to the mysterious Building 1).

Depending on the speed of the train the machine punches holes into our tickets at a matching speed. It is important to note that the machines (both the ticket and the air can) stop functioning when the train slows down, making oxygen unavailable (there are some additional cans scattered around). An air can provides us with oxygen enough for a few minutes, but after blowing the whistle we immediately begin to suffocate. On the mouth icon in the upper left we can see how fast we are breathing/losing oxygen - running, jumping or passing through the stream (as its current becomes stronger later on) also increases the rate at which we use oxygen.
Additionally we may use the bucket to gather organic materials and dump it into another machine which also grants us tickets.

My first playthorugh took 84 minutes (I think it was more, since I suffocated and died, so I had to restart) which I didn't measure: the game provides us a result screen at the end of each playthrough. Here we can see the ending we got, besides some rather strange bits of information... the game saves every time after we leave Building 1.
The menu screen - where we see someone being buried - feels like a missed opportunity (or maybe I missed something) which I thought was going to play some role later on, but apparently it didn't. Choosing a country at the beginning only seems to affect the name of the mountain (UK - Grampian Mountains).
There were some slowdowns/stutters in the 2nd half of the game, but strangely it only occured during my 1st playthrough.

The early Playstation-era graphics function well: not overly pixelated and the yellow-brown colour scheme contributes well to the tone of the story. As the train gets faster, more and more things around the post begin to fall apart and it changes the look of our surroundings rather drastically. The camera forcefully zooms in on points of interest if we stare at the 'right' direction.

test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3408595374

There's attention to small details, like the broken air cans remaining on the ground throughout the entire time or our mouth getting bloodier after using a large number of said cans. The dentist & pulmonologist office next to the changing-room also makes sense after we played the game through.

Some of the sound effects consist of the 'pew-pew' caliber, but the train's screeching or the powerful loud honk the horn makes are great. There's no spoken audio unfortunately to which the explanation is half-baked - the real reason is the small size of the game.

Threshold is a great little psychological horror - a subgenre which I tend to avoid otherwise because most of them are terrible - exciting and thought-provoking at the same time despite its short length.

PROS
+ powerful, unsettling atmosphere
+ we get answers to most of our questions
+ multiple endings, replayability
+ interesting mechanics

CONS
- we get no explanation regarding who we are
- no voice acting

RATING
8/10

Thank you for reading my review. If you enjoyed it, please follow IndieGems for more reviews like this one. We also have a YouTube channel if you would rather see game play footage with reviews.

Personally I prefer hidden object games with suspense and a pinch of horror - while obviously this genre is usually known for being family friendly, so in this case it really is just a pinch. Crime Secrets: Crimson Lily was one such example, hence it is amongst my favourites.
Left in the Dark: No One on Board falls into this category, even if it's of the simpler kind as it lacks any additional gameplay elements of later released HOGs, not to mention its 'compact' size (the game is only 288 MB) - which surprisingly barely shows. Unfortunately its main problem is related to the plot - while thrilling initially, the second half, despite the engaging, dark story and great atmosphere turns into a somewhat tedious search for hidden object scenes while we can already 'guess' who the killer might be pretty much from the beginning.

After receiving a letter from the mayor (and his 'friend') of a coastal town, we are informed that a cargo ship disappeared, then reappeared again with the crew missing and they need our help to solve the case... the help of a woman, because apparently there's no police force available in the town. Oh well.

Many various, rotating ring- and pair-matching minigames are on display and while they feel easy, in practice they are simply not frustrating: the solution is usually just a few moves away. I liked how the pipe puzzle isn't just there randomly - we actually have to drain the water from a room at that certain point, in order to gain access to it.
There's a galore of hidden object scenes, which is no wonder, it is a hidden object game after all, where we have to find 12 listed items on a scene full of different objects - sometimes resembling to a junkyard - in order to receive a single vital item, necessary to progress.
Not really a game-changing element but having a lamp with which we can illuminate a small area within dark locations was something I liked. Otherwise, since the game is relatively old, there isn't much we haven't seen in other games of the genre. Despite this, there's attention to small details, for example we get an exact message when trying to use a possibly reasonable, usable item at certain points, not just a general "that won't work" error message. We have to manually turn keys in locks and door handles as well.
There are no collectibles (which isn't really something I missed to be honest) or a bonus chapter. Their absence makes the game quite short though - less than 3 hours long, even if the twice used hidden object scenes (we have to randomly backtrack to a HO scene we solved before and search it through again, now with different items in focus) prolong it, which I'm not a big fan of.
An achievement is missable, the 'Navigator' (by the way, despite the description we have to sail, not swim to the island) which we have to do right on the first try: it's the direction of the arrows where they point at that matters, not where they are located or where they curve to... had to replay that part (from the beginning) which took an extra hour.

The plot while being simple makes the game quite interesting and it really feels like we are doing an investigation, as we are always on the lookout for the next clue of which there are many to be found, along with pieces of papers unveiling the story. It's relatively text heavy and makes our diary quite useful as we can reread everything there. Most of what gets recorded is irrelevant to the game itself but it's informative nevertheless.

As some people pointed it out, our heroine is simply called 'Madam Detective' which is probably the result of a work in progress name (even though it's used in audio as well), which was finally left in the game. It does make the game feel awkward as we are called this weird way throught the entire game.
Unfortunately there are other problematic parts which are more serious, story-related. Despite its informative nature the game tells very little about the killer himself and his motivation or the fact how he was able to overpower the entire crew of a ship all by himself. Why doesn't our heroine ask for help when it's become quite obvious who the killer was - an issue that emerges right at the start taking the low number of actors into account, thus the potential perpetrators?
And there's a parrot writing down a code using a pencil with its beak... which would easily make it to the headlines: 'Madam Detective discovered the most intelligent bird in the world'.

The visual style is simple, but effective even if it apparently wasn't designed for 16:9 aspect ratio and the graphics are obviously aren't as sharp as they are in later made HOGs. The 19th century landscapes look great and spooky. They are each very well selected, either the derelict ship, the coastline at night, or the mysterious island with a dark manor (the lighthouse receives little attention unfortunately).

test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3406342020

Some of the HO scenes are a bit too blurry, this is where the small size primarily shows: in result, some items are kind of hard to identify, like a glass shard or a boot turned upside down.

Sound effects are robust and surprisingly good: there's plenty of environmental audio, creaking sounds, wolf howling, children laughing in the haunted manor which greatly add to the spooky theme the game has. The frequently used wild boar snorking in the forest was a 'bit' strange though and I also ran into a bug where the sparkling sound got stuck - quitting to menu solved it. Voice acting is slightly overacted.

Left in the Dark: No One on Board is an above average hidden object game, that with a bit more polish could have been an excellent one: the low number of possible suspects and the 2nd half of the game with the abundant twice used hidden object scenes ruin it a bit unfortunately. These are probably the reasons why the foreshadowed sequel was never made. It's still an enjoyable adventure, which I'd recommend.

PROS
+ great setting and atmosphere, spooky locations
+ engaging, despite the simple story
+ very good sound effects and ambient sounds
+ lots of additional details, that can be looked up in our diary

CONS
- latter half of the game uses too many HO scenes
- easily guessable murderer and other weak plot pieces

RATING
6.5/10

The Secret Order 5: The Buried Kingdom had the opportunity for a fresh start (after we managed to return to the present in the previous installment) and to get back on the track where the amazing (and now evanescent) 2nd part ended. While the mentioning of the conflict between the Order of the Griffin and the Dragon Clan seemingly makes this sequel somewhat more coherent and closer to the original, it feels just like an excuse as we visit a magical kingdom deep underwater without any time travel involved (there's an explanation to that though, since the order has decided to destroy every device capable of time travel).

The plot is barely existent: after giving us a quick summary of what happened so far, our high school friend, Julie informs us about her recent discovery: the location of the Buried Kingdom. Shortly after, she is kidnapped by the latest representatives of the Dragon Clan (their leader does actually look like a half-dragon humanoid).

As much as I disapprove this approach - an installment leaving the path laid down by he previous part(s) of a series - as a hidden object game, The Secret Order 5: The Buried Kingdom functions rather well. There's a large selection of puzzles and minigames with all the necessary elements of the genre. Some of the items must be combined (the ones with a + mark) and there's a special dragon eye which is required to view a past event that occured at the given location. Upon each use, we have to solve a pipe puzzle to recharge it. There's an assortment of valve-, pathway-, measuring-, mirror- and ring puzzles as well. As for the ring puzzle - which can be bothersome - there's one, a 3 circle rotating puzzle that can either take ~half an hour or just a few rotations, depending on whether we know what we are doing or not. I thought I was and I managed to solve it in less than a minute, but it turned out that I moved the matching colours to the wrong side - since the game didn't provide any hints on which colour goes where. Needless to say it's not a very elegant way to prolong gameplay time.

In addition to the dragon eye, we also receive a little dragon helper that can reach things we cannot + can set things on fire, so if we get stuck, we should always check around whether there's anything that can be set ablaze.
As a matter of fact I got stuck at one point, where shoveling coal was the key to progress (I thought the coal being there right at the furnace was enough) as our shovel casually breaks so we can get a handle... for a pickaxe. Also, later on we find a ceremonial dagger that's not strong enough to cut a rope, but it has to be used to force open a grate? The game at least does give an explanation why we can't use otherwise potentially right items at unintended situations - instead of the commonly utilized general error messages - it still feels forced and illogical. I know that hidden object games shouldn't be compared to pure point-and-click adventure games, but relevant item use should be a standard procedure here as well.
One other thing which has been present in several other HOGs before: the cobweb + broom anomaly... why can't it be removed just by our bare hands? :/

Besides being able to choose from preset difficulty modes, several elements, such as hint recharge time, penalty cooldowns can be adjusted separately on a slider and the sparkling effect to reveal hidden object scenes, that's automatically available on casual.

In the bonus chapter we have to save the Buried Kingdom after an explosion and rescue our friend - again. While it's the direct continuation of the main game, it's basically a 30 minutes long fetch quest with lots of items we carry around from screen to screen. The use of the dragon eye also feels forced here, there's a point where it's necessary to remove a piece of cloth to reveal a ladder which we can use to reach our friend, even if it's very apparent that the cloth is concealing something - without the use of the dragon eye...

There are many types of collectibles we have to look out for: blue, green, purple + lava (in the bonus game) eggs and shapeshifting objects. Since locations consist of just a few scenes, it can be easy to walk past some of them.

The graphics are great for a hidden object game and there's quite a variety of different locations - underwater, a fantasy realm and a strange, dreamlike area. Character animations are pretty good too, although some of them appear to be of low quality when compared to important characters.
Again, just like in the previous part, the high quality sound effects and ambient sounds are well done and I really liked the music at certain points.

The Secret Order 5: The Buried Kingdom seems to be quite far away from the first parts of the series, trying to mix too many things together, but in some way it still has more to do with the originals, than the previous part, which was just about floating between time and space. On its own, it's an OK hidden object game, but if we expect a worthy sequel, we are likely going to be disappointed.

PROS
+ plenty of minigames, fair amount of HO scenes
+ great sound effects and music
+ difficulty slider
+ many different locations...

CONS
- ...too different as a matter of fact
- not much of a sequel
- the bonus chapter feels unnecessary

RATING
6/10

The story of Friday the 13th: The Game is a rather sad one and from the perspective of players who are pretty much forced to play Dead by Daylight instead, to which Friday the 13th - despite its numerous apparent shortcomings - is superior in every aspect.
The reason I mentioned 'from the perspective of players' is because I (/we) can't see behind the curtains, except for the ones involved: the developers and the owner(s) of the copyright to the Friday the 13th franchise. While understandably many people hold the developers accountable - especially how they moved over to a similar game of another famous horror franchise; it is important to note, that shortly after the game was finally released (being in early access for quite a while), just a year later, from June 11, 2018 they were practically not allowed to 'touch' (including releasing new content and fixing bugs) their own game.
Without making accusations - everyone loves money, even though some people MORE so than others - this is mainly due to the doing of the copyright owner, for reasons unknown.

A sad story it is indeed, since this game has had everything (and more) the Friday the 13th movies[en.wikipedia.org] had to offer. Yes, more, because let's be honest here: out of the 12 movies, 9 were utter garbage. Almost everyone knows the original, but while being good and atmosphere-heavy, it isn't really a true Friday the 13th movie: Jason Voorhees makes just a very short appearance and as we all know from the opening scene of the brilliant Scream[en.wikipedia.org] - the killer is Jason's mother. There was a remake in 2009 based on the first couple of movies and it wasn't bad either. This leaves us with the 2nd part[en.wikipedia.org], as the only truly appraisable Friday the 13th movie.
Thankfully, the developers knew this, so the game puts a heavy emphasis on building on the foundations of the 2nd part primarily.

But what is was the game like? We get the basic concept of a multiplayer survival horror game (why do some people call it 'asymmetrical' - are they expecting just killers chasing each other?) in its purest, highly enjoyable form.
There are 7 (+1) counselors (students in their late teens/early 20s, expected to be watching over little kids coming to the camp for summer) who have to survive for 20 minutes while Jason is hunting for them. The map is fairly big and 20 minutes isn't that long, so it doesn't seem to be that hard... or does it?
Well, since Jason cannot be killed, - not entirely true - can teleport around, hear and occasionally see the counselors from afar and kill basically just by grabbing them, it's by no means an easy task, even if the counselors are able to fight back quite effectively (just like in the movies :)).
The game also offers single player content: lots of trivia can be unlocked and we can relive memorable scenes from the movies.

While the maximum number of counselors in a match is 7, there are a total of 15 of them to choose from. They don't differ just in appearance, each have different statistics making them ideal for various approaches: either running, sneaking/hiding, repairing or fighting back. By equipping 4 perks/skills, we can further increase the effectiveness of the role we decide to play.
Other than these, our best bet is staying together since we can help fellow counselors break free if caught, waiting inside a house (they are well-defendable, since Jason can't enter through windows) or we can call the police, shortening the time we have to endure (we still have to reach the exits where the police car is waiting though). Additionally there are 2 cars and sometimes a boat we can use to escape, but they both need to be repaired and fueled up (it's still not a life insurance, since Jason can easily stop both vehicles).
QTEs - quick time events - (for repairs) work perfectly, without delay.

Jason always starts from the hut and his 4 perks (teleport, heat vision, shifting and stalking) can't be changed. We can however choose from his variations from the different movies along with his preferred weapons and accessories.

test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3396517623

The developers paid attention to small details and there are several seemingly obvious, but great ideas, such as looking for maps which we have to find first in order to avoid running around cluelessly or walkie-talkies that are required for in-game communications (we just hear the screams of nearby counselors otherwise). We also get spooked when being near to Jason, which affects our vision (not only it gets darker, but our HUD also disappears) and our character will become more likely to stumble.
If we get severely injured, our running speed decreases significantly, making our chances for survival almost 0.

Tommy Jarvis (a character who appears in 3 movies) can be summoned by making a call - just like in the case of the police - and with at least 1 counselor already dead (his control will be taken over by the dead player). He has superior stamina and arrives with a shotgun (just a single shot though). Again it's a fun way to draw back a player into the game (instead of just spectating or leaving) and Jarvis is actually useful for a unique move...

Obviously, given the circumstances, the game is littered with all kinds of bugs, some of them affecting gameplay quite seriously. The most annoying one is that Jason can be stunlocked by a well organized group: while practically hard to pull off - too many things have to match, having powerful weapons and no autistic teammates most importantly - it is possible and can result in all 7 counselors surviving. Counselors can also become invincible when hit during certain animations.
Some of the glitches originate from the detailed (not just 1- or 2 layered) relief, certain actions (like the 100+ different, often environmental executions) can only be performed on flat terrain.

The game was amongst the first ones which used Unreal Engine 4 and it still looks great. There are no unnecessary visual effects besides the obligatory mild fog here and there (raining can be turned on optionally for maximum ambiance), just clean, pastel-like colours and along with the locations they provide a realistic look, successfully recreating the visual style of the (first) movies from the 80s. The 5 maps while all look similar (they are centered around Crystal Lake from the first 2 movies) don't get old and are large enough to provide entertainment on the long run.

test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3393684392

The original background theme from the movies is still effective and so is the echoing voice of Pamela Voorhees, which are all present here. The surround sound is amazing, although the minimap (which actually shows Jason's location) lessens its usefulness. The television noise effect when Jason teleports around us is also a nice touch.

Despite the semi-broken state it's in, Friday the 13th: The Game is still tremendous fun. Now that the game disappears, after its short, 1-year-long glory, I can safely say, it's going to be missed.

PROS
+ very enjoyable gameplay
+ lots of unique ideas
+ large maps
+ great sounds
+ co-operation is rewarding...

CONS
- ...when done right, it can make the game very easy for counselors
- lots of different bugs (no surprise)

RATING
7/10

The story of The Secret Order 4: Beyond Time continues from where the 3rd part of the series ended: Sarah is trapped in the past, in the strange ancient-medieval looking land of Aeronheart and in order to get back to the present, she has to find help to rebuild the time-travelling ship, the Royal Griffin. The game skips the thrills of the 2nd game, but still manages to be entertaining, displaying marvellous looking locations and despite a rather pesky glitch.

Bringing back the kingdom with the weird ancient-medieval aesthetics and a pinch of renaissance from the previous part is both a good and a bad thing: good because of consistence and bad because of how this world seems to be in sharp contrast to the relatable setting of The Secret Order 2: Masked Intent.
After a villain makes an extremely short appearance in the Egyptian (!) scene - which we visit shortly after the medieval landscape - the developers must have felt the need to take a path back to the original concept somehow and so we get to visit an exotic-looking South-American jungle (which serves as a central area from where we can discover 3 different realms), similar to the ancient land from the original, where we meet several famous individuals, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Tesla and Cleopatra (just 'Cleo' simply) along with some conquistadors, who serve as the bad guys.
This is the general example of less would have been more.

Fortunately the amount of puzzles and minigames make up for this all-in-one approach: knot-, rotating- and lots of sliding puzzles, along with interactive storytelling. The amount of hidden object scenes is decent, there's practically no backtracking and item use is relatively coherent with a few exceptions, such as the part where we have to feed a bird an entire loaf of bread. There was also a part where adjusting an iron rod to pry open a crystal from the wall took some unusual effort, which seemed like an engine related issue.

We get a helper this time as well, just like in the previous parts: the baby version of Anubis, 'Nubi', who is more than handy, since he can crawl into small areas, cast lightning (useful to set something on fire mostly - usually indicated by a lightning icon nearby), levitate objects made of obsidian and become invisible.
There are also 3 types of collectibles we have to search for: jaguar, crocodile and eagle shaped Aztec masks.

The bonus chapter continues directly from where the main story ended where we have to travel into the Underworld and help Anubis reclaim his throne from a demon. It's similarly high quality (these additional adventures usually use low-quality graphics and are cheaply done) and its dark, eerie locations are the opposite of the lush jungles of the main game. I liked how we have to pay Chairon 3x to cross the River Styx back and forth, but the time-consuming trial & error type puzzles at the end were a major letdown and sort of ruined it.

The mentioned glitch - instructions disappearing when interacting the elements in the environment or just clicking while a text is active - is constantly present, thus rather annoying and can only be fixed by leaving and reentering the given area in order to make these texts reappear again. Or we can wait until the displayed text disappears by itself without clicking, in which case this issue never actually emerges, however that way the game takes quite a bit longer...

Graphics are great for a hidden object game and both the jungle and underworld locations look marvellous. Music and sound effects are of high quality, the crackling noises resulting from low-quality sounds from the previous parts are now gone. I really loved how due to zooming in at certain locations sound effects, like the howling of the wind became louder.
One of the supporting characters, Harriet was voiced by the same person as our heroine :/

The Secret Order 4: Beyond Time doesn't offer the thrills of the amazing 2nd part: this entire part is about us getting back to the present. The beautiful looking landscapes still manage to make the game appealing despite this and the mentioned bug. While I'd still recommend playing it, it's clearly the weakest entry in the series so far.

PROS
+ lots of puzzles and enjoyable hidden object scenes
+ great sounds in general
+ multifunctional helper
+ offers many beautiful locations...

CONS
- ... way too many as a matter of fact
- fails to be thrilling
- disappearing text bug

RATING
6/10

With all the useless ('soulslike', 'roguelike' or even worse 'roguelite') and senseless ('boomer shooter' - do the people who create these tags even know what boomer actually means?) subgenres out there, it's quite strange, that one such as 'anomaly observer' doesn't exist yet. If I'm not mistaken (I might be, since I haven't played either of them personally) Five Nights at Freddy's was the first - at least here on Steam - that started it all, even if it also seems to be a resource (electricity) management game as well. Then 4 years later came I'm on Observation Duty, which could really be called the first specimen of these types of games, where we have several set cameras and only by paying close attention and reporting unusual events within a time limit can we eliminate the various, often dangerous anomalies.
Spectator uses the mentioned formula(s) while deploying a variety of scenarios from several popular videogames based on fake internet horror stories.

The story mode, while rather simplistic connects the 6 scenarios together, but plays little role otherwise. There's a hub area, a series of rooms where we can move around freely (in a very slow manner) and it changes after every successful observation: new rooms become accessible + we receive new messages.

The main gameplay area however is one of the different locations, containing 6 fixed cameras in each, through which we can observe and report anomalies. The monitor in our bedroom shows our current location, by clicking on it can we load up the actual level. The 6 locations are the following with their related enemy types:

1.) Backrooms - with the yellow walls and the cheap-looking monsters
2.) Asylum - sticks out, since it's not related to any specific game/legend + strangely there's no monster here
3.) Forest - Slenderman
4.) Pizzeria - Animatronics from Five Nights at Freddy's
5.) Paranormal House - unusual darkness
6.) Factory, which looks more like a kindergarten though - the monster from Poppy Playtime

But how does all of this work? Well, as simple as it sounds: we have to observe & memorize the different scenes - in the exact state as they are initially in. Any change must be reported by choosing 1 of the 10 options listed at the bottom of the screen. If we make a report correctly, the anomaly gets fixed soon, if we guessed wrong, we simply lose time. They are pretty straightforward, although some of them can be confusing, since a site becoming dark doesn't necessarily fall into the 'Light anomaly' category, it can be the location-specific monster itself. The monster is a special anomaly and should be reported as 'Other'. In addition to the general time limit, we have to report monsters extremely fast and swich to the next site/camera meanwhile, because report evaluation takes time and the monster can still cause damage during this period. This damage causes a temporary blackout during which we can't see anything, making reporting further anomalies impossible.
We have to last from midnight to 6 a.m., we lose if our heart rate - that's shown in the upper right corner - goes too high, which happens if we fail to report an anomaly for an extended period of time. There are different difficulty levels - the harder it is, the faster the anomalies appear.
Each level has 6 different scenes and each scene has 10 different anomalies which occur once per playthrough.

test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3382056961

The game uses the Unity engine and it provides clear, simple graphics with no unnecessary elements, so interactive objects stick out (the ones something can happen to), making it relatively easy to spot any kind of alterations. There's attention to small details: we can see anomalies on the computer screens of other rooms, picture in picture mode (provided there are screens in the given room).

Sounds are nothing out of the ordinary, they get the job done. Besides the camera's whirring and the general, location-related effects, the loud 'thud' sound marks the pass of an hour, while the 'bzzt' along with a quick camera distortion means that a new anomaly just appeared somewhere.
Also Hungarian subtitles are available - a rare thing - which I appreciated. In English there were some spelling mistakes.

There really could have been more anomalies and by more I mean monsters especially. The asylum and paranormal house levels are not scary at all and really could have benefitted from more enitites. The fact that everything appears just once, without recurrence is also something I found problematic, as it makes the game too easy... and why couldn't a monster reappear anyway?
There's an anomaly guide in the bedroom which we can inspect, but can't actually read: it feels like a missed opportunity for providing instructions + background information about the locations.
It was also strange that in many locations there were other people, but they were apparently unfazed by the strange events happening around them...

I enjoyed my time with Spectator, but since I had no previous experience with this (sub)genre and I can only guess how much it takes from other, similar games directly, or how advanced it is compared to them, it might not be as good as I perceived it.

PROS
+ fun gameplay, even if it's not original now
+ deploys many different scenarios
+ anomalies are easy to spot...

CONS
- ... too easy sometimes
- story mode feels unfinished
- high base price for a game that can be beaten in 2 hours

RATING
5.5/10

Thank you for reading my review. If you enjoyed it, please follow IndieGems for more reviews like this one. We also have a YouTube channel if you would rather see game play footage with reviews.

It's rare to stumble upon a small, independent horror game that not only makes sense, but moreover offers a very good story. One that has us on the edge of our seat and deploys good puzzles as well. A game that's almost worthy to be compared to the great classics of the survival sci-fi/horror genre, despite being rough around the edges.
Upon comparison I'm thinking of System Shock primarily (which may seem like an exaggaration due to the obvious differences regarding complexity) where ZERO PROTOCOL draws its major inspiration from, thankfully though it has enough original ideas to make the game distinctive and memorable.

After an unknown event occurs in a secret underground research facility located on Antarctica and with the titular 'Zero Protocol' in progress, as the head security guard we must find out why most of the employees have gone insane and who's responsible for all this, while trying to stay alive... if that's possible.

Telling more about the story would be a terrible mistake, since it's clearly the major highlight of the game: engaging and thrilling throughout the 6-7 hours of gameplay it provides. Puzzles play a huge part: I was stuck & running around for almost an hour searching for a code, but it turned out to be a somewhat easy trial-and-error (hints were provided on a note, but it seemed too vague at first). Fortunately the rest (ranging from wire puzzles to code assembling) are pretty good and generally easier to solve than what we might initially think.
Despite the game's apparent simplicity it operates with advanced elements in some departments: our sanity counter which plays a significant role besides its apparent purpose (if it reaches 0, we die); some clues & key items are impossible to spot with either high OR low sanity (we can still see their blurry outlines). Sanity is increased by taking a special sedative, BB-4 or by solving puzzles and it will go down whenever we are spooked or save the game. Being in lit areas it slowly regenerates to 60, but for example the notes of an important character, which reveal major plot elements require less than 60 sanity (their locations are marked by red sparkles). When it goes below 30, our vision becomes colourless and we'll start seeing ghostly visages (which will damage us below 10).
Also some events may trigger the appearance of certain key items.

Fighting is also an essential part, even if it's nowhere near as enjoyable as the previously mentioned components, which can be explained by the simple engine the game uses, the lack of weapon/enemy variety and the somewhat wonky movement. The pistol is perfectly good against single and ordinary enemies, while the shotgun should be used in crowded locations and against fast-moving targets. Headshots seem to count and make enemies go down a bit faster. If we run out of ammunition, we can still fight with the gunstock, but ammo seems to be just enough (except for the residental floor, where we'll barely find any). Enemy placement is fairly good, they usually hide behind pillars, but sometimes they just appear out of nowhere... also, the game's warning about those bodybags isn't just for show.

The inventory has 12 slots (from which the 2 weapons + the flashlight take 3), which may appear tight, but in reality BB-4 and medication is fairly plentiful so we shouldn't be carrying around more than 2-2 of them. Batteries are kind of useless, since our flashlight recharges upon depletion up to 10%. There's also a combat drug which increases our speed.
Along with these essential items we are going to collect keycards, plain keys (used to open standard padlocks, although we can just shoot these) and unique items (usually to repair something) of which there could have been more of. The game doesn't automatically get rid of some non-directly usable items, we have to drop these by right clicking on them.
We can also take photos (middle mouse button) of written codes, computer screens and images to remember them, but they overwrite each other, so we can only carry 1 at a time.

Just like in System Shock, we travel from floor to floor, but unlike there, everything is linear here: once we leave one, there's no going back. I would say this is the main issue of the game, I love going back and forth (yes, backtracking, but in a sensible way), revisiting previously inaccessable locations and uncover secrets there. Here, if we can't open a door once we are done with the level, it stays that way.
There is a single point however - on the life support floor - where it branches, depending on the choice we make:
1.) we climb into the ventillation shaft
2.) repair AND RIDE the elevator instead (the reason I emphasize riding is because I overlooked the fact that it had to be used again, since the game basically forced me to use the vent instead)
These 2 choices branch further into other 2 decisions, offering a total of 4 different endings (of which 1 can be called good).

test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3374971731

There's only 1 save slot available, which the game also automatically overwrites at key points, sometimes during unoptimal situations, so if we'd like to experience the other 2 endings, we can't reload the branching point, but have to restart the game from the beginning (we must delete the single save file at the bottom right corner of the screen in the menu to restart the game, otherwise it'll just reload our last save).

The game uses lo-fi (deliberately low quality) graphics, which I'm rather unfamiliar with (I mean back in the old days Playstation had better graphics than PCs did, so I'm kind of confused). I'm not a fan of pixel graphics, especially of the crude kind, but they seem detailed enough where it really matters and they do provide the game a distinctive visual style. The abandoned research complex with tight, dark corridors and blood everywhere successfully provide a gloomy atmosphere, it's the enemies who look rather unrefined.

test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3372452265

Sound effects are similarly low-quality as expected from the 283 MB file size of the game. They still manage to produce satisfactory jump scares and unsettling noises though. There seems to be a slight delay with some of the sounds as our footsteps can still be heard after we stopped moving, as well as the panting of recently killed enemies.

As with many low-budget games, there are some spelling mistakes and the game also seems to switch back to Russian occasionally. Another minor issue is that our flashlight can't be turned off sometimes and we have to wait until it depletes. What I didn't like is the fact that the game asks for permission to pass through the firewall 17 (!) times - it's quite menacing and should be fixed.

ZERO PROTOCOL provides a rewarding, well-thought out story (with some basic truths and actual moral questions in addition) told through computer logs and notes along with plenty of additional information depending on our current sanity. Only if the developer had the resources to implement all these great ideas into a more developed game engine. Despite this, I would wholeheartedly recommend the game to anyone who values a really good plot (both branches are required to see the whole picture).

PROS
+ amazing story
+ great atmosphere
+ sanity affects clues we can interact with
+ attention to small details
+ surprising, clever endings

CONS
- crude pixel graphics and engine, linear gameplay
- minor bugs
- only 1 save slot

7.5/10

Thank you for reading my review. If you enjoyed it, please follow IndieGems for more reviews like this one. We also have a YouTube channel if you would rather see game play footage with reviews.