Detectives United: Shrine

At this point I have stopped asking whether these games are good and started asking whether I am emotionally compromised. The plot concerns a Dark Shrine, ancient secrets, danger, suspense, and other things I was apparently supposed to care about. Instead, I spent most of my time wondering why the invisible detective insists on remaining visible. If I had the power of invisibility, I would be using it constantly. This man has somehow turned it into a fashion choice. The lead detective continues to carry her father's skull around, and frankly, by now I trust the skull more than most of the other characters. The game also continues its bold experiment of treating the Hint button as a theoretical concept. Press Hint. Receive a map. Press Hint again. Receive another map. Press Hint a third time. Begin questioning your life choices. By the end of the game, I knew every location by heart and still couldn't find what I was looking for. The hidden-object scenes seem to have been designed by someone who deeply resents players. The puzzles vary between entertaining and "surely this cannot be the intended solution." And yet... I finished the game. Not because I cared about the shrine. Not because I cared about the villain. Not because I cared about the mystery. I finished because I wanted to spend more time with these weirdos. That may be the highest compliment I can give. Final assessment: Dark Shrine: Dark. Detectives: United. Skull: Helpful. Invisible Detective: Underutilized. Maps: Abundant. Patience: Tested. Will I play the next one? Unfortunately, My s Q ve

Note to all gamers: please say a prayer for those of us in the path of Hurricane Dorian, the most catastrophic hurricane to EVER make landfall in the Atlantic Basin. Our hearts go out to those valiantly fighting for their lives in the Bahamas. Please pray for a northward shift sooner rather than later. Thank you, everyone! This game was an example of Elephant at its finest! I love playing from the vantage points of three separate detectives. You also have a gimmick in a device that absorbs dark energy, but I won’t ruin it for you. I especially love the skull, which is Anna Gray’s father, Richard, who is witty and hilarious. The HO scenes were nothing extraordinary, but the puzzles/games had a great variety, including games of skill, a labyrinth, cracking codes and the omnipresent rotational genre. As usual, there was a plethora of tasks at each location. The gameplay was as usual exciting and addictive. Many players complained about the length; truthfully this game was much longer than the last one. It might have seemed shorter because it was so enjoyable to play. It was over a gig in size. I love this series and Paranormal Files. I wish we would get more in these two series. Up next will be a game from Domini, hopefully this coming week if all goes as expected. Keep an eye out for Dark Romance: Hunchback of Notre Dame. Other exciting news: the President of Mad Head has just received the green light to start porting games to iPad. He doesn’t yet know how he will go about it; however I referred him to Oleg for some helpful tips and advice. Happy Labor Day to all, and happy gaming!

While still a bit short, it was a really great game. Richard will always be my favorite.