Treasure Seekers 3: Follow the Ghosts - Collector's Edition
Score: 85% ESRB: 4+ Publisher: G5 Entertainment Developer: Artogon Media: Download/1 Players: 1 Genre: Adventure/ Puzzle/ Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Graphics & Sound: Treasure Seekers 3: Follow the Ghosts – Collector's Edition HD has very nice graphics, although some of the characters are somewhat creepy looking. You’ll play the game as Tom and Nelly, crime-solving, globe-trotting siblings who are on a hunt to solve mysteries involving ghosts. There are lots of little details in the areas that Tom and Nelly will explore and their adventures will take them to England, Germany, Egypt, France and Russia. While you don't get to see a lot of the landscape of these countries, you do see some. You’ll explore a grand manor in England, the outside countryside of Germany, the sand-covered crypts of Egypt, a dark and foreboding church and graveyard in France, and the snowy wilds of Siberia. Sexton is a drunken villager you’ll meet while in France and the vacant way he stares at you is a bit disturbing. You are forced to interact with him and he's a bit testy. More often, you’ll be interacting with ghosts whose souls are not yet able to rest and, hopefully, you’ll be able to help them with that. There are no voiceovers in Treasure Seekers 3, only written text, but the background music is terrific. It has an appropriately 1930's feel with lots of brass and can be quite eerie at times, but it does tend to cut in and out on occasion. I especially loved the sound effect that occurred when you clicked the Hint button. If you needed to know which direction to go, it would say, "Follow me" in a hushed tone and if you needed to know where a specific object was, such as in a Hidden Object scene, it would whisper, "Help me." It was quite effective and unique.
Gameplay: Treasure Seekers 3: Follow the Ghosts – Collector's Edition HD has you playing as Tom and Nelly (at least for all but the last level) in search of interesting mysteries surrounding ghosts. Their first takes them to England where a large diamond called the Ruby Heart has been stolen and a ghost has been seen around the same time. Their adventures will play out like this – a ghost is seen and unusual happenings are occurring, so they visit the area and find a disgruntled ghost in need of assistance in order to find eternal peace. Tom and Nelly must locate certain key objects to satisfy the ghosts’ needs and these may be lying around the area, may be hidden or difficult to reach, or may even be found in a Hidden Object scene. There are also a number of puzzles you’ll encounter as you play. The puzzles include the shattered picture style, a Simple Simon style, placing objects in the correct spot or tiles in the correct order, a matching/memory puzzle, a rotation/alignment puzzle, and the most interesting one, a facial match puzzle where you try different sets of hair, eyes and mouth/chin until you find the correct villain. While this puzzle was the most interesting, it was really more fan service to players who have played the other Treasure Seekers games. I haven't, so I didn't recognize Totenkraft, a guy who plagued the brother/sister team in earlier games. If you have the Collector's Edition, you will also play the final bonus level as Totenkraft himself.
Difficulty: Treasure Seekers 3: Follow the Ghosts – Collector's Edition HD has two modes: Casual Mode and Advanced Mode. Casual Mode is designed for a relaxing experience. The Hint and Skip (for the puzzles) buttons charge fairly quickly and there will be a shorter time span between important objects glowing so that you can more easily find them. Advanced Mode is recommended for more hardcore Adventure gamers as your Hint and Skip buttons charge more slowly and you won't have the glowing assistance for key objects and Hidden Object scenes. If you need further help, there is a Strategy Guide provided that you can always click on. It is broken down by the Chapters, which are the locations the team visits. Helpful pictures are included, which you can click on and enlarge for puzzles or tricky Hidden Object scenes. Overall, the difficulty level is just about right for this type of game.
Game Mechanics: Treasure Seekers 3: Follow the Ghosts – Collector's Edition HD will have you searching across the globe to find objects in order to solve mysteries surrounding the baffling rash of ghost appearances. To do so, you’ll need to use your wits to gain entrance into locked areas by finding keys and other useful items, and you’ll encounter environmental puzzles such as riddles or elaborate puzzles blocking your progress. You’ll enter Hidden Object scenes in order to find that one key object that will progress you in your mission. While in the Hidden Object scenes, if you see an item listed in yellow, it means you need to do something additional to acquire the object, such as move two items together to form a new object or unearth an object hidden in a box. Sometimes you will pick up an object in the environment and a wheel will appear with a number of silhouetted objects encircling it. This indicates that you have started the process of putting together a key object, one that is necessary to complete your mission. When you see an object that matches the silhouette, place it into the circle and the silhouette fills in. Once you have found all of the objects, they combine to form your much needed key object. There will be a task list at the bottom of the screen to help you on your way, if you are playing in Casual Mode. The tasks are typically pretty specific and will help you a lot, but again, if you get stuck you always have the Strategy Guide. Additionally, you will also have access to Bonus Content like Wallpapers and Concept Art. Once you have completed the game, if you are playing the Collector's Edition, you will then head back to England for a bonus mission as Totenkraft as he seeks to create another Philosopher's Stone. The gameplay is very similar, except that if you try to pick up an object in the environment and you haven't yet triggered the key object that the item will be used for, you can't pick it up. I thought this was a bit odd since it wasn't like that for the rest of the game, but it wasn't a big deal. Overall, Treasure Seekers 3: Follow the Ghosts – Collector's Edition HD is an entertaining Adventure game with some Hidden Object elements to it. I’d recommend it more for those who are fans of Adventure games though, because it has many more Adventure elements than Hidden Object.
-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications AKA Ashley Perkins
Related Links: Treasure Seekers 3: Follow the Ghosts – Collector's Edition HD | iTunes
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