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| 31 MAY 2009 at 10:27pm |
KaylIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 30
Joined: 5 MAY 2009
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Dr_Watson (31 MAY 2009 7:11pm)
The puzzles are pretty straightforward in general but they still throw in the occassional 'Oh, come on' solution which can only be discovered by the try to combine everything in inventory with every hotspot on the screen method whch I am used to by now but must leave less experienced players shaking their heads when they check out a walkthrough.
Exactlly whats happening.
The puzzles are quite silly in fact. While mostly inventory based, the game is rather simple for the most part. There is a lot of object collecting and combining to create "Mcguyver" like solutions. But not to say that its not fun.
Overall, the graphics are above average. Nice sharp 3D with high resolution. The voice acting is pretty poor, the main characters I can deal with but the lesser ones are pretty bad. The story does get better as you play through.
My scythe--I like to keep it next to where my heart used to be.
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| 1 JUN 2009 at 12:38am |
| Deleted User | I might mention that the game does seem to get progressively more difficult. Even the "try everything with everything, try everything on everything" approach can hit a brick wall if you miss a certain spoken or visual clue(s). There was one puzzle involving the placement of objects based on some verbal clues and a map that I just didn't have the patience for. >
I agree with Kayl about the puzzles. Although there were a few that fit into the illogical realm, most could be resolved through straight forward intuitiveness (and a little thinking outside the box). I think players will probably tend to get more personal satisfaction (at least I did) in deducing what needs to be accomplished rather than through repetitious efforts of trial and error.
Overall I found the game enjoyable even with its share of distractions: the lame off-the cuff comments that seem to be appearing more often in these types of games, : voice acting that had me clicking the right mouse button with a vengeance, and of course one pathetically contrived sequence that occurs in the game ending cut-scene with no plausible explanation whatsoever. :-/
As for the storyline? Oh well, probably one of the oldest in the book. [img]http://www.clipartof.com/images/thumbnail/2014.gif[/img]
Spoiler AlertCan Nina and Max save the world?
Of course, the big question on everyone's mind: Do Nina and Max get back together? And if that's possible, or not.... Spoiler Alertdoes Max get Nina in the sack? [img]http://www.clipartof.com/images/thumbnail/644.gif [/img]
Decent ending though, regardless. Summing up the fates of all the characters was a nice touch.
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| 1 JUN 2009 at 9:32am |
sTyLnKIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 46
Joined: 2 JUN 2005
Status : Online | I really enjoy combining items and being MacGyver so to speak. The puzzles were straight forward, yet still somewhat challenging at times and it was right up my ally. I despise games where the focus is all on the puzzles and are so complicated that you have yourself pulling out your hair. No thanks.
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| 1 JUN 2009 at 6:02pm |
Steve VeaseySpace Cadet
Posts : 115
Joined: 30 MAY 2009
Status : Online | I think the puzzles on the Ship were very straightforward, especially as Nina essentially tells you what to do, but that is fair enough if you are trying to ease new players into the thing gently..but it then leaps into 'huh?' territory in the next segment in Indonesia...
Spoiler Alert Working out how to follow the monkey to the temple is not remotely intuitive or obvious ..only the above mentioned 'try everything' method would give you any chance of discovering that you need to coat a papaya with red dye created by boiling hibiscus leaves in a teapot so that the monkey takes the fruit and leaves red paw prints for Max to follow...Also, the chances of the 'Orange Powered' flare launch device working is exactly nil..have you ever tried to move anything using soft fruit as wheels? It isn't physically possible
If things start getting REALLY illogical like in the first game, then unless the story holds up, I might give this an even worse rating than Average..
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| 22 JUN 2009 at 4:29pm |
MaumPrivate Detective
Posts : 593
Joined: 2 JUN 2007
Location: UK
Status : Offline | I just finished the game and overall found it quite entertaining. It's definitely an improvement on the first.
I liked the storyline (nothing original, but gripping nonetheless). The game itself looks very nice, particularly the cutscenes which I found stunning.
The puzzles were actually quite fun- yes, some of them were random, but I actually quite enjoy combining various inventory objects and seeing what it leads me to. Saying that I found that most of them were quite logical- albeit easy.
The main problem for me was again the voice acting. I didn't think the side characters were too bad- not as bad as I'd been led to believe anyway. They were generally random (in Paris for instance, all French characters but a female police officer sound American) but harmless. The main issue was Max- he was as unbearable this time round as Nina was in Tunguska.
Overall it was well worth playing IMO.
Currently playing: Dragon Age Origins, Dishonored, The Witcher, Fallout 3, Deponia
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| 25 JUN 2009 at 10:34am |
AubstopperIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 85
Joined: 19 MAY 2008
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Dr_Watson (1 JUN 2009 6:02pm)
I think the puzzles on the Ship were very straightforward, especially as Nina essentially tells you what to do, but that is fair enough if you are trying to ease new players into the thing gently..but it then leaps into 'huh?' territory in the next segment in Indonesia...
Spoiler Alert Working out how to follow the monkey to the temple is not remotely intuitive or obvious ..only the above mentioned 'try everything' method would give you any chance of discovering that you need to coat a papaya with red dye created by boiling hibiscus leaves in a teapot so that the monkey takes the fruit and leaves red paw prints for Max to follow...Also, the chances of the 'Orange Powered' flare launch device working is exactly nil..have you ever tried to move anything using soft fruit as wheels? It isn't physically possible
If things start getting REALLY illogical like in the first game, then unless the story holds up, I might give this an even worse rating than Average..
basically for the two instances of illogical puzzles you gave, the solutions were easily found in the diary section of the game...that's how i figured those parts out without a walkthrough....
"Man's greatest tragedy is that he can perceive of a perfection that he can never attain."
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| 2 AUG 2009 at 11:53pm |
InesrocksPrivate Detective
Posts : 682
Joined: 16 OCT 2008
Location: PT
Status : Offline | Just finished playing Secret Files 2.
At first, especially the first chapter at the cruise ship, I thought this was going to be a game that I would really enjoy. The puzzles seemed fine, the setting was quite good, the characters were interesting, Nina's voice was much better... then it switched to the next chapter and from that time on my interest dropped to 0.
The other chapters' settings were just boring and plain:
Spoiler Alertthe chapter in Paris was poor and in no way made me feel I was in that city (unlike happened in Broken Sword 1 or even Art of Murder 2).
Overall, although there were some improvements- especially on the main characters voice, including Max which voice reminded me of Brad Pitts lol (im not even talking about Sam's character... let's say I used the mute button a lot on that chapter)- this game, just like the first of the series, failed to impress me in anyway.
Yes, the rendings are almost perfect, but they were also in the first game and for me, if the story does not atract me, the graphics are not at all important.
Picking on the story, it sure looked promising, although it wasn't worked well. They could have developed the main theme much better, Spoiler Alertadding some scenes in the UN quarters for example. It felt short and didn't taste like much.
The ending of the game Spoiler Alert(especially the beach scene and the nonsense credits) summarizes the game purpose, which is not, by any means, to be taken serious. It's a lightly hearted game which you can play for several hours, without promise that you will remember any of it in the next months. For that purpose, it proved to be entertaining but not much beyond that.
Just out of curiosity, some parts of this game reminded me of Broken Sword, not only the sometimes failed attempt on sarcastic humour, but especially some scenes:
Spoiler Alertthe metro scene, especially with the candy machine (BS2)and the part where you had to get the bottle out of a homeless (BS4)
Another curious thing was the fact that Nina broke the fourth wall a LOT of times with several comments, something that isnt quite typical on adventure games.
Oh I must add that Nina's personality is still at its best. Let's take some examples:
Spoiler Alert-at the cruise ship chapter, when she acknowledges the death of the man that approached her, she comments on how shes tired and needs to go to bed.
-Nina's comments of annoyance when David is suffering from diabetes at the French coast
Playing: Skyrim (ongoing)
Last Finished: can't recall, been too long.
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| 4 AUG 2009 at 3:41am |
avatar_58Private Detective
Posts : 403
Joined: 27 MAY 2008
Status : Online | I found the first game to be just average and boring storywise. From what I've been reading about the second game I'm not even going to bother...
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