The Great Unknown: Houdini’s Castle Review:
Here comes a game that is off beat, engaging and entertaining. It is a simple game with everything that you need for a complete gaming experience. Those people who have gotten tired of really long games that have annoyingly difficult hidden object scenes and equally frustrating mini games; must give this game a try for a change. The game is clean, nicely designed and suitable for all kinds of players. It’s like a fairyland story where the fairy is trying to save the lover from the hands of the evil. You get to play the fairy and do all the heroic acts to save the lover.
It’s a game that will take you an adventure trip to a lost island, and you will encounter many hurdles and challenges on your quest for the answers to your questions. Throughout your journey, the hidden objects, association games and mini games will keep you busy and occupied. The game gives you ample control over the settings. The animation is amazing, and the look of the game is very inviting. All in all, it is a game that has an average difficulty, a great storyline, excellent sound and visual effects, and above all a great fun factor. Let us have a look at all the important factors of the game one by one.
Fun Factor and Storyline
On a scale of 5, The Great Unknown: Houdini’s Castle gets a perfect 5 for the fun factor. The storyline is engaging and interesting; therefore, we can give it a 5 star rating as well. Those of you who have been a part of Harry Houdini’s adventures before can look for a totally different storyline. This game is not about Harry Houdini’s odyssey, his life, adventures and death. In this game, the air plane that Houdini and his lover are travelling in crashes, and thus the story begins to unfold. Imagine a creepy deserted island and a plane crash that lands you up there; although not quite a novel idea, but certainly a winner in terms of appeal. The adventures that ensue thereafter make the plot interesting and gripping. You get to play Ms. Houdini in the game, and it’s needless to mention that you will be doing all kinds of heroic acts to fight the evil intentions of a character called Whitehead. This person Whitehead happens to be the adopted son of Harry Houdini and has taken his father hostage. This marks the starting point of the story and the adventures that follow all revolve around this.
There are many twists and turns in the story that keep the interest alive. A turn comes when you get to know Whitehead better and what has made him do all this. The story goes like this. Whitehead has been trying it hard for decades to get in touch with the spirit of Houdini. He did so because he wanted to know the secrets of Chinese torture cell. Whitehead’s lover was lost long ago while trying to do the trick. To get her back, Whitehead was trying to contact the spirit. Then you begin your adventurous journey where you interact with Whitehead and try to overcome his traps. The story that follows is thrilling, and you get to do a lot of things.
At the start of The Great Unknown: Houdini’s Castle, you are introduced to the hidden object mechanics. There is a list of hidden objects, and you are supposed to look for each of them. Each hidden object scene has some amount of interactivity in it. Almost every hidden object scene has to be completed twice. The second time you are introduced to an item association game. This is one of the most interesting parts of the game, and it actually puts your intelligence quotient to test. You are no longer supposed to look for items directly on the list, but you have to build associations between objects and look for associated objects. An ordinary association game involves association between a violin and a violin bow; there are some other associations that are tough to figure out. It may take you some mindful thinking to complete the tougher mind association games, and you may find yourself stuck up in some of the games. In such situations, the strategy guides comes to your rescue.
Unlike most other hidden object games, this game has no maps or navigation guides. So, if you get lost or miss out on certain hidden objects, or get stuck up with a puzzle, then you will have to fend for yourself. On the whole, the fun factor of the game is high, and there are fewer movements of frustration and boredom.
Visual and Sound Quality
The graphics and the animation of the game are a perfect 5. The visuals are beautiful and play a prominent role in keeping the interest of the player alive. The graphics are really pleasing, and animation quality is astounding. The colours are bright and vibrant. The sounds and voiceovers of the game are simply superb. The game options give you the freedom to change the settings of music, sounds and voiceover. You get custom cursor, widescreen and full screen options. On the whole, we can say the art work and audio are excellent and add to the quality of the game.
Level of Challenge
For the level of difficulty, we can give The Great Unknown: Houdini’s Castle a score of 4. The hidden object scenes and puzzles are difficult, but not frustrating. The only things that can put you off in terms of difficulty are the association games. Some are really hard to figure out and at that time you may have to seek the help of the hint button. The fact that there are no maps or navigation guides makes things tough at times. You may have to backtrack sometimes to locate the hidden objects or puzzles that you may have missed out on. The puzzles are pretty much standard like jigsaws and tile rotation puzzles. The game can be played to two difficulty levels: easy and difficult. The game is shorter than most hidden object games.
This is the Original Big Fish Games Description::
Your honeymoon is cut short when your plane crashes on an uncharted island in The Great Unknown: Houdini’s Castle. You awake to discover a madman has kidnapped your husband. To get him back, you’ll have to use all your wits to pass his sinister tests and solve the mysteries of Houdini’s castle. Along the way, you’ll uncover Houdini’s secret past and learn about the brilliant apprentice who changed his life. Can you expose Houdini’s greatest trick to save your husband and escape the island? Take the challenge in this thrilling Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game.
This is a special Collector’s Edition release full of exclusive extras you won’t find in the standard version. As a bonus, Collector’s Edition purchases count toward three stamps on your Monthly Game Club Punch Card!
