Hidden object
games are a niche genre in casual gaming market but somehow this
simplistic concept has become a staple to many people's gaming
diets. Perhaps it links with some ancient primeval part of our
brain but for me, these games are quite relaxing as I attempt to
find the objects solve the puzzles.
The story of
G.H.O.S.T Chronicles Phantom of the Renaissance Fair (GHOST for
this review) revolves around the tragic deaths of Mr and Mrs
Spears, the former owners of the Renaissance Fair. Unfortunately
for the vendors of this fair, something unusual, more
specifically paranormal is happening and their stores are being
vandalised by what appears to be their spirits. However some
have hinted that perhaps it was the couples son or the new wife
of Mr Spears who are causing these eerie attacks.
This is where
the player comes into the story as renowned Ghost Hunter who has
been summoned to investigate these paranormal activities and
hopefully put an end to it. Your job is simple, investigate a
variety of locales in the game in order to solve the mystery so
that the park can go onto its normal business. From here you
investigate some interesting and intricate areas such as the
Gnome Home, one of the tourist attractions at the fair that is
quite detailed. Your goal is to find certain items in these
areas with a special item used for other areas of the game. It's
a lot of pointing and clicking but it's enjoyable pointing and
clicking.
For veteran
Hidden Object gamers, there is an option to turn off the hint
system in order to give you a more challenged game. Thankfully
you have a "magic eye" which is used to investigate the clues in
the game that will hopefully allow you to peace together this
mystery. If you do decide to go with hints, the game uses a
"hint fairy" that basically flies to the object that you may be
stuck on and is a really cool idea. Hints can also be turned on
later in the game if you do get stuck but our little fairy is
quite clever in ensuring that a challenge is still to be had.
Graphically,
GHOST is a good looking hidden object game with some great
attention to the detail. The areas that you visit are quite
diverse and help get you involved in the story. Add in a mellow
soundtrack and you have everything you need to keep you glued to
your computer screen until this mystery is solved. All in all,
it's one of the better hidden object games.
Final Thoughts?
G.H.O.S.T
Chronicles Phantom of the Renaissance Fair is a decent hidden
object game but like most of these games, the replay value is
quite limited once you have finished the game. If you have
completed the game on the easy level, it does allow you to
replay on a harder level but once that is done, you've pretty
much exhausted all avenues. However for the price, G.H.O.S.T
Chronicles Phantom of the Renaissance Fair is still a good
bargain that I would recommend fans of this genre to check out!
System Requirements
- OS: Windows
Vista/XP/2000
- CPU: Processor:
Pentium 3 1.0 GHz
- RAM: 1024 MB RAM
- Hard Drive: 120 MB
- Video: DirectX 7.0
- Sound: N/A
- Input: N/A
