July 14th, 2008 by PCG

Game Review: Hidden Expedition: Amazon™

I'm a staunch supporter of unique games. Oh sure, they might not enjoy the commercial success of, say, another match-three game or time management sim, but a casual game reviewer can only take so many of these "me, too" clones bloating the industry. But every once in a while a game surfaces that, while not original in concept, succeeds very well in execution. Such is the case with Big Fish Games' Hidden Expedition: Amazon, a new hidden object download that proves you don't always have to reinvent the wheel - it just needs to roll along smoother than its predecessors.

You’re tasked with finding a missing professor in the latest Hidden Expedition game, and it will take you to the corners of the globe in order to succeed, including Esmeraldas, Casablanca, New York City, and of course, the Amazon rainforest, to name a few locations. The only clues you’ll have to work with are a tattered map that tells of the legendary Beetle Temple and 12 pieces of a journal belonging to the professor.

As with most hidden-object titles, the core gameplay in Hidden Expedition: Amazon involves hunting for objects in a busy scene; items are listed along the bottom of the screen – such as an apple, ornament, scissors, dog, comb and washboard – which you must find and click on to scratch it off the list. It would’ve been preferred if the items were relevant to the scene or story, as some games have done (not sure how an egg timer and a hotdog can help you catch a plane to Morocco) but at least the developer made the items difficult to find (such as a green feather duster in a tree which blends in very well) plus some items can be placed in your inventory to use at a later time.

As an example of the latter, you might get a key that can open a door, a knife that can be used to cut open a ripped chair to find something inside, a glass eye for a mystic who wants it or gopher food used in a gopher hole to bring the little critter to the surface). Some of these inventory items are to be used on another scene. Curiously, many of the same items are peppered throughout the entire game, such as boomerangs, pickles and sandwiches!

The third Hidden Expedition game of the hidden object game series takes on many new features to take the series to new heights. Hidden Expedition: Amazon promises fans a bigger adventure with more to do and it delivers.

In the latest expedition, the only thing you receive is an old beat up map with a reference to the legendary Beetle Temple to aid your search to find a missing professor. As you delve deep into the Amazonian jungles, you discover pieces of the professor’s journal to learn more.

The heart of the game comes in finding many hidden objects and crossing them off your list. Of course, these Amazon-themed scenes surround the hidden objects in hopes to make them harder to find while staying true to the theme.

Two new twists join this edition while you hunt for objects — some move into your inventory for later use. You also can click any item on your list of hidden objects to see a silhouette of the item. Does this make the game too easy? Or does it help a lot considering some objects blend in too well with the scene? Hints are still available where a circle appears around the object’s location. Seeing silhouettes doesn’t count as a hint.

But I say the game is what we make of it. If you want it to be hard, don’t look at the silhouettes period. Who says you have to use hints? We can control how easy or hard we make a game.

Seek out five beetles per scene to receive one shiny new hint added to your hint pack. If you find only four beetles when you finish the scene, no hint for you even if you find one in the next scene. The beetle count starts over with each new scene.

As you can guess from the name of the game, you are going to travel to different places in search of a professor who is missing. Of course one of the places will be Amazon rainforest.

The graphics are done very well. All of the screens look really gorgeous with some animated parts.

What you are doing most of the time is you are searching for the items that are given on the list. You will play different mini-games once in a while in between the seek-and-find levels...

Straight from Big Fish Games Studios comes the 3rd sequel to the Hidden Expedition series with the Hidden Expedition: Amazon game. This time around, your adventure takes you deep inside the Amazon Rainforest in search of a missing professor and the discovery of the legendary Beetle Temple.

Even when you just started the game, you’re already greeted with an awesome introduction cinematic that shows the game’s overall theme. The story starts after you got a pigeon-carried letter coming from a girl named Rachel asking for your help in finding the lost Professor Mandible. Mandible just went missing during his expedition towards the long lost Beetle Temple, and it is now your task to trace his footsteps and hopefully, get to discover the temple yourself.

Being a Hidden Object game, Hidden Expedition: Amazon entails you to look for clues and other items that will possibly lead you to your investigation, and just like most games of this type, every scenery is moderately cluttered with trash and other unnecessary items. One thing unique about this game though is when you click on an item; a silhouette of that item will then be given to you as some sort of a free hint. Of course, if that is not enough, you can always click the Hint Beetle to show you the exact location of your selected item of choice...

I knew before I donwloaded the demo that I would be buying Hidden Expedition: Amazon ™. The previous incarnations of the Hidden Expedition series are that good. Hidden Expedition: Amazon did not disappoint. I was up playing until two this morning and I’m a responsible working gal who doesn’t do that when I know clients will be waiting in the morning. Bah! Who needs work when there are great games to be played?

As anticipated, the artwork for Hidden Expedition: Amazon is stunning, having the quality of fine paintings. The placement of hidden objects is devious, with some worked into the scenery with such subtlety that you don’t realize you’re seeing them when you’re staring right at them. The player’s mission is find a professor who has gone missing while searching for the legendery Beetle Temple in the Amazonian rainforest. You’ll find bits of a map and other clues as you progress along your way. Some of the items you’ll find will go into your inventory for use in later searches - for instance, a key in inventory will be needed to unlock a drawer containing a hidden object.

The level of challenge is high, but Hidden Expedition: Amazon employs fair play principals. There’s no trickery. Hidden objects are well-defined, but finding some of them may have you pulling your hair out. Each time you find five beetles you’ll be rewarded with a hint. Try to collect them from each screen because you’re likely to need as many of them as you can stockpile...