Drawn 3: Trail of Shadows

Drawn: Trail of Shadows
by Big Fish Games - October, 2011

Series links:  Drawn 1: The Painted Tower, Drawn 2: Dark Flight, Drawn 3: Trail of Shadows

Available from:
Big Fish for PC: Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
Big Fish for Mac: Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
iWin Standard Edition


                               
Re-enter the enchanted world of Drawn in the highly anticipated third installment of the cinematic series. Set in the years before the events of The Painted Tower and Dark Flight, Drawn: Trail of  Shadows takes players on a magical Adventure through the distant past!  Become a part of the story by following clues scattered throughout paintings to save a boy with the power to create painted worlds in Drawn: Trail of Shadows!

Collector’s Edition includes:

• Bonus gameplay
  
• Stunning screensavers
  
• Incredible artwork
  

For the Standard Edition

• Strategy Guide
  
• Walkthrough (Big Fish)
  

Click images to enlarge
 

Drawn 3: Trail of Shadows (Adventure-puzzle)

The options on this one are interesting.  We have separate sliders for music and sound effects, plus custom cursor, full screen, and aspect ratio, but there is one more:  'Screen Movement.'   For those who are not familiar with the Drawn franchise, the graphics are made in a way that is very reminiscent of pop-up books... as a matter of fact, this will come strongly into play this time around.  The screen movement is something that will make the layers of the scene before you move as you move the cursor around.  It adds an amazing depth to the graphics, and you can adjust it to whatever level you wish.

It does not tell you what the difference is, but there are two difficulty levels: Casual and Experienced.  Upon experimentation, Experienced mode does not have sparklies, and this seems to be the only difference.  Sparkles do not indicate hidden object scenes (this is not a HOG!), but rather areas that you can interact with.

HINTS do not need to load, and are given as advice under the "Observation" part of the lower left of your screen.  The hints are tiered, and if you keep clicking, you'll get a straight answer telling you what you need to do... AFTER giving you actual hints!  I love that~

Although this is the third in a series, you do not have to have played the previous games in order to enjoy this one.  Trail of Shadows is a prequel, which features Franklin telling Iris a story.  Is it the same voice as in the first two games?  I'm not really sure, as I (by necessity) had the sound turned down quite a bit.

As expected, the graphics are beautiful and the music dramatic.  Though the world is very familiar, the story is lighter than in the previous games.  There is no need for a map, as we work within small areas of about six scenes before moving on to an all-new area.

You will find a book during gameplay, and it is a journal of sorts... except that it is also a series of mini-games in the form of a pop-up book!  You know how there are tabs in this kind of book -- well in our journal, we have those tabs, things we have to move and maneuver, all to discover new parts to the story and, sometimes, find items that we need to use in the game.  Not sure that I'm explaining that well, but I'm sure you'll catch on quickly

Something that confused me was the pigs that showed periodically.  Wha...?  Apparently there are 27 pigs to find, but I only know that because I did a search online to find out why I kept seeing them!  Nothing was mentioned in-game as to why I was seeing them.

I'd say that the gameplay is about 1/2 and 1/2 puzzle and adventure.  The minis themselves are sometimes dependent on reflexes, but are mostly logic-based.  I enjoyed the fact that they were just the same thing we're used to seeing over and over, but I know at least one person who will be disappointed to hear that there is a "potion"-type task we have to do.  It's actually mixing paints, but we have to go from grinding to adding ingredients to mixing, so it's similar.

Overall, I really did enjoy the game.  It was a relaxing way to spend a few hours.  I don't know that I would be interested in the Collector's Edition -- this one was just right for me~