Haunted Legends 1: The Queen of Spades

Haunted Legends: The Queen of Spades
by ERS Game Studios

Series links: Haunted Legends 1: The Queen of Spades, Haunted Legends 2: The Bronze Horseman, Haunted Legends 3: The Undertaker, Haunted Legends 4: The Curse of Vox, Haunted Legends 5: The Stone Guest, Haunted Legends 6: The Dark Wishes

Available at:
Big Fish for PC as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
Big Fish for  Mac as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
iWin - Standard Edition for PC



Captain  Gerard Froussard has reached out to you for help. After Lieutenant  Pierre Disparu disappears searching for a missing young lady, it’s up to  you to investigate the Haunted mansion. Discover the secrets behind a  magical deck of cards in Haunted Legends: Queen of Spades! Find The  Countess and stop her curse before it claims another victim in this  astounding Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game.

The Collector’s Edition includes:

• Bonus gameplay
  
• Integrated Strategy Guide
  
• Wonderful wallpapers
  
• Stunning screensavers
  

For the Standard Edition:

• Walkthrough (Big Fish)
  

Click images to enlarge
   

Haunted Legends 1: The Queen of Spades (IHOG)

First thought: This is perfect for the time of year - it looks like a Halloween advertisement! Be advised that there is disturbing imagery in this game.

There are separate sliders for sound and music, plus options for custom cursor and full screen. There are two modes to choose from: Regular and Expert. The tutorial is optional. I originally chose Regular, but quickly exited and re-started on Expert mode due to the excess of hints. Upon replaying that very first section, I found that the hint that had pushed me to restart was NOT there. Yay!

The opening scene is voiced-over and skippable (though why you'd want to is beyond me ). Latter scenes are subtitled, but without the voice over. The music ranges from bouncy to creepy to downright annoying, depending on where you are in the game.

It quickly becomes apparent that you must collect 52 playing cards during the game, so be on the lookout for them! You MUST find all 52 in order to complete the game!

The HINT is refillable during the HOG scenes, but no hint is available during the adventure play. You do have a journal (diary), and it contains extra story bits... and no unsolicited hints, even in Regular mode!

The HOG scenes themselves are the your typical junkpile, but they aren't too cluttered. Items are neither obscured by darkness, nor too tiny to see - simply well-placed. Definitely a plus! There is a fast-click penalty. There is sometimes something interactive during a HOG scene, but you won't know it unless you happen to mouse-over the item and see your cursor change to a hand. This could be different on Regular mode, of course You will revisit scenes, but the list of items to find will be different.

At this point I am about half way through the game, with 25 out of 52 cards found. The story is interesting, though not as immersive as I would have liked. I can't really pinpoint what it is that's keeping me from truly getting in to it, but I am enjoying the game nonetheless.

At times, items you need in order to progress are right nearby, at others you will have to hold on to things for a long time before figuring out what to do with them. There are some unsolicited hints here and there, but I was happy to have them at times. Some things they want you to do I simply would not have thought to do

Overall, it's a very well-made game, fun, and seems to have a nice length to it. Glad I bought it!

Truly Enjoyable and Involving
  

BASED ON COMPLETED GAME

I love ERS games, and this one is another first class effort, but it will never be my favourite.

The artwork is very crisp, there's plenty of colour and interesting items. There are also occasional interactive items that require extra actions, but they are not coloured differently in the list. They are easy to figure out though.

The music is a negative for me, it became repetitious in a very short while, and there was little in the way of ambient noise.

However, it is the gameplay and story that make this a very good game. There are dozens of locations, oodles of HO scenes, and about average number of mostly easy puzzles. There are a couple of errors in the HO scenes, but I mean a couple, as in two or three in the whole game. Good enough for me.

It is a very active game - lots to do. There's so much to see, I think a map would have been helpful. Even though there's very little toing and froing, it was easy to get lost.

It is clear most of the time what should come next, most inventory items are nearby, and those that aren't carry the momentum - you know what you're going to need them for, and will remember what to do when you have all the pieces.

The storyline is unique, although you may not think so at first. It starts like a traditional spooky manor, evil countess, weird looking monster, but I promise it takes many interesting turns before the conclusion - and it takes a good deal longer to get there than most games.

So, it's a very good game, I'm happy to recommend it, but it is not the very best of ERS Studio's collection.

I Recommend This Game!