Entwined 1: Strings of Deception

Entwined: Strings of Deception
by Urchin Games -October, 2011

Series links: Entwined 1: Strings of Deception, Entwined 2: The Perfect Murder

Available at:
Big Fish
GameHouse
Steam



Uncover a dark scheme in Entwined: Strings of Deception and solve an elaborate murder mystery! Play the role of detective Karla Robbins and interview the different suspects of a grisly murder. Search the Edward family mansion and question the late Christopher Edward’s wife, butler, housemaid, and even his physician in this incredible Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game. Find the murderer and discover their motive in Entwined: Strings of Deception!

• Interview suspects
  
• Search Edward manor
  
• Uncover a dark scheme!
  

I Demo'd this game. It has good graphics and a good story. It has voice over which is not synchronized with the text or with the mouths of the 3D characters. I found this annoying and it is the main factor that decided me against purchase. That would not have been a deciding factor for me if I had not played so many of this kind of game so decide for yourself whether or not you like it. There are some minigames of the usual kinds such as Lock Picking. It has plenty of HOS. The adventure aspect of it includes questioning suspects and the usual traveling around to find clues. Access to locations may require the finding of keys or the completion of certain actions. All-in-all this is an average HO Mystery and is neither Great nor Awful but can be fairly enjoyable overall.

Good HO Whodunit  
  

BASED ON COMPLETED GAME

This is one of those games I bought on a whim but shouldn’t have, because it is just not my cup of tea. However, I will try to give you an unbiased appraisal of the game.

It’s a MODERN WHODUNIT, complete with detective, you, MURDER BOOK in hand. It lists suspects (5), autopsy, observations and task list. A famous inventor has been murdered in his home, found at the bottom of the stairs with a (non-fatal) stab wound, injuries from the fall, and poisoned contents in his stomach. Sounds like they all had a go at him!

His mansion is a wonderful, many-roomed affair, and that NON-INTERACTIVE MAP is a necessary accessory. HINT is VERY HELPFUL outside HOS, you choose a task you want help with, and it will list the necessary steps. It WILL NOT tell you where to go next, however, you will have to work that out. In HOS, it gives you a close-up view of the item.

The game is dominated by ADVENTURE action. You spend most of your time trying to nut out the clues, and there are only a VERY FEW PUZZLES. A lot of toing and froing is required, and it is easy to lose track of what was needed where. But then that’s what adventure games are all about, right?

There are quite a lot of HO SCENES, which provide many of the tools you’ll need. They are of the NON-INTERACTIVE LIST variety and can be quite tricky. CRYSTAL CLEAR REALISTIC GRAPHICS make the scenes a joy to search.

TWO COLLECTIBLES. FINGERPRINTS are collected with a fingerprint kit. And there is also a large quantity of JEWELLERY just lying around.

I am convinced that someone without my prejudices would find this a good game, but I doubt anyone would be floored by it.

I Recommend This Game!

Entwined: Strings of Deception (IHOG)

Options include separate volume control for Music, Effects and Voices, plus Fullscreen, Widescreen Correction and Custom Cursor.

This is a HO-heavy murder mystery with cringe-worthy 3D graphics, substandard voice acting and a confusing map.  Despite all of that, the game is still engaging, so read on!

HIDDEN OBJECTS:

As mentioned above, there are a LOT of hidden object scenes to complete before you find your killer.  The HO scenes are pretty much junk piles, but the graphics are nicer to look at than the too-perfect 3D models used in the rest of the game, AND some of the items are cleverly-hidden.

There is a misclick penalty if you click around too quickly. 

The HINTS are refillable, but don't show you exactly where to look.  Instead you'll get a pop-up picture of the general area on the scene, with the item highlighted... You'll still need to find it afterwards, so look at the pic well - The hint refill takes (I think) a full minute to recharge.

Heads up to the arachnophobes that there is ONE spider in a HOS, but you'll visit that scene twice.

GAMEPLAY:

There is a non-interactive MAP in the game, but it's pretty confusing because of the steep angle they chose to use to depict things.  You'll spend a lot of time to-ing and fro-in, but I found it kind of refreshing to NOT have all of the answers right at my fingertips.  The map isn't so big that it was a slog to revisit all of the scenes to look for active areas.

HINTS used during the adventure portion of the game will not require refill - you can have as many hints as you want - but this is not the type of hint most HOG-lovers are used to.  Instead of giving you a directional hint or pointing out something on the scene at hand, it will instead give you an indexed list of tasks that you can choose from.  For instance, you can click on "Fix electricity of the kitchen area", and when you do, it will tell you exactly where to go to find whatever-items you need, and the steps that need to be taken to accomplish the task at hand.

I saw no achievements, but there are Collectibles:

• 20 pieces of jewelry
  
• 17 fingerprints
  

STORY:

We keep a detailed journal with evidence we've collected on each and every suspect.  This is what makes the game worth playing.  Who-dun-it?  What's really going on here?  The story was enough to keep me playing despite the super-dated graphics and overabundance of hidden object scenes (not really my thing anymore).

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I would not have lasted more than five minutes in this game if it had not been for Feena's recommendation to give the game a try.  At first, the hidden object scenes made me feel nothing but impatient, and the graphic-style was definitely a put-off.  I'm glad that I stuck with it, as I really did end up enjoying my time in the game - even the HOS!

Recommended for those who enjoy a good, casual murder mystery... As long as they can stand finding a LOT of hidden objects along the way!