European Mystery 1: Scent of Desire

European Mystery: Scent of Desire
by Blam! Games - March, 2013

Series links: European Mystery 1: Scent of Desire, European Mystery 2: The Face Of Envy

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



Stop a maniac’s murderous trail of fragrance and deception in European Mystery: Scent of Desire! You’ve barely settled into your retirement in the peaceful French countryside, when you receive an urgent request from Paris. Young women are disappearing in broad daylight, the authorities are baffled, and the person responsible is still on the loose! How could any able-bodied detective refuse such a case? Stay on scent of the murderer in this intriguing Hidden-Object Puzzle Adventure game.

The Collector’s Edition includes:

• A bonus game that takes you to London!
  
• Gorgeous wallpapers, screensavers, and concept art
  
• Downloadable music tracks
  
• An integrated Strategy Guide
  

For the Standard Edition:

• Walkthrough
  
• Strategy Guide
  

Click images to enlarge
__

Delight For The Senses*****

BASED ON COMPLETED GAME

When I wrote my review on the CE of this game, I said I’d get around to getting the SE, and that I didn’t think the game was up to CE standards. Having played the SE, now I’m left wondering, what was I thinking?

Before I even start to analyse it, let me first wax rhapsodic for a moment about the MUSIC. I like and appreciate decent music in a game, it lends atmosphere. This game’s music was not just appropriate, but truly magical. I loved its EUROPEAN feel, and its classical harmonies were a beautiful complement to the game’s story.

This IS a wonderful game, the VISUALS are bright, bold colour, drawn exceptionally well. In fact, I’d say one of the BEST examples of HAND DRAWN I’ve seen.

The HOS have objects that are clearly visible, and for the most part match the scene.  They are INTERACTIVE LISTS, where the interaction requires an extra couple of steps, making it a real exercise in lateral thinking to find them. For example, to get the magnet we need to move the chicken, to move the chicken we need to feed it, to feet it we need to find the grain, and then the mortar and pestle to grind it. That’s quite a lot of work for a simple magnet!

The PUZZLES struck me as about AVERAGE, some easy, some I had to skip, some new. The RATIO of puzzles to HOS seemed about right too.

I was more interested in the STORY than anything else. You come out of retirement to investigate a strange case of women being kidnapped and murdered by dehydration, happening in cholera-infected Paris. There is much more to this one than a simple murder case, and politics enters the equation, adding to its COMPLEXITY.

The game’s signature feature is  the SCENT COLLECTOR & ALCHEMY KIT. These allow you to EXTRACT scent from your environment and mix them into ELIXIRS that can do anything from oil a rusty hinge to save a person’s life. They are a fun addition, and I hope we’ll see more of this potential series, in which they used.

I’m now kicking myself that I didn’t get the CE version, complete with its extra chapter, collectibles and achievements.

I recommend this game!