Sable Maze 2: Norwich Caves

Sable Maze: Norwich Caves
by Daily Magic - August, 2013

Series links:  Sable Maze 1: Sullivan River, Sable Maze 2: Norwich Caves, Sable Maze 3: Forbidden Garden, Sable Maze 4: Twelve Fears

Available at:
Big Fish as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
Steam as Collector's Edition



Congratulations, Professor Edwards! You've joined the faculty of the oldest and most-respected university in the world. You've barely been teaching for a semester when tragedy strikes during the fall break. Four of your students have gone missing while exploring the dangerous caverns under the campus! Is the legend about the Labyrinth under the campus actually true? What's causing the abnormal physics in the water down there? You don't have much time, because the rain keeps pouring down, flooding the caverns. Dig deep and keep your head above water in Sable Maze: Norwich Caves, an intriguing Hidden-Object Puzzle Adventure game.

The Collector’s Edition includes:

• Bonus gameplay
  
• Downloadable music and wallpapers
  
• Concept art
  
• Unlockable trophies
  

For the Standard Edition

• Walkthrough
  
• Strategy Guide (Big Fish)
  

Click images to enlarge
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JustTheFacts - Aug. 29, 2013 wrote:Lost In The Labyrinth

BASED ON DEMO

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
My first thought: turn up the volume. For some reason it is set so low you can’t even hear the music, let alone object to it. So it’s a quiet start to this game, but not an uninteresting one.

In fact, the story hooked me straightaway. Four college kids and a loopy professor are lost in the labyrinth, an ancient cave system with mysterious overtones. As a newly appointed professor, you have been begged to help in the search.

SIGHTS & SOUNDS
The graphics are top quality. Artistically, they have nothing to distinguish them, but the look is clear and detailed, and not unattractive. The sounds, well, even at full volume, do not make a real impact. Although there are a couple of ‘shocks’ when the music will suddenly be loud and frantic. The voiceovers were good for the most part, but the attempt at lip sync doesn’t quite come off.

WHAT’S HAPPENING
Once we get into the basement and run into the missing professor, it becomes clear that he, at least, is not interested in being rescued. He magically shuts off all 4 entrances to the maze and disappears into it himself.

His students are not so happy to be there! And something strange is going on with the water... Further investigation exposes the history of the area, and the 4 founders who sealed the caves and started the university. Something really different – the bad guy is made of water!

MAKING PROGRESS
It may just be I am having a particularly dense day, but I found myself relying heavily on the interactive jump map practically from the moment I received it. A flair for lateral thinking is definitely an advantage in this one. Not that anything is totally out there wacko, but definitely non-linear.

There are roughly the same number of HOs and puzzles, with the HOs being a progressive (find and use) list, and the puzzles being almost all new to me, and varying in difficulty. The instructions are not always the best. But the SG provides solutions that make the rules fairly obvious.

There is no journal with this one, and already I’m feeling the lack of it.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS
I think this is a good CE game. It has all the standard requirements (including very interesting collectibles and trophies), and the production quality. It is not a spectacular game, but it is good.

I recommend this game!

Thanks for your permission, Justie!

DELETED

I've only scanned your reviews because I haven't played it yet, but I'm thinking this will be my next play-through!  I loved the first Sable Maze, and your reviews make me want to play it NOW.  It's nice to know that it can be a stand alone game, too, thanks for that! (though I really DO recommend playing the first one!)

Sable Maze 2: Norwich Caves CE (IHOG)

Options include separate sliders for sound effects, music, and voices, plus custom cursor, full screen, and widescreen.  There is a Help button on the main page, which succinctly highlights the basics of playing this kind of game.  Very nice for the newbies to the genre   We have three difficulties to choose from:  Casual, Advanced, and Hard, and the differences are clearly explained.  I went for the middle of the road for this play-through, but the setting can be changed at any time via the options screen.

Right offhand, I can tell you that I'm slightly irritated with the CE version.  Oh, I like having the CE, but the link to the strategy guide is at the top left of the scene, and retracts every time a black bar hint shows up.  It's distracting, and it's covering up some of the artwork, which is something I never appreciate.  The objectives button is bugging me, too.  "Meh" to that!    ANYWAY... back to the review!

The inventory bar is retractable, but we can lock it in an open position by clicking on the lock at the top right of the bar.  There is no journal., but on the left we have a video display, and from here we can re-watch videos at any time, as well as access our collectibles and trophy information.  We will find a map pretty quickly after starting gameplay, and it will show up next to the video screen.  The MAP is interactive.  It doesn't show where there are actions to be taken unless you are in casual mode, and it does offer a jump-to option.

If there's nothing left to do on a scene, using a HINT during the adventure portion will give you a directional arrow without discharging your hint.

In Advanced Mode there are no sparklies, and that includes those for hidden object scenes.  The HOS are highly interactive, more like puzzle scenes than anything else.  You won't be able to find any item listed in white until you complete some kind of action, so basically you're using every item on your list in order to find something else.

CE Content:

• College Mementos Collectibles (in SE too?)
  
• Bonus chapter
  
• 22 Trophies
  
• 13 music tracks, which CAN be saved to your computer
  
• 7 Wallpapers
  
• 15 concept art
  

ALL of the bonus content is accessible when you first open the game EXCEPT for the bonus chapter.  Whilst playing through the main content, I was really put off by the the setting, which is mostly on a college campus.  After the second time I came across actions that made no logical sense (simply because they would NEVER work,) I couldn't take it anymore, and gave up on the game.  SO, no input on the bonus chapter!  Lucky thing the rest was unlocked right at the beginning, or I couldn't report on the CE content at all! 

Sable Maze 2 is a quality offering and I love the different take on hidden object scenes, but with zero interest in the story, I simply could not finish the game.

Update On Review Based On Completed Game

The puzzles were too difficult for me, I found myself skipping more than half. They were not exceptionally original, just of a type that I can’t get the hang of. The continuous line puzzle that was repeated got more difficult as you went along, and was eventually quite a challenge.

Towards the end, the game felt rushed. It took most of the game to get through the first two gates, and then the last two were done one practically on top of the other and took almost no time at all. The game took me 3.5 hours (remember, skip is quick and I used it a lot).