Beta Thread

The snake was positively gruesome.  I think they could have made the little creepy guy ... well, creepier?  He actually made me laugh basically because he looked like a little aggravated leprechaun.   Perhaps they'll fix him up a bit.    And yes, I do enjoy these brief stints into the trials.  So ty  

Not much new here - seems like everyone is putting the finishing touches on the games we first found. But:

Coming Soon:

Tales of Terror:House on the Hill

Hidden Object Adventure

Has that nasty F2P taste in the title though.

Stranger Than Fiction (: Ghosts Of Seattle)


Release Date:  2014?
Developer: Play Favorite Games

Great Potential, But The Pet Care!****

BASED ON BETA

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Good start to this game. Exciting. Scary. Top quality production. And quickly we are caught up in the story.

SIGHTS & SOUNDS
The graphics are excellent, especially the cut-scenes, which are dramatic and volatile. The drawing of the many characters we meet is very good. The voiceovers are good, the music is a delight, it reminded me of the better lounge acts in casinos, relaxing and soothing without being zen. I did get sick of the rain, though. Of course, the game is set in Seattle, and I’m told that that’s what the weather is always like there. No wonder you can all give your total attention to game production at Big Fish, if that’s the way it is outside!

WHAT’S HAPPENING?
At first, I was terrified for the young woman attacked in the forest. Was that a Doberman leaping toward her throat?! The reality is not much comfort, but at least no one has actually been eaten – so far. The young lady has just inherited half of a very large estate, with the other half going to her sister. But not only has something awful happened to her, but her sister cannot be found either. Their aunt has called you in to find the girls and unravel the mystery of the ghost dog that has been terrorising the city. An equally intimidating humanoid ghost follows us about as well. But... something is just not what it seems here...

GAMEPLAY
This is a very busy game. There is much of all sorts of activities to do in every location. The HOPs are interactive lists, progressive silhouettes and FROGs (fragmented objects) so far. They are not repeated. The puzzles are a good mix, with some interesting new ones. Played on the easiest of 3 difficulty levels, skip is quick, and hint is almost instant. The hint outside HOP scenes offers a teleport to the next needed action. The interactive jump map keeps track of current objectives (not available actions), plus indicates completed scenes.

The journal is more of an evidence file. As well as listing objectives, certain inventory items are inserted and arranged according to the information they provide – victim, motive etc. These items when clicked will replay relevant videos.  

CUTE COMPANION GAMEPLAY
This new category of gameplay is necessary because the cute companion (yes, sorry, it really is very cute) and it activities are almost a second game running parallel to the ‘real’ game. Not only do we rescue this little fella, we name it, and then proceed to become its slave.

We have a mood indicator which kindly informs us when the little beast wants to eat, drink, play, rest or bathe. We must accumulate cash and gems to pay for all this entertainment from collecting morphing coin purses, and using this wealth to buy appropriate objects from the shop. The mood indicator will only improve as long as we manage to do this regularly.

Then, when we have a suitably happy lemur, we can train it to do tricks, to be performed in the circus. Where it earns its own money, to buy more circus equipment, props and outfits, and more essentials. Our lemur is an ambitious sort, so we are going to be supporting it on its journey to “Circus Star”!

CE BLING!
There are plenty of achievements, plus the usual gallery items, bonus chapter, SG, and those collectible morphing purses. But the reality is, the Bling! is in the Companion Game.

COMBINED IMPACT
I don’t mind cute companions, although I think we could use a break from them for a while. But this may be overkill, even for me. Unless we can treat it as a parallel game, I think it interferes far too much into the main story. This game has all the potential: good story, looks good - I love the dog!!! - sounds good, gameplay is varied and coherent. I look forward to the final product.

Try It Here!

Bridge To Another World: Burnt Dreams


Release Date: ? 2014
Developer: 4 Friends Games

Dark Fantasy – Imaginative Critter Sightings!***

BASED ON BETA

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
From the start this game pulls at the heart strings. Our adorably cute little brother is sketching fairies, when an evil mist grabs him and takes him away. The intro graphics are great, and the tension and sense of adventure is immediate. You also get a good taste, even in those few minutes, of what the game will be like. There are large dollops of both cute and creepy right from the start.

SIGHTS & SOUNDS
The graphics are excellent. Darkish, but still easily seen, nice artwork, and imaginative rendering of the many critters and creations in the world of the mist. The sounds are also good. I enjoyed the early voiceovers, but they do not extend much past the introduction. They crop up again near the end of the demo. For cinematic effect. The ambient noise is good too, although dominated by the ceaseless rain. I also liked the music.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?
It’s 20 years since Bro was dragged into the mist, and you now work on solving inexplicable phenomena, while you await your chance to enter the mist. Yes, it was long ago, but if you can just find a way in, maybe you can save him from whatever fate has kept him away for so long. The time comes, the omens and augers or whatever say that now is the time to enter the mist’s world. With the help of a fairy and a scientist, you finally get inside. There you meet many cute critters, and a lot of not-so-cute creatures. There are also 21 more critters hiding (morphing) in the mist, if you can find them.

In the mist world, ‘drawings burnt in the mist become real’. And it is for his artistic talent that your brother has been imprisoned and enslaved in this world. Obviously, you must rescue him. But how?

GAMEPLAY
There is a good mix of HOPs, puzzles and adventure gameplay. The HOPs are interactive lists, or progressive silhouettes. The puzzles are original and charming, and not really difficult. There is also a journal with objectives, notes and replayable movies with any clues on them.
I had no problems getting around and figuring out what to do next, but I did have the benefit of an interactive jump map that indicates available tasks (on lowest of 3 difficulty levels plus a custom level). The map shows 5 localities, and the demo covered only the first, which is a promising indicator of a long game – hopefully!

An added feature is a cardboard-like picture tube where rolled up pictures are carried. You find pieces of the drawings that make up the world around you, and piece them together using jigsaw-like puzzles. At which point you can burn them to replace the twisted image/creation with the original. A feature I kinda like, just for the info it provides, is a game timer. Not a timed game, you understand, just a keeping track of how long it takes to play the game.

CE BLING!
As mentioned, there are 21 morphing creatures hiding in the mist. There are also a large number of achievements, both performance and story based. The rest is unknown so far.

COMBINED IMPACT
Quite a pleasant game. Dark, combined with so much cuteness, may not appeal to everyone. And I don’t think it’s an award-winning production, but it is an enjoyable and involving game – and I love the critters!

Try It Here!

12/3

The Other Side: Tower of Souls BETA - www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/26339/the-other-side-tower-of-souls-survey/index.html

Lost Fables 2: Enchanted Books BETA - www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/26340/lost-fables-enchanted-books-survey/index.html

Phenomenon 3: Outcome BETA - www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/26341/phenomenon-outcome-survey/index.html

Secrets of the Dark 4: The Flower of Shadow BETA - www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/26344/secrets-of-the-dark-4-survey/index.html


Boy! We have some beauties there! Can't wait to see the final episode of Phenomenon! And LOVED Enchanted Paintings.

I received the beta in  my e-mail for Phenomenon.   Off to play!
 

I really like it!!   So nice to play and look forward to Another Non-Red-Eyed-Fog  game.

I also like the 2 for 1 HO scenes.

(The) Secret Order 3: Ancient Times
Collector’s Edition

Release Date: 2014
Developer: Sunward Games

All-In-One Package!*****

BASED ON BETA

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Was never much keen on the first two of this series, the graphics in particular were just not me. But this one, wow! It’s got it all – and actually makes it work! Present day sci-fi, time travel, dark and eerie, ominous atmosphere, with a cute companion and fantasy creatures. Yes, honestly, it does work! All together in an exciting adventure with challenging game play and excellent production qualities.

SIGHTS & SOUNDS
The artwork is wonderful. After the last two games, I really didn’t expect to like this at all, but from the dramatic and engaging opening scenes, I was hooked. The graphics are beautiful (close ups have delightful artistic feel reminiscent of Boom Zap), the cut-scenes awesome in their quality, the music ominous and exciting by turns, with that chanting that so creeps me out. A bit repetitious though. The voiceovers are excellent and lip synched well, or you can mute them separately. And the special effects are... special!

WHAT’S HAPPENING?
The intro makes it clear there is a dense back story behind this one, and it certainly makes it appealing to check the others out, but I don’t think it is really necessary to have played them in order to enjoy this game.

After saving the world twice in previous games, you deserve a rest. Not much chance of that though. Your Dad calls with the bad news that the ‘artifacts’ are behaving wrongly and something is definitely up, which is never good for the rest of the world. As members of The Secret Order Of Griffins, your oath to protect the powers of good demands you again travel back in time to right the past and save the present – and your trapped father along with it!

GAMEPLAY
There is a challenging range of puzzles and mini-games in this game. They are twists on known ones, with additional difficulty built in, and some ingenious new ones. The HOPs are interactive lists, with some slightly skewed ideas at times, and occasional FROGs (fragmented objects). As an alternative, you can play a harder-than-most mahjong game.

It is not always obvious what you need to be doing next, and the directional hint and interactive jump map help. The map, though, is in the journal, which I dislike intensely. It is also a bit awkward to use, as the symbols are not precisely on the location they indicate. The journal also keeps your notes and task list.

It is fun to need to find and activate the flower that is the directional hint. There is also a ‘golem heart’ to acquire, which can animate stone. And of course, where would a game be these days without a companion? In this case, we adopt a baby griffin, who doesn’t look nearly as gorgeous as I would have liked him to, but is helpful indeed.

CE BLING!
There are the usual gallery items, wallpapers, concept art, movies, music. Plus SG and bonus chapter. (I assume)

As well, there are 3 types of achievement, separately displayed. There are performance-based trophies and story-based medals.  And statues for 3 types of collectible – gold dragons (12), amethyst griffins (12), and turquoise unicorns (12). Once you see one, it seems you would naturally have seen it easily, but in fact, many are quite easy to miss.

COMBINED IMPACT
I really was taken aback by how impressed I was with this game. I will definitely be rethinking the earlier ones. Hey, maybe I’ll even be able to take advantage of the bundle sale, for the very first time!

Secrets (Of The Dark) 4: Flower Of Shadow
Collector’s Edition

Release Date: 2014
Developer: Orneon

Just Not The Same***

BASED ON BETA

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I have liked this series from the first, with its nifty idea of revealing a wholly different view of the same world when the lights go out. So I am deeply disappointed that this game doesn’t really do that. I even checked it was the same developer, I was so convinced this game did not belong. But it is the same, so I am left wondering “why?”. Why mess with a winning formula?

SIGHTS & SOUNDS
The game is a dark fantasy, and so there is a lot of dark graphics, most of which are not too difficult to see, but I think it’s on the border in some parts. In the light, real world, the colours are so bright and bold they scream at you, and I don’t like them. The quality of the art is good, again, mostly. And the cut scenes are well done.

Sounds, especially the effects, but also what passes for music, are very ominous and does take off a bit of the brashness of the colours and reinforces the story’s creepiness. The storm, as seen and heard from the living room window is excellent. Voiceovers are good, and no attempt has been made to lip synch, the faces are still.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?
As with each of the games in this series, we discover a world that exists only in the dark. We are investigating the disappearance of a young girl, who was given an unusual lamp for her birthday. When she switched it on, a beast of darkness grabbed her and blocked the door with a magical seal.

You are the right person for the job, because you have a gizmo that can remove such evil magic, and so you are soon able to follow Maria into the ‘dark world’ inside her bedroom. It is a fantastical place with much scary-looking weirdness, and the creature who stole Maria is clearly determined to stop you, and doesn’t much care how. You gain all the information you can here and are ready to move on when the demo ends.

GAMEPLAY
The HOPs in this game are exciting because none of them are standard lists. The two in the demo are, first, pictures of misplaced items displayed, that must be found in the scene and then used correctly. And the second is a bunch of photo pieces that have been cut out of the ones you have. Both types require a bit of thinking, as well as searching, and are logical enough for you to deduce the correct moves.

Many of the puzzles are hard, even this early in the game. They are mainly familiar, but with one more degree of difficulty than usual. Some I hated. For example, there is one where you must ‘herd’ fireflies into a jar. This sort of manual dexterity is totally beyond me, and the skip function is slow to fill, even on the lowest of the 3 plus custom difficulty levels. When I play the game again, I hope I remember to reduce the skip time!

The gadget that removes magic comes with its own mini-game, which after using it three times, I am already loathing. It is an adaptation of aligning the reflections, and by the second one, I was out of my depth. There is also a pet (not ours, but) which useful skills, although not the usual. Other features include a hint which teleports you to the place you need to be, and the journal which includes goals as well as story. The interactive jump map gives you current objectives rather than available tasks, and I find it a bit confusing to read, in any case. I prefer the hint.

CE BLING!
There will be the usual of course. Plus, there are 30 flowers (they look like creepy lilies to me) and 15 morphing objects to collect. The morphing object are actually the left over ejecta of cataclysmic transformations that you will be unable to miss. Still, it is a different and interesting use of them.

COMBINED IMPACT
I am disappointed with this game, but I confess it is quite good, with some interesting features. I might just be me who will find it hard to appreciate this game. Still, I don’t think it’s on a par with either its predecessors or some of the games we have had released lately.

I Dunno If I Recommend This Game!   

15/3

Mayan Prophecies 3: Blood Moon BETA
www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/26357/mayan-prophecies-blood-moon-survey/index.html

BFG Version of Royal Envoy 3

Royal Envoy 3 BETA
www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/26381/royal-envoy-3-survey/index.html

2nd BETA release for:

Final Cut 3: Homage CE BETA #2
www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/26378/final-cut-homage-survey/index.html

Runaway Express Mystery BETA
www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/26382/runaway-express-mystery-survey/index.html

Fright

Release Date: 2014
Developer: Lesta Games

Very “Children Of The Corn”*****

BASED ON BETA

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
This one is good, it is different and it is scary. Not in the flash ways some games are, but in a down to earth, dead in the dust kind of way. Work still needs doing on the introductory cut scenes, which are a bit rough, but the game has a style all its own. Well, among games. There is at least one movie like it. ;)

SIGHTS & SOUNDS
The opening scenes are indeed very reminiscent of “Children Of The Corn”, an intense horror/thriller, that forever transformed innocent corn fields into places of ritual terror. This game could be located in the same town! It is so eerie, broad daylight, with the sun baking down on the fields, yet it feels so lonely and dangerous. The graphics are brutally accurate, but with style, and I even find myself admiring the rust.

The actors are well integrated into scenes, and all speak well, but the lip sync is much better for some than others. The old lady was particularly difficult to watch. Eerie sounds compound the general tension and anxious anticipation. It seems, in every minute, that something bad is coming. The music is a little too repetitive, but fits the mood perfectly. Special effects add shock value.

Though I enjoyed them, the many cut scenes cannot be entirely skipped, which I know will bother some people.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?
We open with a view of being trapped in a corn field, desperately trying to escape, and finding new horrors at every turn. Then we are startled awake to find ourselves on a bus which is in fact passing through corn fields. Which start showing eerie déjà vu images of your nightmare. Then, oh no! The bus driver loses control, and we crash, finding ourselves stranded, and the bus driver badly injured, in a ditch, a couple of miles from a motel.

We traipse off to find help for the bus driver, and see another vehicle driven off the road. We rescue the passengers, and there’s another car whose driver needs help! This deserted town and its motel are in for a drastic increase in the population! But what are we all doing here?

GAMEPLAY
I like the quirky gameplay. The HOPs are progressive word lists, where you are given several actions to complete as well as items to find. It is a ‘find and use’ system. There are 2 HOPs in the demo, and entry into them is very different from the norm. In the first, an photograph draws us into the scene it depicts, and in the second, we are drawn into a ghostly TV. I like that these HOPs are also telling us the back story, giving them a relevance to even those who prefer the puzzles.

We collect photo shots of these scenes as part of our album, and I suspect that at some point they may become replayable HOPs. The photo album, records the story just like a journal, though it does so with snapshots and photos of the HOPs which act as visual reminders of the story as it progresses. Even the interactive jump map has a pile of photos that are shuffled through to the relevant one for teleporting.

There are not a lot of puzzles, and I must admit I skipped some of those, but they weren’t excessively hard, just a bit tougher than my patience allowed today. A lot of the game is pursuing single goals with dedication, like getting help for the bus driver, and making up a healing potion. There are 3 levels of difficulty, plus a custom mode. Hint is directional.

CE BLING!
The only sign of CE extras in this game so far are 32 collectible $1 bills, which can be spent in the Hotel Souvenir Shop, unfortunately closed for this demonstration.

COMBINED IMPACT
This game, for me, is easily as creepy as True Fear or Shiver 4, perhaps only because it reminds me of one of the few movies ever to totally freak me out. Perhaps the production values are not quite of the same calibre as these other excellent games, but then, if it is released as an SE, and it might be, it would be far and away above the requirements for a standalone SE.

I recommend this game!

Try It Here!

Holy Cow.  Fright is pretty scary.  My telephone rang IRL exactly when the phone rang in the demo and I jumped out of my skin.  Maybe I screamed a little, but I'm not telling.  CotC movie scared me too, and I'm a weenie, so I wasn't sure about this game.  But I DL'd it on your recommendation, JustTheFacts, and Wow.  It's pretty good. Hard enough on the Hard level that I don't feel hand-held, but not so hard I'm stuck being scared and can't move.  Thanks.

I didn't skip any puzzles.  Most are intuitive as to HOW to do them, a couple were tricky to get done right.  The lip-syncing is gawd-awful, but the live acting is appropriately integrated into the game, IMO.

Um, have nothing to add to JTF's review other than I also recommend trying the beta.

(Am I allowed to post stuff here?)

Yup, you're supposed to post stuff everywhere, so we can all bump into you and say g'day!   

Really glad to see you liked the game too. I was so impressed with the scariness of True Fear, I thought, maybe I'm imagining the level of creep in Fright.

Fright sounds right up my street.  Must try it.   

Thanks for that Beta JTF !!!!!  Fright looks awesome.  It's actually kind of very scary because it looks like the town where I live with all those fields of corn  

Cadenza(: Music, Betrayal & Death)
Collector’s Edition

Release Date: 2014
Developer: Mad Head Games

Outstanding! Original! Outta Sight!*****

BASED ON BETA

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Even if you don’t like jazz, you’ll love it here. This game brings the entire world of jazz to life. An exciting, tight and self-explanatory intro sets the scene, and then here we are, a jazz club in New Orleans at Mardi Gras time. And before we even get out of the cab, the first of many innovations becomes apparent. Can you spot the difference?

SIGHTS & SOUNDS
The graphics are beautifully done, crisp and colourful, and drawn with real talent. There is plenty here to just look at. Maybe a little Picasso? The cut scenes are exceptional, with remarkably good facial movements of the characters, who are lip synced perfectly. The voices also sound authentic. The accents are just right. The music and singing fit the era. There are the sounds of preparations for the carnival in the background – great stuff like that. I think it is just marvellous.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?
We are heading home to visit our Dad at his jazz club in New Orleans, just in time for Mari Gras, 1941. But when we finally gain entry to the club, everyone in it is in some kind of trance, including our father! Did the guy who bumped into us in the hall have something to do with... whatever this is? We will need to find out a lot we never knew about our father to get to the bottom of this mystery.

GAMEPLAY
There is the expected mix of HOPs, puzzles and adventure in this game, although movement inside the game world is a little restricted at first. The puzzles tend towards visual ones, a misplaced objects diorama for instance, and various jigsaw-styled ones with new twists. There are the usual inclusions: a notebook for notes, objectives and achievements. A game timer. The hint is directional and the map is an interactive jump map, but so far, there's not much travel involved. Extra actions or combinations are sometimes needed within the inventory. There are four levels of difficulty, with the option to customize all the settings.

The really big departure from the norm, though, are the HOPs. There is one standard word list, but the scene is that Picasso I mentioned, which certainly makes it "artistic". *grin* Another is a matching pairs game that is totally unlike any other. And then there’s this game's new, totally original, HOP style. I won’t say much, or I’ll spoil the thrill of discovery, but it involves words, pix, and even a morphing object, all of which merely hide the true objects of your search.

CE BLING!
As I’ve implied, there are both collectibles and achievements in this game. The collectibles in the game locations are music notes, and an indicator tells you whether you have already found it in a location, or not. Likewise, the morphing object in the HOPs has an indicator that changes when it is found - and they're hard to find. These indicators cannot be switched off, as far as I could find. There are about a dozen achievements, represented by postage stamps in the notebook.

As for the rest, we’ll need the final demo version.

COMBINED IMPACT
This game is outstanding. Original, involving and with top flight production values. I can’t wait to play the full game.

I recommend this game!

You live in the corn town, tesamoine? (I mean one like that) That would be creepsville for me! I need lots of green or I get freaky (bit of a problem seeing the vast majority of Aus is red dust lol)

It's really odd where I live.  I live ocean front on the one side.  But travel a mile in and it's all corn, sheep farms, horse and cow farms.  It's green, except for the corn.  I try to stay out of the corn.  It's always creeped me out over that way.     The people there are a little odd too  

Actually, Western Australia is a lot like that.

In the capital city, Perth, you have some of the best beaches in the world, but go inland just a couple of miles and you have pure desert (Australian style, which means red dust and scrubby bushes that get to maybe 5ft if it's a rainy year). Sand dunes meet desert. Hated it there, could not wait to get down south where the air has some actual moisture in it, and the bush has at least an occasional tree! lol.

Down here, we have sheep mostly, plus timber. And a major ocean going port in the local city - 50 miles from where I live.

I have never visited Australia but have wanted to.  Seems soooo far away.  I'm not sure how long I could put up with the desert.  Some find beauty in the desert.  Which is just fine.  I'm like you though, I need to see green and life.  And water.  The cornfields though, they can keep  

I just did the beta for Fright.     It certainly got my attention and I will be keeping an eye out for it when it comes out. 

Around here come Halloween we have all sorts of places that do cornmazes.  Some of them are even haunted where  people get dressed up in costumes and go around the cornmaze at night scaring the people going through it.

Bad me! Forgot to at least get the links here for you! Here's the latest.

Sea Of Lies 2: Nemesis

Rite Of Passage 3: Hide & Seek

Worlds Apart: The Descent

Grim Legends 2: Song of the Dark Swan BETA #2

Manor Memoirs 2 (Playrix)

Wow, looks like some awesome games coming soon!

IIRC, I also beta'd The Secret Order 3 & liked it very much.

Secret of the Dark 4...I really liked the first & second one, not crazy about the third.

Fright...I'm looking forward to the release. Cornfields scare me ever since watching "Children of the Corn" numerous times.

Cadenza...love this developer, so I know I'll love this game!!

OMG! A new Nevertales!

Nevertales 2: Shattered Image

Oh my gosh, a new Nevertales???

I picked a bad time to start my game diet because I want all of them.  

I can relate! My game diet was supposed to start this month too - but how can I? It's just not fair! I'm joining your tantrum djrum!