Panopticon: Path of Reflections

Panopticon: Path of Reflections
by Alawar - May, 2014

Available at:
Alawar
Big Fish
iWin
GameHouse




Enter a world in which the border between reality and illusion is paper thin and the answer to a mystery will test the limits of human understanding! Are you prepared for an adventure unlike any other?
Enter a world in which the border between reality and illusion is paper thin and the answer to a mystery will test the limits of human understanding!

Guide Senior Inspector John Perry as he sets out to find magician Andy Fox and his assistant, who vanished into thin air while using a new machine during one of Perry's performances. Explore far off locations in which the unexpected is expected, scour alternate dimensions for clues and hidden objects, and employ your skills as a virtual sleuth to solve cunning puzzles. Along the way, you'll perform magic tricks, interact with the Great Houdini, and outsmart a scheming shop keeper!

The world of Panopticon is filled with twists and turn, and will keep you guessing until the truth is revealed in the final, stunning moment of the game. Are you prepared for an adventure unlike any other?

• Cleverly hidden objects
  
• Cunningly designed puzzles
  
• Visually stunning locations
  
• Captivating storyline and a surprise ending!
  

Love that peacock in the 3rd screenshot   

Pleasant Enough, But Old Hat ***

BASED ON DEMO

IN BRIEF
This is a nice enough game to play, worth a PCC I think, but it is nothing special. It opens in widescreen but is distorted, and I found, despite the black bars, that the aspect ratio correction improved the look of very pleasant but never stunning graphics. The voiceovers are very impressive. The music is delightfully soothing, unaccompanied piano pieces.

There is nothing new in this game. The story is that of the magician and his assistant disappearing into his latest contraption, never to be seen again. The machine transports us to another world, in which we find ourselves in the middle of a carnival, with the requisite circus, gypsy story teller and dwarf. Magician’s tricks are revealed. The disappearees continue to elude us. It seems that someone involved in the case has nefarious designs on our girlfriend, the assistant. The story is a little patchy, with strange connections popping up without due process, as one (if they were me in a legal frame of mind) might say.

The gameplay is standard HOPA of the earlier style. HOPs are word lists with a small amount of limited interaction. Some are visited twice. The puzzles are nothing new. Not difficult. Skip and hint are fast on the easier of two levels of difficulties. Hint is directional, and there is no map. The journal is useful, with information you will need recorded there. The adventure action is straight forward and fairly obvious.

Nothing at all to pull you in, yet I left the demo with only 8 minutes to go, so I was being entertained enough to keep going.

In a word, pleasant. But I do so wish to see an end to carnivals, gypsies, and their dwarves!

Thanks for a wonderful review Justie