by genkicoll Sun Jan 08, 2012 4:58 pm
The Revenge (IHOG)
Options include slide-bar for music and buttons for Mute, Full-screen and Custom Cursor.
Clicking on the Guide button on the main screen will show you the basics of game play (it is not a strategy guide).
The intro scene is long, and the written script contains many flaws, but the speaking voice has a nice cadence to it, and does not reflect the poorly-written words. The introduction is SKIPPABLE.
There is no misclick penalty if you are on an adventure-esque scene, but you will get a "broken" cursor if you click too often during the zoom-in hidden object scenes.
HINTS are refillable. Using a HINT produces a jarring gong sound, and finding an important item makes another equally-jolting sound. Very at-odds with the smooth background music.
You start with picture-lists of ingredients (for instance) that need to be found across multiple screens. There are some morphing items, and you have to wait for the right item to appear in order to select it. There are also the more-typical HOG scenes, where you zoom in on an area and are given a word-list of items to find. In general, most items are nicely-hidden, with little jarringly out-of-place, but many are too well-hidden.
The language is not perfect, as mentioned, and you'll have to learn some new words to progress through the game, as well. What is a chepall? What's a goutstool? I've seen them and still don't know what they are! lol
You will occasionally get sparkles for areas you can move to, but they are helpful, as movement between scenes is cumbersome, having to place the mouse in exactly the right place to see that you can move on.
Like any adventure game, you will have to make certain "triggers" in order to move on in the game. For instance, you won't get a HOG list until you do X, or you won't be able to move to a new area until you do Y. Revisit areas and click on anything that looks interesting.
Overall, I'd say this is a nice game. So-so HOG scenes, poor English, lovely adventure-portion artwork, so-so story and lovely music. I'd say that this is definitely a game to try before buying.
