Cate West 1: The Vanishing Files

Cate West: The Vanishing Files

Series threads: Cate West 1: The Vanishing Files, Cate West 2: The Velvet Keys



Available at: Big Fish

Cate West: The Vanishing Files

Police are baffled by a series of unexplained cases dubbed, The
Vanishing Files. These unsolved cases have paralyzed the city. Enter
Cate West, celebrated novelist and insightful visionary! Help Cate find
clues, compile evidence, track down the hideout, and name the culprit!
Are these mysterious crimes connected? Featuring loads of locations to
search, an engrossing storyline, and addictive gameplay, Cate West: The Vanishing Files is an original whodunit!

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Cate West: The Vanishing Files

Cate West: The Vanishing Files is a straight HOG with a lot of variety
and an interesting story. To make it even more interesting, there are
alternate endings depending on how many points you earn during the game.

For every chapter (level) you have HOG scenes, spot-the-differences
scenes, fragmented object scenes and finally, a replace-the-object kind
of spot-the-differences scene and finally, figure out the who the
criminal is.

If you can remember multiple items from the list and click on them
concurrently, you will be bonus points - ie. instead of 100 points per
object, you'll get 100 points for the first object, and 200 points for
each object you find quickly after the first.

A minor qualm is that you cannot just click-click-click the items as you
find them, you have to wait for the first item you click to register
and be removed from the list before clicking the next one. This is good
in a way, as it gives you more time to look for items and get those
bonus points!

I do NOT care for your average spot-the-difference gameplay, and this
one is no different in that respect, so I just gritted my teeth and
worked through them when they came up. What I do really like is the
replace-the-object scenes. Very fun, and a good way to rack up the bonus
points if you can place multiple items in a row.

The graphics remind me very much of Lost in the City, a game I really
enjoyed. Like Lost in the City, this is a very long game, so I generally
played one level each time I decided to play - it lasted me for a
couple of months! Levels (chapters) get longer as progress through the
game. By the time I got to the final chapter, there were six locations
to search (hidden object scenes) and four FROG scenes. The game has 15
chapters, so you can see why I was able to enjoy it for such a long
time!

The story is memorable enough that you can walk away from the game (as I
did) and come back without losing anything. I really enjoyed this game
(although the sequel is even better) and am glad I bought it