Secrets of the Dark 2: Eclipse Mountain

Secrets of the Dark: Eclipse Mountain
by Orneon - May, 2012

Series links: Secrets of the Dark 1: Temple of Night, Secrets of the Dark 2: Eclipse Mountain, Secrets of the Dark 3: Mystery of the Ancestral Estate, Secrets of The Dark 4: The Flower of Shadow

Available at:
Big Fish for PC as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
Big Fish for Mac as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition
iWin as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition



Save your friend from the Demon of Darkness in Secrets of the Dark: Eclipse Mountain! Follow clues left by stone monks in a deserted town in Thailand to uncover a thrilling mystery. Battle the dark and magical werecreatures that want to sacrifice your friend in this macabre hidden object puzzle adventure game!

The Collector’s Edition includes:

• Integrated Strategy Guide
  
• Bonus content
  
• Artful wallpapers
  

For the Standard Edition:

• StrategyGuide
  
• Blog Walkthrough (Big Fish)
  

Click images to enlarge
__

I just finished this game (CE). The graphics are beautiful, the minis are often challenging, the location is one I have not seen before, the music is also beautiful. As in the previous game, a change in lighting shows the unseen. Minis can be skipped but also, the minis can be replayed as they are included in the Extras! I liked the mini games and was happy to see the option to reply them. IMO, all CEs should include the minis in the Extras section. The extra game play was very good and not short either. I enjoyed it as much as the main game. I can find little, if anything, to complain about and everything to recommend in this interesting and beautiful game. It is worth trying the Demo to see if you would like to play. The Extras were worth the cost of the CE for me and this is one of the very few CEs that I can say that about.

Secrets of the Dark: Eclipse Mountain (IHOG)

You do NOT have to play the first game in order to understand this one.

We have standard options on this one, with separate sliders for music and sound, full-screen, widescreen, and custom cursor.  The image stretches nicely for widescreen without looking distorted, and without black bars on the sides.  We have regular, advanced, and hardcore modes to choose from, and I chose the middle of the road with advanced.  Just a note that there are NO sparkles in advanced and hardcore mode, and that includes those for HOS!  The tutorial is optional (unless you're on hardcore mode, in which case you don't even get the option   )

We've got something I've never seen as a helper for this one -- a talking lotus flower

Our journal has five pages by the time we find our first entry, giving generalities about the first game that gives us some reminders whilst simultaneously NOT giving us any spoilers!  Nicely done!  This journal has something I've never seen before, and that is the ability to replay cutscenes right there in the midst of our writings.

The hidden object scenes are different in this one.  Sometimes we have lightly interactive HOS (items in yellow need some kind of interaction,) and other times we need to return items to the scene.  If you don't know what the items are, mouse-over them, and it will tell you (ie. the strange-looking rectangle is a box of matches.)  There IS a rapid-misclick penalty.  You will revisit HOS multiple times, though on the plus side, every time you visit a scene you will be looking for items -- they don't repeat.

At one point I tried to use something that wouldn't work in the situation and got the following:  "Garden shears just won't cut it in this situation."   It's possible that the pun wasn't intentional, but it gave me a giggle, nonetheless.

HINTS refill at different rates depending on which difficulty setting you have chosen.  Using a hint during the adventure portion will simply tell you there is nothing to do in that location at the present time.  No directional arrow but at least it doesn't discharge your hint!

There is NO map.

The puzzles are doable, though I got impatient and skipped a few   All puzzles can be reset, and instruction is available if desired.  Be aware that on puzzles that require you to reassemble a picture, the solution (what the final image is supposed to look like) is clearly pictured in the instructions, so if you want to figure it out for yourself, don't look!  Some of the puzzles repeat, though they can amp up in difficulty as you go along.

For those not familiar with the series, some scenes will morph into something else when the lighting in the room changes.  It's a very cool effect, and something I really enjoyed seeing in the first game.  The overall feeling is very similar to the first game, despite having a completely different setting.  There is a lot of traveling back and forth, which is actually something I enjoy, but the fact that hidden object scenes are NOT indicated by sparkles (in advanced or hardcore mode) makes the game significantly more difficult.  With no directional hint and no map to show you where active areas are, it can quickly become frustrating.  I had to resort to the walkthrough multiple times because I kept missing the HOS!

It's a very good game, but the frustration lessened my enjoyment a bit.  As it stands, I have no interest in upgrading to the Collector's Edition, though I do not regret buying the game

Tough, Beautiful, Involving Sequel****

GAME COMPLETED SEVERAL TIMES

Everything I loved (and bemoaned) about the first Secrets Of The Dark game is here again only more so.

This adventure is once again an encounter with the Demon Of Darkness, who we thought we’d dealt with back in Mexico. Now we are in Thailand and facing the same intriguing battle of Light vs. Dark. The setting makes the visuals even more lush and gorgeous, and enables us to enjoy an oriental experience all the way.

As before, light changes the environment we’re in, so turning on a lamp or opening a curtain can totally remake the place you are in, and give you access to otherwise unreachable scenes. It is tempting to wish for a map in this game, because the doubling up of light/dark places can get confusing, but that is part of the challenge!

An addition for this game is stone monk statues magically infused with the power to remould certain artifacts into useful items.

The game is jam-packed with work to do. There are two types of HOs, interactive list and misplaced items. Scenes are reused, with both these search types. These are a cut above the average HOs in terms of difficulty. I never need hints, but I had to use them a couple of times here.

There are absolutely loads of puzzles, some also repeated, which get harder as you go along. Much harder. And few of them are easy to start with. They are for the most part interesting and tricky twists on known puzzles. I guarantee, you may have seen this puzzle type before, but rarely would the degree of difficulty be this high.

This, like its predecessor, is a professionally designed and beautifully crafted game aimed at the more adept puzzlers out there.

For amateurs like me, it’s a bit frustrating, because so many puzzles must skipped, and skip on this one is not fast at refilling.

I dream of the day I can complete all the Secrets Of The Dark games without skips!

This one is a top calibre game, just too hard for me, which is why it gets only four stars.

Once again, gamers who like a challenge – this one’s for you.
 
I recommend this game!