I’ve been addicted to hidden object adventure games ever since I first played one, but in the mobile world I’ve focused primarily on the offerings from G5 Entertainment and Big Fish Games. It’s not that other developers or publishers don’t release such games, but typically they don’t have nearly the production values from the “big two” of hidden object games, and quite frankly are often not all that fun. There are exceptions, however, and as you’ve probably guessed Frankenstein: Master Of Death is such an exception. This retelling of one of the most classic monster stories hooks you from the very beginning and doesn’t let go until the final confrontation – and while you know before the end what you’re dealing with you’ll be surprised when the reveal is first made. If you’re looking for an independently published hidden object game worthy of appearing in the catalog of one of the major players, this is just such a game.
In this telling of the seminal story of man versus his own creation you play a friend of Viktor Frankenstein’s who has been called to his estate to help him and his wife deal with an undead problem. Once you get there the story unfolds via dialog with other characters and recordings you find while you traverse three different areas comprised of several locations each. While the basic elements of the Frankenstein lore are certainly present, it has a nice little twist that sets it apart from any interpretation I’ve seen before. It’s not an incredibly deep story, but it was certainly enough to keep me intrigued until the very end.
Game play is comprised of the standard trifecta for this style of game: object based puzzles, mini-games and hidden object screens. Traipsing between rooms is cut down immensely thanks to an interactive map, and if you play on the easy mode the rooms are even marked if there is still something to do in them or if they have been completed. However, you can still navigate the old fashioned way by tapping doorways to move to alternate locations. At least there is a nice back button when there’s no obvious path leading to the room you just came from.
There’s a nice balance between the three different types of game play. You can toggle between basic and advanced mode at any time during play, which I did quite a bit mostly for the sake of having the markings on the map. I didn’t really notice any difference in the difficulty level of the various mini-games between the two different modes – for the most part they were pretty easy, and I never felt like I had to skip any of them. There were a couple of times where it was actually a bit difficult to manipulate the objects in a mini-game, however. I had the same issue with the hidden object screens as well. Every one of the hidden object screens had at least one or two items that needed to be dragged around, and it was often hard to get a hold of them. What I did like about the hidden object screens, on the other hand, was that almost all of them had a little mini-game in order to reveal one of the objects you needed to find.
Being an adventure game, the primary objective is to complete the story for what hopefully ends up being a satisfactory finale. There are no extras here like a bonus chapter or extra artwork or anything like that, but for me the main adventure was enjoyable enough that I didn’t need any of the extra fluff. While the game does offer to difficulty settings, I’m not sure there’s enough difference between them to warrant playing through the game twice. The game does offer 20 achievements that you can earn, but as with any other adventure game that offers this feature I question the need for such a thing. The game also allows for multiple profiles, so folks that share an iDevice can all enjoy the adventure at the same time.
Master of Death has some of the best graphics I’ve seen in a hidden object game outside of those offered by the big players. Everything is incredibly well drawn, the hidden object scenes are visually challenging but not inordinately cluttered, and the few characters that you run into are nicely designed and well animated, which tends not to happen a lot in this style of adventure game. The sound effects really help bring the game to life, and the voiceovers were well done. The music suits the atmosphere of the game and is enjoyable to listen to.
Frankenstein: Master of Death is a great example of what a well rounded hidden object game should look like. An interesting story, well balanced game play and wonderful aesthetics make this quite the appealing package. Sure, those of you that need that “little bit extra” from Collector’s Editions might feel a bit cheated. And it does get frustrating sometimes when the objects don’t respond to your touch quite as well as you’d like. But for the most part Master of Death is everything you’d want from a mobile hidden object adventure.
| App Summary | |||
| Title: | Frankenstein: Master of Death | Developer: | JetDogs |
| Reviewed Ver: | 1.0.2 | Min OS Req: | iOS 6.0 |
| Price: | $1.99 | App Size: | 911.98MB |
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Frankenstein: Master Of Death in Review – New Twist On An Old Tale
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