Final Cut: Death on the Silver Screen boasts a chilling and extremely unique storyline that's sure to fascinate hidden object adventure lovers. The gorgeous graphics, rich detail, and challenging puzzles and HOG scenes more than make up for the few technical blunders that marred this otherwise scintillating game.
Final Cut: Death on the Silver Screen boasts a chilling and extremely unique storyline that's sure to fascinate hidden object adventure lovers. The gorgeous graphics, rich detail, and challenging puzzles and HOG scenes more than make up for the few technical blunders that marred this otherwise scintillating game.
If there’s one thing I love, it’s a good story. One that’s not hackneyed and overdone. So, it was with some trepidation that I started playing Final Cut: Death on the Silver Screen. The games that focus on the old silver screen age have been done and done again. But, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this game went down an entirely different and unexpected path when it came to plot, and it captured my imagination immediately.
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The action begins sometime in the past where we are the sole witnesses to a woman being murdered seemingly by the images she sees on the projected screen in front of her. We then see a man taking the projector apart and hiding each and every piece of it inside his mansion. Later, we discover that man we watched coldly murder his assistant is a famous movie director and inventor who was secretly working with the military, and coincidentally, the father of our heroine.
We arrive in the present, circa 1945 or so on the day of his death, as we watch our character travel to the home of her late father’s. We also learn that her brother has gone mysteriously missing. Things unravel rather quickly as it appears mischief is afoot. Her father has been murdered, her brother kidnapped, and the ransom is one murderous projector that we need to find hidden in the bowels of the mansion. Cue dramatic music please.
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Now that you know the storyline, let’s talk about the graphics. They were gorgeous. Crisp and richly detailed, I saw the game come to life before me as I traveled through the many rooms of this intriguing home. However, and here’s my nitpicking coming out… the animations of the people were… how should I put this… slightly annoying.
The maid appeared before me. She was a real person at first, which was very impressive, and then when she began to talk to me, she turned into a drawing. And the artwork was OK… but, her mouth moved in time to her talking, and she looked like a fish gasping for air, floundering on the deck of a fishing vessel. There I said it. Is this a deal breaker? No. I just wish they would have skipped the animated mouth. It was disconcerting to say the least.
And, while we’re on the topic of the talking maid… I could have done without her voice as well. It was very mechanized, stiff, and lacked even the tiniest amount of emotion. She at one point was afraid for her life after being knocked unconscious, and she spoke to me as if she was contemplating watching grass grow. Now, it’s nice to have voiceovers in a game, but if you can’t do it right, then please don’t inflict our ears with monotonous drudgery. The game would be just fine without it.
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Anyhow, that’s enough of that. Let’s talk about gameplay. It was pretty standard for a hidden object game. Sparkles indicate a hidden object scene, magnifying glass will let you zoom in, and the hand lets you pick up items. If you’ve played hidden object games before, you won’t really need to use the tutorial in the beginning.
There are two modes of play, regular and expert. Regular mode will show you sparkling glints in areas of interest, the hint and skip buttons charge quickly, and your map will indicate areas with objectives. Expert mode will get you no glints, slower recharges, and no active areas on your map.
The hidden object scenes were rewardingly challenging. Not impossible, but not stupidly simply either. Each scene took time to find each object on the list, but with careful scrutiny, I found most of the objects without having to rely on the hint button. The puzzles were equally challenging, but didn’t require rocket science ingenuity either, and the instructions for each puzzle were helpful and clear.
The only other thing worth mentioning about gameplay was the inventory bar. It was standardly placed at the bottom of the screen and when you moused over it, it would pop up, but it was a little clunky and scored some points on my aggravation levels. I had trouble keeping it open and sometimes it would just open when I didn’t want it to.
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The soundtrack, aside from the voices, was nice. Properly creepy and entrancing. Nothing intrusive or out of place to jar you out of the story. The creaking doors and soft but dark piano playing helped paint a better picture of the plot and immersed you deeper into the game.
Overall, while I may have been a bit picky about a few details here and there, Final Cut: Death on the Silver Screen was, excuse the pun, a cut above the rest when it comes to hidden object games.
