You're such a nice person. Always helping people not get murdered... Always helping put spirits to rest... Always putting stained glass windows back together, because, darn it, there's something to be said for keeping things neat. You get to prove your selfless generosity once again in Nightfall Mysteries: Black Heart. And this one's a good one: you probably won't mind lending a hand.
Black Heart is the third in a series of hidden object puzzlers under the "Nightfall Mysteries" banner produced by Vast Studios. In Curse of the Opera, you helped Christine escape the evil Count Vladd. And in Asylum Conspiracy, you rescued Christine's grandfather from a creepy mental institution. What are you doing all this for?! Are you hoping Christine gives you some of that hot turn-of-the-century loving at the end of this? Not happening; she's in love with some dude, and in Black Heart, this lover-boy happens to have been kidnapped and taken into dreaded Blackhill Manor. You're being used, you know that? USED. But it's a fun journey, and you get to wreck a mansion, so what the heck.
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It's been interesting to see the evolution of the three games. Each one is a little more graphically polished, the interface is a little smoother, and the story is a little more involved and more satisfying. So fans of this series should feel every confidence in picking up this third installment. Black Heart is more adventure-oriented than most — it's less about solving puzzles and hidden object maps, and more about simply jabbing at stuff, picking up stuff, and using stuff on other stuff. That said, the puzzles are on par with other top titles, and the hidden object maps are actually pretty tough.
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Customizable options are very basic, but one thing to note is that the game has an "Extreme" difficulty mode. You get no help and no hints. I love it. On every hidden object game I play, I always want to "man up" and play without ever getting a hint, but, eventually, I go crazy looking for a butterfly and I wuss out and get the hint. So, Extreme difficulty mode is made for me. Insane level of frustration, here I come!
It may not reinvent the genre, or even reinvent the franchise, but Nightfall Mysteries: Black Heart serves up quality puzzles and adventure that will satisfy fans as well as those totally unfamiliar with the series. And, if it ain't broke, why fix it?
