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Computer Times
Editors' Choice Game Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story Bonus Edition Review by Angie Kibiloski
Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story Bonus Edition (Retail $14.99) from Viva-Media and Alawar Entertainment is a fantastically spooky hidden object game. If the scary clown on the front cover doesn’t attest to the title’s creep factor, the eerie music and sound effects that begin as soon as you load up the game will. Enhanced with exciting plot based mini-game puzzles, and some spine tingling animation, this is not your average, bland hidden object adventure. You are a young wife whose husband has seemingly disappeared into thin air on your doorstep. You’ll explore dilapidated locations and encounter threatening spectral presences, while you uncover secrets from your husband’s past and find the key to bringing him back to you.
The game play is fairly linear as it walks you through the events of the plot, but with enough freedom to roam around so that you don’t feel like you’re being led around by the hand. The hidden object screens make up only about half of what there is to do, which eliminates the tedium often induced by titles of this genre. You’ll be required to collect and use inventory items to interact with the various environments, and utilize in the puzzles scattered around each scene. At intervals, you will discover a doll which, when placed in a special dollhouse, will reveal a piece of your husband’s childhood. Through these dolls, you’ll unravel the source of his current predicament, and be able to find him and bring him home. Along the way, you’ll be aided by a creepy, yet very helpful living rag doll, who will provide hints in the hidden object areas and clues as to what needs to be done next. Some images in this game are a little jarring, but that slightly disturbing quality is what makes this title different and entertaining.
In addition to the main game, the disk also includes 2 bonus games: Vampire Saga: Pandora’s Box, and Journey of Hope. I’m sorry to say that Journey of Hope is slow and disappointing, but Vampire Saga: Pandora’s Box is a thrilling story aboard a deserted cargo ship, which is also a hidden object game. As an old man tells his son the story of a disturbing event in his past, you find yourself in the shoes of his past self. You begin in the hold of a ship, dead in the water, faced with discovering what happened to all of the sailors, and finding a way to get the ship moving again and safely back to land. Why is there an empty coffin below deck? Why would a ship’s captain have silver bullets? Where have all the people gone? You’ll have to work through hidden object screens and a variety of puzzles in order to fix the mechanisms of the ship, discover what secrets lie amidst the cargo, and hopefully end with a better fate than that of the missing crew. You’ll also play as his son, who after hearing the story, must help to defeat the evil force that has reappeared in the old man’s life.
Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story Bonus Edition provides hours of great, hair-raising fun. The puzzles are all different and challenging in their own way, and the hidden object areas are a nice mid-range level of difficulty. The strange visuals and haunting sounds create the perfect mood to showcase the story, and as you overcome the obstacles and malevolent spirits in the game, you’ll be able to see and hear the results of your success. You don’t usually find darker hidden object titles, so the thrills and chills of this one were a delightful surprise. With the addition of Vampire Saga: Pandora’s Box, this product makes a perfect addition to the game library of anyone who has a love of not only hidden object games, but mystery, suspense, and good storytelling as well. You can also download these games individually, from Alawar Entertainment, one of the developers of the games. System Requirements:
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