Reviews
Every now and then the Xbox live arcade is presented with a new game that is something unique and interesting, filling a void left empty by other titles. Whilst there is no shortage of puzzle games on the Xbox Live arcade we have not yet seen a title featuring the often popular ‘find the hidden objects’ gameplay style. Game Developer, TikGames is on a mission to change this by bringing Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos to the Xbox Live Arcade.
TikGames has presented Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos, as a criminal hunt where you are the spy trying to track down the evil Dr. Chaos, who along with his underlings has been causing trouble across the world. To complete your mission you will need to find clues which are found by completing object hunts in various scenes from locations around the world. Once you read the introduction text you have the option of selection one of the cities on screen to begin your search (It doesn’t matter what order you do these in as you will complete them all)
Once presented with an image, you have a set time limit to find a given list of items (e.g toothbrush, map, torch, butterfly) The images themselves, whilst having depth are not of the highest resolution and can seem quite blocky on larger screens. When you spot an object in the image, selecting it is as simply as driving the cursor onto the object with the left thumbstick then pressing the A button to select it. Should you be having issues finding objects the game does offer use of a magnifying glass but it is not overly useful, marly providing a slightly larger, albeit pixelated image due to the games not so high resolution. If the magnifying glass does not assist you do have the option to use a hint which penalizes your score, but shows you where the object is by making it sparkle.
Speaking of score if you press the A button too many times on non required objects your score will be penalized, which in most cases is fair. However Interpol has a tendency to present multiple objects with the same name on the screen. In one situation I had to find a torch. There were 3 battery operated torches on the screen, all of which could not and would not be selected resulting in loss of points. In the end a hint was used and the torch turned out to be one akin to the torch held by the Statue of Liberty. Whilst this is a minor annoyance it does not break the game, but it doesn’t help the experience.
Overall Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos, is an acceptable game that will give you some enjoyment in small doses which ultimately is what XBLA games are meant for but they can be so much more (as evident with many other releases) The addition of online and offline multiplayer does extend the lifer of the game providing you have someone to play with. If object hunting sounds like your kind of thing and you are willing to overlook a confusing plot and a few irritable bugs then I suggest buying Interpol or at least downloading the demo as it will provide enjoyment, otherwise stay away
XboxZone Score 4/10
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