Find Mac hidden object games at Game Socks' Mac hidden object games page
6.3 sorta fun
On a Saturday night there's nothing more fun than curling up with that special someone and watching a ridiculous B movie. One that tries really hard but just can't get it all together, however is nonetheless entertaining for the attempt. One of my personal favorites is The Devil's Nightmare, about some tourists who mistakenly spend the night at a castle haunted by a succubus. Many of Roger Corman's films fall into the B category. If you don't love horror films, I recommend juvie trash like High School Hellcats or hot rod flicks like Hot Rod Rumble.
I gave the original Hide & Secret a very low score when I reviewed it years ago, and deservedly so. But oddly enough this derisory third outing from Anarchy Enterprises punched my B movie buttons so hard that I almost have to give the game some respect. Comparatively, I should emphasize. I don't know what kind of pancakes are called breakfast by a development team who can throw together a game like this, but there's some kind of weird art in releasing a game this interestingly preposterous.
You can't succeed at making a game this silly unless you fail at making something more grandiose.
Poser couple Anna Lyze and Will Scout are back in Hide & Secret 3: The Pharaoh's Quest. Our intrepid adventurers find themselves on the shore of the Nile with nothing but a collection of hidden objects, a single engine plane without a propellor, and a papyrus reed boat. Luckily some scrolling text reveals that the Pharaoh and his Queen have had their afterlife disturbed by grave robbers. The theft of stolen artifacts and amulets from the Pharaoh's tomb has further endangered the couple's love connection, and it's up to Anna and Will to find these lost artifacts and reunite the lovers' spirits.
Hide & Secret 3 is a hidden object adventure game, which means that not only are you asked to find hidden objects in various scenes, but you have an inventory of useful items with which to solve various puzzles. The game world allows you to navigate from location to location by mouse; positioning the mouse pointer near an exit changes the pointer into an arrow. Thus you may click to move from place to place. Some locations have hidden objects and some have image recreation minigames (jigsaw puzzles, swap the image segment puzzles, and drag the rows/columns puzzles). Minigames are skippable, though you must wait for about a minute before the game allows you to click the skip button. At the completion of either hidden object game or minigame you're liable to find an item which goes straight into your inventory.
Sparkles indicate bits of scenery you may interact with. The mouse pointer becomes a magnifying glass if something can be examined or manipulated. It becomes a word balloon if you may speak to another character. Often it confusingly becomes both in the same location, though clicking while in either state derives the same result.
As in the previous games, the hidden object scenes are not in the slightest bit realistic. Objects are faded, tinted, upside down, off perspective, floating in the sky, etc. Only a few are made to actually appear within the scene upon which they are stamped. Objects are repeated often, so you'll see the same firetruck, etc. in quite a few locations.
Luckily, hints are generous and there are no penalties for random clicking. Well done on that count, at least, Anarchy Enterprises! Hints take the form of "pyramid amulets" and can be found in any non-hidden-object scene. Just click on most pyramid-shaped objects and your hint tally will increase. During the hidden object game scenes, using a hint will show you the location of one of the objects on your list. They are, unfortunately, useless in solving the item manipulation inventory puzzles.
These puzzles are almost without exception "bring me the widget key of doo-dah and I shall reward you!" style puzzles. To use an item, you drag it from your inventory onto the scene. For example, using a pair of pliers to remove a thorn from a camel's hoof. If you choose the wrong inventory item, you don't get any sort of "hmmm, this doesn't seem to work" message. Instead you're treated to a repeat of the voiceover attached to the puzzle. Get ready to be annoyed! A big problem is that the game throws a ton of inventory objects at you right away, and then gives you a ton of locations to explore... including a ton of characters promising you a reward for some item or other. The combinations are many and frustrating.
I found myself wishing for a walkthrough or something to pinpoint a track I should follow to tell me where to go next in Hide & Secret 3. If you've just started and are stuck, remember that many locations (especially along the Nile) have four exits. Put the propellor on the plane and travel to China and Italy. Use the pliers to pull the thorn from the camel's foot. Put the bridle and saddle on the camel.
When it comes to graphics, many of the static scenes aren't too bad. It's the hidden object scenes that are disappointing. Yet the music is excellent, and the voiceovers aren't bad. (I believe the same voice actors have returned to voice Anna and Will.) The jerky story and hokey puzzles are so odd that they would be contemptible if they weren't amusing. Misspellings. Little glitches in the minigames. It all comes together like some sort of genre movie.
I call them like I see them, and I call this one entertainingly bad.
Download Hide & Secret 3: The Pharaoh’s Quest