Obviously, it is hard to find a person unacquainted with Bram Stocker’s most famous fictional character. We are talking about an illustrious vampire, monster (or you can place here any other creepy creature) hunter – Abraham Van Hellsing. The talented 8 Floor Games team has included this character coupled with his imaginary grandchild – Vanessa within their new Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game named Portal of Evil: Stolen Runes. We offer you to join us in this thrilling quest of harnessing the escaped Evil!.. Read more
The gameplay begins with Vanessa dreaming about breaking out of the Evil. This terrifying nightmare makes her awake. She catches sight of an envelope lying on the floor in the hall. It was written by archbishop Benedict who knew her grandfather. Unfortunately, Vanessa and her grandpa – Abraham were never really close. She had no idea about Abraham’s professional occupation or his life. He never discussed it with her. It seemed that there was a reason. Anyway, Benedict asked Vanessa to come to Italy as soon as possible. “It is time to reveal some family secrets!” – with this thought Vanessa starts on her journey. But the secrets of the Hellsing family were just the beginning. The most dangerous mission is prepared for her: she must face the Evil and withdraw it back to a fitting place! The point is that evil stooges have successfully stolen an important artifacts – runes. These were carefully hidden by Abraham Van Hellsing to keep the Evil from breaking loose from a grip of the Order of Light. It turned out Vanessa’s grandfather was the member of this secret organization that controlled the supernatural activities. Abraham tried to return the runes, but failed and lost his way somewhere in the Purgatory. Now it is up to a gamer to manage with an incomplete grandpa’s mission. In order to navigate within the huge locations a map is needed. You must solve the riddle to get it. By and large, this game is focused on the Puzzles. However, none of them will bring your brains to the “boiling point”. Along with mini-games, these riddles are made for fun without being over one’s head. Like it or not, but this is exactly how the Puzzle section of Stolen Rules looks like. Hidden Object scenes are few, but interesting. They are subdivided into the interactive and replaceable scenes. The second subdivision wants you to perform a reverse action: put the objects back to the places they belong to. In other respects the gameplay of Portal of Evil is standard. We have noticed it bears similarities to the gameplay of House of 1000 Doors franchise. Is it coincidence or inspiration? It is up to you to decide.
The graphic presentation is a gorgeous indeed! No matter what you are observing – a hidden object scene or a cutscene - there is no sense to look for the flaws. There are no shortcomings! Cinematographic cutscenes show the perfect animation while scenes’ graphics are crisp and clean. On the contrary, a big disadvantage comes from the voiceovers. They are less than perfect. Unfortunately, the manner of speaking as well as the entire voice acting do not match the characters. What a pity!
In tote, Portal of Evil: Stolen Runes is a well-developed title. Undoubtedly, it can be recommended to the wide audience. Intriguing plotline, unforgettable landscapes and captivating gameplay make this game worth checking out! Pay attention to the sunset at the beginning of the game. It is just beautiful! Seems like it tells us that the sunny days are over, so, prepare for the darkness! Will you deliver the world from the Evil?
10, June 2013 DoubleGames