Posts Tagged ‘affair bureau’
Affair Bureau Detective Game Review
Now this is quite a surprising, off-the-track, intriguing new short game – Affair Bureau.
Use your Hidden Object skills to help Alex solve mysterious crimes as he begins his own Affair Bureau! After getting bored with following cheating spouses, tracking down lost jewelry, and finding stolen cars, Alex has decided to take on more serious crimes. Investigate freshly discovered crime scenes in this charming noir-like detective story. Find the clues to close the case and capture the crooks!
Story: Alex Strong is an ex-police officer, presently a private detective running his own agency, the “Affair Bureau.” Suddenly, he receives a shocking news: his life is in danger! Alex must figure out why as he runs for his life!
Look out for the characters’ past printed at the bottom of the screen before every chapter. They’ll give you a clue to solve the mystery yourself!
[Warning: Spoilers]
The plot is very small, as is the game. It banks on the good old red herring to surprise you. And it pulls it off quite successfully. Possibly, the developers were stuck without a story, then decided on a silly plot (the Affair Bureau plot would’ve been definitely silly had it been developed along the lines of detective stories); finally, they had this grand idea to add interest and innovation to the game by this story which is based purely on narration.
Nevertheless, the game abounds in small glitches. If Bill Strong vanished only a year ago, how come Alex knows so little about him? And if William Strong was, indeed so completely detached from his family, why the hell would he care to give his son such a grand birthday surprise? Again, supposing William really did love Alex, which father would risk ordering goons to strike down his son with a baseball bat?
But otherwise, the execution is just perfect! There are small hints strewn around the game – such as the easy leads supplied by Tina and Bill – but I overlooked them as imperfection in the script. In fact, the game maneuvers it so well, that no suspicion crossed my mind even when I read the mystery bomber’s To Do list!
Puzzles: For a short game, Affair Bureau is rich in good quality puzzles. The hidden objects are easy to find. The minigames are all true brain teasers and time-consuming.
Gameplay: You play as several characters: primarily as Alex, but also as Tina, Bill and Vinn. Hints are available only one at a time, but chances are, you’ll hardly ever need the hints – the objects aren’t hidden away very deceptively. Thankfully, Affair Bureau is devoid of a timer.
Ambience: As I wrote in my !!!quick review!!!, the animation is surprisingly good for a hidden objects game. The proper animations are present only at the beginning and at the end. The scenes are minutely detailed and pleasant to the eye.
But the music – oh, the music! I thank God on bended knee that it wasn’t loud. I seriously had to keep my earphones down everytime the in-game music came up. The music justifies itself only during the last cutscene, where it at least is not irritating and even fits snugly into the situation.
Bottomline: Except for maybe its tiny length, I have nothing to complain about Affair Bureau. Even the clichéd plot is marvelously implemented. Play this; it’ll be an interesting change from serious gaming. And plus, it has high replayability due to its cheerful locations.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Affair Bureau: A Quick Review
This game from Big Fish seems pretty good. Animation unexpectedly eye-catching. The only complaint is the music – got me a headache at the location of the dock. Thank God it’s not very loud. The plot isn’t very sinister. The puzzles are easy.
Verdict: I’d say Play it. The plot might just twist off into something good. At least, if nothing, the game is well above average or boring.
