PC Game Review: Hidden Expedition: Amazon

The third HiddenExpedition game of the hidden object game series takes on many new features to take the series to new heights. Hidden Expedition: Amazon promises fans a bigger adventure with more to do and it delivers.

In the latest expedition, the only thing you receive is an old beat up map with a reference to the legendary Beetle Temple to aid your search to find a missing professor. As you delve deep into the Amazonian jungles, you discover pieces of the professor’s journal to learn more.

The heart of the game comes in finding many hidden objects and crossing them off your list. Of course, these Amazon-themed scenes surround the hidden objects in hopes to make them harder to find while staying true to the theme.

Two new twists join this edition while you hunt for objects — some move into your inventory for later use. You also can click any item on your list of hidden objects to see a silhouette of the item. Does this make the game too easy? Or does it help a lot considering some objects blend in too well with the scene? Hints are still available where a circle appears around the object’s location. Seeing silhouettes doesn’t count as a hint.

But I say the game is what we make of it. If you want it to be hard, don’t look at the silhouettes period. Who says you have to use hints? We can control how easy or hard we make a game.

Seek out five beetles per scene to receive one shiny new hint added to your hint pack. If you find only four beetles when you finish the scene, no hint for you even if you find one in the next scene. The beetle count starts over with each new scene.

Puzzles. That’s the best new feature in Hidden Expedition: Amazon. Who cares if Mystery Case Files uses this? I love these puzzles and take ‘em where I can get ‘em. No, no… these aren’t jigsaw puzzles, but bona fide brain puzzles where you must figure out what to do. I figure out most of them and accidentally passed on one of them not realizing I clicked “Solve” when I thought it was “Hint.” So if you get stuck, you can kind of skip it.

You also hit “find 20 of something” scenes. Another copy from Mystery Case Files. While some elements look familiar, Hidden Expedition: Amazon offers original puzzles plus one extraordinary feature: a symphony. According to the game’s press release, this game contains the first ever, live orchestra music score for a downloadable casual game. The music rings from the Berlin Film Orchestra instruments.

The game’s press releases heavily promoted this feature. Well, beware some of us are not easily impressed with such audio. The music sounds lovely, but I couldn’t tell you that it exceeds some other casual game’s high quality audio as they won’t sound sharper or better to me. To me, I look for the rhythm and tone — whether they annoy or complement the game play. Here, the audio lovingly pairs up with the game and its top notch scenes.

Hidden Expedition: Amazon deserves a spot on your computer even if you play a select few hidden object games.