Adventure Chronicles: The Search For Lost Treasure
Year Published: 2008
Publisher: Strategy First
Developer: Gogii Games
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Adventure Chronicles: The Search For Lost Treasure is one of those hidden object games I almost hate to review because it's not a bad way to pass some time if you're a fan of this genre, but it's very dated and that prevents me from giving it a strong recommendation. One probably only needs to look at the release year (2008) to know what to expect - pre-rendered backgrounds, random clipart strewn everywhere, and low resolution that makes finding some objects a matter of clicking everywhere in hopes your mouse pointer finds what your eyes can't see.
Susan's Museum of Looted Arifacts.
The player takes the role of Susan Anderson, who appears to be the director of a fictitious history museum. For some reason she is claiming to be done with adventuring, but then receives a mysterious journal and letter from an unknown benefactor. The letter claims the journal can lead her to a lost Civil War-era treasure and she'll be fully-funded if she accepts the task of finding it. With some reservations, Susan takes up the challenge and we begin our journey of solving riddles by finding objects scattered about various locations.
I was confused by the story's intro because it seems to begin where another one left off, implying it's a sequel, yet I couldn't find another "Adventure Chronicles" related to this game. After a little digging I learned that it is, in fact, a sequel to Escape the Museum, a game I haven't yet played, but I don't think it's necessary to understand anything here. I just get annoyed when games in a series change titles, and this isn't even the only example in the world of HOGs.
I'm sure the Empire State Building won't miss those items Susan "borrowed".
Adventure Chronicles definitely looks and feels like a HOG from 2008. The main difficulty is going to come from objects too small, dark, and/or colored like the background to find with normal human eyesight. Once completing an area, you can revisit it to find more objects for a 100% score. Every screen also contains an optional "Geocache" item that isn't on the list, but has a riddle that hints at what it is. So, the developers did provide plenty to do outside the main storyline, which is good because the game is quite short. Some objects become usable tools to find others, and there are a few puzzles to solve, but the vast majority of the game is just finding things.
The story is pretty silly, but they at least gave it some effort. It's told in comic book-inspired scenes and has full voice acting. Susan's wanton approach to the field of archaeology reminded me of the Samantha Swift series of hidden object games. Her methods include collecting things from other people's museums and taking a hammer to ancient pottery to see what's inside. Her benefactor has a criminal background, but quite frankly, Susan is just doing all his dirty work.
The journal having clues to a hidden Civil War treasure was plausible, but when it also leads Susan to other ancient worldly treasures, such as from Egypt, the Mayans, and even Blackbeard the Pirate, it becomes far less believable. But I suppose it's nice to have more places to explore once the first chapter is over, even if how we get there doesn't make much sense.
The Sphinx won't miss those items, either, I suppose.
That about does it for Adventure Chronicles, a game I finished twice and don't regret playing, but will likely never play again. When I look at other HOGs from the same year that I've reviewed, we have Hidden Mysteries: Civil War (definitely better than that one) and the first Samantha Swift, which it feels very similar to in many ways, but isn't as good (and let's face it, that game was rough around the edges, too). There's not much else to say, and if you still want to play it, at least you'll know what to expect.
SCORE: 2.5/5
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