by ELEPHANT GAMES; BIG FISH GAMES
FELINE XMAS FUN!
Story: The Christmas magic continues… with the next in the blockbuster series from Elephant Games! You adopt a forlorn kitten on Christmas Eve, but little did you know what that innocent cat would get you into. It seems a thief has ransacked Santa’s purrrfect little toy town, stealing the Christmas star! Why would anyone want to stop Christmas from coming? (Big Fish Sales Blurb)
This story is fun and flows well, with plenty of twists. I really liked the way it brought it showed the Russian Folk-lore that’s linked to Father Christmas.
Options: This is good and has Gamma setting.
Main Menu: Well set out, clear and usable.
Music: This is really good, enjoyable, not overpowering, though as usual I turned it down so it became background and allowed the Sound Effects to be heard.
Voice-Overs: These were really good too – suited their characters perfectly.
Extras: Concept Art; Music; Achievements; Collectibles; Screensaver; Bonus Game; Wallpapers;Secret Room.
You have to mouse-over the scene to locate them. The Secret Room has 3 Cats in it, each with 3 HOPs for you to replay. I felt ripped off – usually you get all the HOPs in their own section, plus Mini-Games and Puzzles in theirs, plus a Secret Room where you get to find something from each game scene.
Desktop: (Left) Simon {cat}, Menu, Map; (Centre) Inventory, Lists; (Right)Hint, Strategy Guide.
Tutorial: This is helpful and you can choose just to have the Special Features tutorial or all or none.
Graphics: Colourful, clear, fun, very detailed, and totally Christmassy!
Play Modes: Kitten; Santa; Puss in Boots; Custom Cat. I chose the last one which had plenty of choices for me to set.
Map: This was also colourful and Christmassy, and had a snowflake on the Hotspot sites so you could save time and jump to them.
HOPs:
There could have been more of these and less Puzzles. Lists; Story HOPs; Search; Place items from inventory;
Puzzles: Quite good overall. The Tool Search with the Lens was interesting, and there were lots of little things like that. In the Bonus Game the Cat Face Rotation Puzzle was really clever. There are a couple that required dexterity, but I managed those though they annoyed me.
Collections: Morphing Xmas Characters (12); Jigsaw Puzzle pieces (36).
Game-play: Using Cats as the Characters puts this into the Kids Game Category. However you easily shrug this off and slip into the story. There’s the expected seek and find of missing items, unlocking various equipment in order to move forward physically through the terrain. Lots of going back and forth – made easier by the interactive nature of the map. And it is a fairly long game – which is always good.
Bonus Game: This is also long, which is great – and it made up for the lack of other Game-Playing Extras in the Bonus Content. More of the same activities, with another twist to the story. And it resolved neatly, as had the Main Story.
Player Participation: Total. You don’t stop, pausing only to interact with the characters as they gave you the next Task.
Frustration Factors: This was minor, and mostly involved the occasional lack of direction – but usually a glance at the Map fixed that. There were odd things – like realising who you had to give something to when it seemed a little ‘left field’ and not quite logical.
Satisfaction Factor: Overall this game was quite satisfying. The Stories – both Main and Bonus – drove the Game-play, and were fun even though they were Cats! Luckily I love cats. It might be a bit annoying for someone who doesn’t. But their characters were cool, as were their snowy settings.
I highly recommend this game to all Christmas Story lovers.
Jud House 13/12/2017
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Jud's PC Game Reviews & Problem Solving 