by Aniruddha

Created on: December 19, 2009

The count of Monte Cristo, Edmund Dante is back.  He has returned to investigate the murder of his beloved, Mercedes.  He is on a quest to find the killers of Mercedes and bring them to justice.  The game story is based on the characters from Alexander Dumas’ book “The Count of Monte Cristo”.

The Return of Monte Cristo is a hidden object game and is published by Lazy Turtle Games

• Pros: Great graphics, No learning curve

• Cons: Short game, Lacks story line

The game has a single untimed mode.  It consists of seven chapters with each chapter consisting of three to six locations.  You require a key to access each location.  On unlocking each location, you are presented with a mini game.  These mini games are based on variety of puzzles and are easy to complete.  However, the mini games can be skipped to continue to the location.  The area on the scene becomes a little dusty when you can navigate to the other location.  The hidden objects are made relevant to the game but the size and the color of the objects may vary.

This game is a significant improvement over its predecessor, “The Count of Monte Cristo” in terms of graphics and hint system.  The scenes of the game are set in dark, but still the items are not difficult to find.  In each location you are given a list of objects that you have to find on the scene.  There are hidden objects, blue on the list, which will require another key object to find it.  The key object items needs to be used immediately as there is no inventory tray.  There is a hint button if there is any object that is frustrating to find.  Unlike its predecessor, you no longer have to go to the island of Monte Cristo to gather diamonds for the hints.  In this game, there is a delayed timer until which the hint button cannot be reused, so theoretically you can use a hint to find every object on the scene.  Another feature that I liked in this version is that when you click an object its silhouette is displayed in the crystal ball on the right bottom corner.  This gives an idea of how the object is.  The sound effects in the game are also nice and bring the locations to life.

This game will be enjoyed by any hidden object game fan of any age.  However what most of gamers will not like is that the game is too short.  It generally gets over in 1½ to 2 hours.  Also once you complete the game, you know where all the objects are hidden and the game is no longer challenging for subsequent plays.  This game is good for any new hidden object gamer, but I would not recommend it to gamers who have played a lot hidden object games.

System Requirements:

• Platform: Windows XP/Vista
• CPU: 800 MHz
• RAM: 256 MB
• DirectX: 7.0
• Hard Drive: 52 MB

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