King's Heir: Rise to the Throne (Xbox One, 2018)

King's Heir: Rise to the Throne

Developed by Cordelia Games

Published by Artifex Mundi

Released for Xbox One (12/14/2018)

Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

 

King's Heir: Rise to the Throne was developed by Cordelia Games, the same ones who brought us Path of Sin: Greed, which I found enjoyable enough to check out their earlier effort. This game was previously released as Kingmaker: Rise to the Throne and for some reason the later ports of the game had the title changed to King's Heir: Rise to the Throne. Both names are equally forgettable and I couldn't figure out why the title had to be changed, but they're both the same game so it really doesn't matter in the long run. Enough about the title, let's look at King's Heir and see how it plays...

King's Heir is exactly what you'd expect from Artifex Mundi if you've played any of their other releases: a mixture of the point & click and hidden object genres. The story involves a prince who fell in love with and married a poor girl, which the king did not approve of at all. The king sends the prince off to battle and plans to drive the poor girl away while he's out, which backfires when the prince is killed in battle. The prince's wife later died after delivering their baby, which has now gone missing. You take control of a royal knight who must try to find the missing heir, help them regain the crown and take over the throne. It's a cool setup, but unfortunately the characters and dialogue just aren't all that interesting and I found myself really struggling to care about the plot. While the story is a bit of a letdown, it was at least sufficient enough to provide reason to continue forward to the next puzzle. 

 

Path of Sin: Greed (Xbox One, 2019)

Path of Sin: Greed

Developed by Cordelia Games

Published by Artifex Mundi

Released for Xbox One (8/23/2019)

Also on Linux/Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

 

Path of Sin: Greed will mark my first experience delving into the Artifex Mundi series of games. I've been intrigued by their releases for a while and picked this one up on sale a while back. This is far from the first release from the publisher, but we've got to start somewhere and this just happens to be their first title I got my hands on. Hidden object games are a niche genre and it's nice to see publisher Artifex Mundi not only giving the genre some love, but also porting these games over to a wide range of platforms so more people can play them. Without further ado, let's delve into Path of Sin: Greed and see if it's worth your time...

Right off the bat, the first thing that struck me with Path of Sin was the excellent artwork. The illustrations are incredibly vibrant and the attention to detail really shines through in high-definition. While there is a limited amount of animation, there is enough so that the environments and people don't feel like static images. The sound design, like the animation, is used sparsely but does a good job bringing the illustrations to life. The music isn't anything you're going to want to bump in the car, but it does a good job adding to the suspense at times and at other times conveys a mystery mood. Overall, the developers have done an excellent job on the overall presentation.

 

Interpol: The Trail of Dr Chaos (XBLA, 2009)

Interpol: The Trail of Dr Chaos
Developed by Tik Games, LLC
Published by Microsoft Game Studios
Released for Xbox Live Arcade (1/2009)
Also on Mac/PC/PS3
Backwards Compatible with Xbox One

Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos is a "hidden object" game. Basically, you look at a picture and are given a list of objects to seek within a given time limit. Game play consists of moving a cursor around and pressing the A button when you've found an object. Excessive clicking on the screen will cause your time limit to decrease faster. You are given a certain amount of hints per area, with each area consisting of 3 to 4 different pictures to solve. Each picture also has 3 hidden objects, which change up every couple of stages. Also, the items are switched around from session to session to mix things up a bit.

There is some sort of story going on in Interpol about catching thieves or something like that, but really I can't say that it interested me at all nor does it really matter in this game. The overall presentation is pretty slick, with easy-to-use menus and detailed graphics. The music and sound effects are for the most part unobtrusive. The biggest problem for most folks will be that you can complete the game easily within 5 hours and have unlocked all the achievements the game has to offer. Personally I enjoyed it as a quick distraction but it's doubtful I'll come back to it any time soon. My only real complaint other than the length would be that the images could have taken up the whole screen and been a bit more sharp as some of the smaller items are a bit fuzzy and as a result are tough to spot. I have a tendency to enjoy these types of games (maybe because it takes me back to looking at those 'Highlights' magazines as a kid at the doctor's/dentist's office) and I would personally only suggest it if your a fan of that niche genre. As far as I know this is the only hidden object game released on the 360, but there is a lot of the library I've never seen so correct me if I'm wrong.

Final Verdict: Interpol is suggested for fans of the "hidden objects" genre, but all others may want to steer clear unless you're just looking for some short, easy and simple fun.

Related Links:
Buy Interpol - Xbox Marketplace
Tik Games - Official Site
Interpol - Metacritic 
Interpol - GameFAQs
Interpol Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Interpol - True Achievements