Game Reviews

Nick Chase: A Detective Story

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Nick Chase: A Detective Story

It was a dark and stormy night when I started playing Nick Chase: A Detective Story. Not much sleep was to be had, though not because of the thunder and lightning cracking through the thick rain. It was the varied gameplay and captivating presentation of this superb hidden object game that induced the lack of slumber.

Just one more scene, one more puzzle - Nick Chase has a way of coaxing continued play better than any hidden object game before it. Much of that appeal comes from an infusion of familiar puzzle mini-games that make it feel more like an adventure game than a hunt for random objects.

Story drives the game forward, binding each static scene and puzzle together into one coherent string of events. Starting in Nick's messy office, you begin searching for items critical to a new job.

Objects are always relevant to what's going on with the story. In the opening scene, you're tasked with finding envelopes in order to gain information about a client. Other scenes involve locating keys for unlocking a door and pieces of a wooden puzzle to open a hidden door.

These static scenes are complemented by more active objectives like solving the aforementioned door puzzle. Using the discovered pieces, you're tasked with placing them correctly in order to open a secret door.

Another mini-game has you turning tiles on a grid so that the sides of every tile match up with the surrounding squares. There's even a tap-to-move stealth game that requires you to guide Nick through a construction yard illuminated by searchlights.

None of this stuff is new, but the way in which it comes together here is fresh. No other hidden object game provides so much variety and weaves it together in such an interesting story. The graphic novel-style scenes and expressive voice acting do much to keep your attention too.

It's not totally perfect, though. Whenever you begin a new scene, you're not told the objective. A notepad in the lower-left can be accessed for guidance, but it needs to automatically pop up at the start of a level. On a stylistic point, the black and white cinematics would look better if coloured, largely because the rest of the game is.

Neither fault, however, rains on the parade of Nick Chase and his excellent hidden object adventure.

Nick Chase: A Detective Story

With a slick graphic novel style and varied gameplay, there's no doubt that after mere minutes with Nick Chase: A Detective Story you'll let him be your private eye
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Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.