Posted on: October 20, 2020
pearnon
Verified ownerGames: 205 Reviews: 50
Bless their hearts, they tried...
They really did. The developers wanted to make this worth your while. They let you customize your start screen, give you handy tips during the game, multiple endings, a blooper reel, and even have some in-game achievements and a shiny certificate for when you finish the adventure. The third and final Secret Files iteration does have heart, but that can only take you so far if it writes checks your ability (or budget) can't cash out. For starters, the plot is needlessly convoluted. The pacing is all over the place... which is where you literally go to in absolutely scattershot and haphazard fashion. You even control the baddie in a single area to solve a puzzle, and then promptly resume business as usual. Individual scenes add up to a whole that is exclusively the sum of its parts, like a checklist of thrown-against-the-wall ideas, throwaway and undeveloped characters and events going through the motions until a very abrupt and unsatisfying non-ending told by way of an unfunny "where are they now?" skit. Speaking of the ending, it really bespeaks budget issues, as do zooming and fade to blacks with sound effects and voices telling you what is happening to spare on animations. Which is kind of strange, as its prequels were successful enough, from what I remember. Maybe they got carried away in some of the superfluous more bombastic cutscenes and special effects... or perhaps it was the composer (who, to his credit, made the best OST of the series, with a few standout tracks that stick in your ear). It's also way too easy. Most of the times you can navigate only a limited amount of locations at a time, with objects lying conveniently close by for linear solutions. At most, you'll be challenged by a couple of pattern-finding puzzles. All in all, this one went out with a whimper. It's a sale purchase at best, and only if you're out of point and click adventures and happen to be craving one.
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