9 Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek (Mac) Review
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9 Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek is an interesting game that offers a variety of different types of play to keep things fresh and add variety. Detective Mode is a nice addition that really adds to the ambiance of the game and there’s plenty of traditional object finds as well. It’s a game that is accessible to players of all ages and skill levels, although it can feel a little less than truly challenging at times. It’s a great choice for hidden object fans and newcomers to the genre alike.
Sssssssomething spooky is afoot in the little town of Serpent Creek.
As you begin 9 Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek, you receive a phone call from a good friend. She has gone to Serpent Creek to do a news story on the town’s annual Serpent Festival, but something has gone terribly wrong. As the phone call quickly goes downhill, you soon realize that you too will need to go to Serpent Creek – to find and rescue your friend Helen, and perhaps save the town itself in the process.
As you approach the town’s hotel, you are greeted by the disturbing site of an odd creature that looks somewhat like a cross between a man and a snake – and it is attacking the hotel clerk. A quick tap on the horn saves the clerk, but your windshield will never be the same. Odd though all that is, even odder is the fact that clerk – and pretty much everyone in town – acts as though nothing is out of place. Finding Helen is all that much more challenging when no one will admit she ever even visited the town. It’s going to take all of your considerable detective skills to get to the bottom of this mystery – especially with serpent creatures on the loose.
The gameplay in 9 Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek is in typical hidden object adventure style, save for the addition of Detective Mode. This is a nice touch, as it really adds to the mystery feel of the game. When you enter Detective Mode, you are on a fixed crime scene, with no direction as to what you are looking for. You must examine the scene and uncover all of the clues in order to piece together what happened. Clues can be anything from discarded gloves to bloody handprints, and often aren’t terribly challenging to uncover. Once all of the clues have been found, you’ll be given a rundown of how the crime played out.
In addition to Detective mode, you’ll do a number of standard hidden object finds, where you are given a list of items to find on a fixed screen. These in general are not terribly challenging, but if you do happen to get stuck, you can use the hint feature to point you in the right direction. As you wander around the town of Serpent Creek, you need to keep your eyes open for usable objects lying about the environment, as well as for where and how you can use them. You’ll also encounter a number of mini games that serve well to advance the story. You’ll piece together scraps of ripped paper, place gears in the correct order and assemble objects needed to continue in the game. Again, if you get stuck (or just don’t enjoy the mini games), you can use the hint feature to skip them entirely – although you will have to wait for it to charge first.
9 Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek is an interesting game that offers a variety of different types of play to keep things fresh and add variety. Detective Mode is a nice addition that really adds to the ambiance of the game and there’s plenty of traditional object finds as well. It’s a game that is accessible to players of all ages and skill levels, although it can feel a little less than truly challenging at times. It’s a great choice for hidden object fans and newcomers to the genre alike.