Hidden Mysteries: Titanic isn’t overly interesting, so I’m going to start my review in a similarly, not overly interesting, but perfectly functional sort of way. Just to get you in the mood so you know exactly what to expect from it. Big Fish Games isn’t quite a household name, but I’d wager it’s a company whose products have been in a great many homes. They primarily publish hidden object games for the PC; games that require players to pick out a variety of objects as determined by the game. They’re simple titles to say the least but they’re also quite relaxing, simple to get into and thus ideal for casual gamers. A spattering of similar titles has made their way to the DS. So we come to Hidden Mysteries: Titanic which as I’ve previously said, really isn’t very interesting.
That’s not to say it’s a bad game. It’s not at all. It’s just not very interesting. Your mind will wander and you’ll wonder why you’re playing this curious amalgamation of point and click adventure and puzzler, when you could have been playing Professor Layton or Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars.
The story is rather forgettable as well as feeling rather doomed considering the setting. You play Margaret, a rich woman, who is on her way to better fortunes along with her husband and difficult mother. Margaret is a curious sort though so she gets rather wrapped up in everything on the Titanic, not least of all the fact that it starts to sink halfway through the story. The story itself is clearly just there to link various puzzles together. Dodgy looking cutscenes and weak dialogue do nothing to help this. There are two different endings but you won’t want to go through the game all over again just to see one very minor change in the tale. Hidden Mysteries: Titanic may be far from a long experience – lasting only 6-8 hours for the seasoned puzzle solver – but it’s one that you won’t want to repeat.
For the most part, you’ll be solving puzzles via the typical point and click method. During my time with it, I noticed a few occasions where it felt like the game wasn’t responding to my input. Other than that though, the frustration lies with the obscure puzzle solutions. Imagine a puzzle where you need to collect a stone pineapple and hit a door knob with it to open the door. Bit odd, right? It gets stranger. Another puzzle required me to make a leg splint out of a meter stick, a collapsed wine rack and some fake ivy. Those were some of the more memorable examples. Many others were equally as odd but far less entertaining.
It’s not too frustrating as at least you have unlimited hints at your disposal with the game all too happy to get you through to the next section. It’s a bit daft though as the satisfaction should be from solving it yourself, not being forced into using a hint.
Besides the peculiar point and click segments, there are some hidden object based sequences as one would expect from a Big Fish game. Keeping in key with the rest of the game, they’re easy. It doesn’t take long to collect 10 of the same object in a very restricted and open area. If you still somehow get stuck, there are hints available. You really don’t need them though, there’s not even a time limit to worry about.
There are also some very simple mini games which involve a bit more movement. Again, it’s ridiculously easy to complete though. Mostly because you can always skip a puzzle if you get stuck or can’t be bothered to suffer any longer.
To be fair to Hidden Mysteries: Titanic, it’s not the worst game ever. It does the job fine. It’s a functional but slightly bizarre point and click game with ridiculously easy other puzzles to complete. It’s just that it does a job that so many other games do so much better. Maybe as a budget priced title PC title this wouldn’t be so bad. But for £20+ it just feels dull, past its prime and difficult to recommend.
VideogameUK verdict: 3/10
