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Samantha Swift and the Fountain of Youth
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Graphics & Sound:
Samantha Swift and the Fountain of Youth is another fine production from Mumbo Jumbo, proving that the iPad is every inch the gaming machine that we hoped. The ultimate mark of success is that I have a hard time imagining going back to a PC or console after playing this kind of game on iPad; it's a win for the hardware and the software. The last time out from this company, we played through Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials, a game that was striving for realism and a creepy vibe, without turning the corner to scary. Samantha Swift is going for something much more kid-friendly, based on bright and colorful cartoon graphics. The tone also leans more toward adventure and excitement, kind of like Carmen SanDiego meets Indiana Jones. The analogy to Dr. Jones' exploits isn't a bad one, since Swift shares his fascination with antiquities, in this case the titular Fountain of Youth. Exploring the world means you'll be exposed to lots of interesting scenery, filled with interesting hidden objects. Yes, it's a hidden-object game, so you'll need to get those peepers tuned up and ready. Everything in the game is designed in a way that blends smoothly, making for a considerable challenge at times. There are even some objects that are literally designed into the background, but these tricks are reserved for lightning-bolt hint icons and the signature flying swift. There's some good attention paid to sound effects and music, but we're ready to see games in this category (casual, hidden-object, etc.) that feature great voice acting. Of course, it takes success and the money that comes with it to hire good voice-acting talent, but this seems like the next evolution. Samantha Swift and the Fountain of Youth is a very tactical example of hidden-object gameplay, rarely veering off course into other genres. As such, there are only a handful of sequences where voice acting would even be practical.
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Gameplay:
If you like the kind of hidden-object games that blew up on PC and Mac before making their transition to mobile platforms like the iPad, Samantha Swift and the Fountain of Youth is right up your alley. It almost feels retro at this point, in the sense that it's all about finding objects in a cluttered scene, when so many other games have moved on to hybrid or mash-up variations on the original I-Spy concept. We actually like many of these other games, but Samantha Swift is a gem for what it offers. An expanded version of the game that you can purchase directly through the app includes some other ways to play, including a Match-3 board, but the core game is really about finding objects. Discover enough of those inscrutable hidden swifts throughout the game (60, to be exact) and you can access a special Unlimited Mode. This is really just a sort of "endless" mode for hidden-object freaks, but you'll have to work hard to find those darned swifts. Each scene has two of them, and you'll see quickly whether you found both by looking at a meter next to the little picture of Samantha Swift in the bottom corner. The main action is a globe-trotting adventure where you'll piece together mysteries in each location, eventually discovering the one object you'll need to move on to the next area. Fountain of Youth does a nice job stringing you along between multiple areas, gathering items you'll need later in the stage, rather than just having things be won and done when each room is complete. A typical room includes objects that are described plainly (dog, cat, bus), objects that are described in quasi-riddles (handheld cooler = fan), and objects that are only uncovered through interaction with other objects. The latter is an interesting twist on the pure hidden-object game, since you're technically doing more of a puzzle thing by using objects gathered in the scene. On some occasions, you'll just have to tap to unlock an object, and other times you'll need to really work for it. We loved these twists, and we especially liked the more complicated set pieces where you operate on multiple elements in the background, and use multiple objects, to achieve your goal. In these moments, Samantha Swift and the Fountain of Youth shines.
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Difficulty:
Some studies have shown that youngsters actually score better in these hidden-object challenges, for the simple reason that their visual processing is - like their mental processing - focused on discrete elements. Older folks tend to think and look more in the aggregate or holistic sense, drawing out only the elements that they think matter and ignoring those that don't matter. If there's truth to this, younger gamers should have an edge over their parents and grandparents, who need hints more often. We'll confess to using a few hints in Samantha Swift and the Fountain of Youth, largely at those times when that one, final object refused to reveal itself. We like the fact that there are multiple levels of hinting. At the most basic level, you can tap the name of the object in the list below the screen, to see its shape and approximate color. This will often jog your visual memory and help you pick out the object. Another interesting approach the game takes is to mix up pure hidden-object levels with "Matched Pair" challenges that force you to find objects while thinking about how they might fit together. The logic part of this won't always be so friendly to the youngest gamers, but neither will some of the more obscure object names and riddle phrases. At these moments, you can tap the lightning-bolt icon to call a magical spark that reveals exactly where you can find the elusive object. These lightning bolts aren't exactly ubiquitous. You'll have to scour each level to find them, as they'll be tucked discretely into corners and other patterns that perfectly match their jagged contours. Tapping indiscriminately won't help but you may get lucky a few times...
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Game Mechanics:
After the mouse, pinch-to-zoom is the greatest technological advance ever for this type of game. Considering the advanced design skills many people have achieved with programs like Photoshop, the only practical constraint to making hidden-object scenes more dense has been the limits of the human eye. We can't find what we can't see, right? Pinch-to-zoom really changes the rules, because it lets you view the scene at various levels of magnification. Some objects won't emerge until you really zoom in on the action, and this allows the designers to go crazy with perspective and sizing that just wouldn't work otherwise. Or at least, it would work in an awkward way. Zooming isn't impossible on a PC or console, but it's so much less intuitive than sliding in on the screen using just a couple of fingers. We really found this to be a great feature, and it's only disabled in a few places in the game. The other elements of the interface are a host of menu settings, displayed in a cute PDA-style menu that includes a link to view items you've collected during your journey, and some options for audio control. You can even pick a different wallpaper for your PDA... slick. The success of games like this on desktops means there are plenty of people excited about playing them, so we imagine the proliferation of iPads will result in some increased sales for hidden-object titles. Samantha Swift and the Fountain of Youth sticks with tradition, but delivers great results all the same. It doesn't move far from the basic hidden-object formula, so there will be moments you wish for a bit more challenge or variety. These issues aside, we think Fountain of Youth is exactly the kind of well-produced casual game we hope to see more of on this platform. The iPad feels like it was made to play games like this...
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-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock |
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