It’s difficult to start thinking of hidden object games that have been released on mobile devices, because it’s actually very hard to come up with many examples. Well, Wooga is about to change that with the release of Agent Alice.
The main character is none other than Agent Alice who keeps getting herself involved in unusual situations. As the game starts, she is finding out the reason behind the disappearance of someone important. Even after playing it briefly, it’s clear that Agent Alice has a hankering for getting herself in all sorts of trouble.
As for the game itself, most of it is spent trying to find hidden objects within each of the rooms being investigated. Those eager for a challenge can try to find all objects quickly before a bar on the top of the screen runs out.
There’s a few other quirky ideas that made for welcome distractions in between all the hidden object finding fun. One such idea consisted of tapping a gun reticule just as a dot moves inside it to shoot a bad guy. It might not seem like much, but it’s ideas like this that made Agent Alice stand out.
Playing a game like Agent Alice with a touch screen is a completely different experience. No more trying to look for that pesky mouse cursor or clicking on the wrong section of the room by accident. Instead, rooms are designed with different screen resolutions in mind. The objects are cleverly hidden and yet they are just about the right size to make sure touching them will not result in accidentally touching nearby objects.
Not only is there a proper story told in between the various levels, it also makes use of a clever idea. Whilst interacting with other characters, there are points where it’s possible to choose different ways to interrogate them. In a move that would make RPGs such as Mass Effect proud, the character’s way of interrogating suspects changes completely if choosing a polite or aggressive style. It’s almost impossible not to choose the aggressive option since it seemed to usually turn the dialogue into something worthy of a soap opera.
The dialogue itself seemed fine and ended up being quite snappy on a few occasions. There was the odd joke that probably made better sense when thought of in the source language. Despite this, the dialogue did a decent job of moving the story forward.
Those concerned that a hidden objects game would not work so well on a smaller screen can relax. As already mentioned, it was actually a lot simpler to find objects in this touch screen adaptation of a popular browser pastime.
Although, sometimes it feels like the rooms are not as cluttered with objects as they usually are on browser versions of games like this. But this is most likely due to only playing a few of the early levels. Despite this, the environments showcased in the couple of levels played were very nice. The art style for Agent Alice is reminiscent of classics like Broken Sword.
For a mobile device, the animations which progress the story are actually quite impressive. There’s even a few moments where moving animations are used. It’s certainly a sign that mobile gaming has come a long way and that it is only getting better with each new wave of devices.
It seemed like Agent Alice already came with a decent amount of content, but there are plans to release downloadable content on a regular basis. Not only that, but all post launch content will remain free. It’s reassuring to know that Wooga has a good track record of supporting other games by releasing downloadable content long after they have launched.
Time spent with Agent Alice was certainly interesting and it seemed like a title that could work really well when played it on the go.
Agent Alice is out now on the App store and Google Play store. – It’s free, so why not check it out?
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