Left in the Dark: No One on Board

Developer: Moonrise Interactive | Publisher: Artifex Mundi | Release Date: 2013 | Genre:Hidden Object / Casual | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

There is trouble brewing in the small town of Port Providence. A ship thought to be lost at sea suddenly reappeared in the harbor, but with without any crew or cargo on board. Since people are rightfully freaked out by this occurrence and there is talk of a curse hanging over the town the mayor decides to enlist the aid of a private detective. Stepping into the late 19th century boots of the private detective, it is your job to uncover the mysteries of Port Providence and figure out what the connection is with a place called Devil’s Island. Unfortunately, it would seem that not everyone would like you to solve the case, especially not the hooded figure with the hook hand that begins stalking you.

Left In The Dark: No One On Board is another hidden object puzzle adventure from Artifex Mundi, but for this one they handled the publishing duties while the game itself was developed by Moonrise Interactive. This is quite obvious as the game lacks some of the care and polish that we have come to expect from Artifex Mundi. The fact that the game was first released in 2013 might account for some of the issues, but not all of them are related to age. Left In The Dark is a fairly typical HOPA, so if you have played any other title in the genre you will know exactly what to expect. Your tour of the different areas that make up Port Providence and its surroundings take the form of static screens where you’ll find either puzzles, hidden object scenes or inventory items. Most, if not all, of the puzzles in this game are of the simple and straightforward variety and shouldn’t take long to complete for anyone. In the unlikely event that you do struggle the puzzle scenes can be skipped. We strongly recommend not doing so as the game is already very short and bypassing the puzzles will leave you staring at the end credits in no time.

The hidden object scenes don’t fare much better and while there is nothing wrong with them we didn’t encounter any scenes that really stood out either. For the most part you’ll be presented with a list of pirate items or creepy animals that must be uncovered in the jumble of objects shown on your screen. Virtually all of these scenes are featured twice, albeit with a new list of objects to find, and there are no mini-game alternatives either as in other Artifex Mundi games. Sadly the game doesn’t feature the usual bonus chapter either, which is a pity as the story leaves a lot of things unexplained. Despite featuring a hook handed hooded figure, abandoned ship and ghostly girl that frequently pops up, we didn’t find the story particularly engaging either.

Visually the game looks decent, but unspectacular. Some of the hand drawn scenes look really detailed while others appear fuzzy and empty. Thankfully you are not required to do a lot of backtracking and the map system makes traveling around less of a chore. Left In The Dark only features a handful of major locations, which include the harbor, ship and a few areas of interest on Devil’s Island. Of course, these all have numerous different rooms and corners to explore, but combined with the short length of the game, it feels a bit limited. The audio is similarly average with background music that is decent, but unmemorable and voice acting that is a bit uneven in places. We have to admit that the game features plenty of ambient sound effects that breathes a bit of life into some areas, but some of these repeat way too many times which lessens their impact. The interface is standard HOPA fare, so if you’ve played one before you’ll feel right at home. If not, a handy tutorial at the start of your adventure will teach you all the basics.

With so many good HOPA games on the market, many of them by Artifex Mundi, it is hard to recommend a title that is as unremarkable as Left In The Dark. The story feels like a mishmash of different movies while the puzzles and hidden object scenes are all of the “been there, done that” variety. If you are new to the genre and haven’t played a lot of other HOPA games before there is certainly fun to be had here, but for everyone else, it is probably something you should grab when it is on sale and there are no other similar titles unplayed in your library.