Sinister City is a hidden object/point and click game. In which you play as a young man who is searching for his fiancée. However you find out that your fiancée has been kidnapped by vampires in the city of the games title.
While the initial plot of Sinister City is reasonable enough. Since the initial storyline has the player travelling to a city in order to hunt for their fiancée. Whilst the opening first ½hour to 1 hour or so in game the story seems ok. At the start you are doing various tasks for the owner of a hotel that is near sinister city (who looks like Alf Garnett).
But after you have done all the hotel owners tasks you encounter a film director in the hotel. After this moment the story for the game becomes ludicrously silly. With various sub-plots including a vampire who makes a children’s TV programme and even a vampire psychologist. Which, going into this, I wasn’t expecting since I assumed it would have been a serious game. But if you like silly plots in games then this game will definitely entertain you.
Gameplay wise I feel that this game is ok as it does offer some challenge. Since the game doesn’t expect you to find all the items on a predetermined list. As what you will see on other hidden object games. The game asks you to find x amount of items that you need to go further into the game. One example of this is rungs for a ladder that are located in hidden object scenes. I don’t like how you can only pick them up when the story allows it. So you will have to remember where they are located so you know where to look for them later on.
I found this to be weird. Taking the previous example I clicked on the ladder and it didn’t say anything about the ladder. However later on you realise that the ladder it is missing rungs. Once the character states this you can then find them which I found weird. Also in the hidden object scenes some items are hidden under other items. Which I like as it makes it more challenging as you have to look under/move other items to get access to items needed. So consider this in mind if you like your hidden object games to be like a Where’s Wally book. Particularly in the sense that you have the scene with all the items in front of you with nothing that you need to move etc.
Sometimes you are required to do puzzles/mini games such as rebuilding a watch. Whilst these tasks are easy, most of them can be done in a few minutes. For those who think that it is difficult on advanced the game does have an easy mode. Easy mode does make the game easier to access in many ways. Such as freely providing you with where you should go to and gives you some hints to use. I think that easy mode is good for those who struggle on these types of games. However, advanced mode is tougher especially if hints aren’t used. As a result of this, the game could be difficult for those who struggle with puzzle games. This is because hints aren’t freely provided.
On a technical level this game is very lacklustre. I wasn’t expecting this game to be brilliant. Despite this the game should be at least completely functioning. The options for saving in the game are poor. This game only has one save slot on it which isn’t helpful for anyone who needs multiple save slots. The game will not allow you to delete saved data at any moment. To delete any saves in game you have to complete the game first. Upon completion of the game it will then delete your saves. This is annoying as it should allow you to delete saves at any time.
I also think that this game is a phone/tablet game. Since this game does have features that reek of a phone game. This game even has tap mentioned in the games instructions and loading image. Visually I did also notice that at times my character is able to float in the air at times. Taking one example my character had just left a hotel. When I exited the hotel he was floating above the pavement which I thought was a bit odd.
Overall I feel that Sinister City is only worth purchasing during a sale. Since this game isn’t worth more than 40-50p at most. This is because of how technically poor the game is. To add to this the game is short and has no replay value. As a result of this I would generally recommend skipping this game.
