Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal
- Word-based minigames
- Beautiful scenes
- Crack the case!
- Check out our Blog Walkthrough
- OS : 10.4
- CPU : 800 Mhz
- Memory : 256
- Hard driver (MB) : 88
Review for game: Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal
Murder, scandal and your first big break! You`re a young, aspiring reporter, hungry for your first big scoop in the male-dominated world of 1920’s journalism in this epic Hidden Object Adventure game. Not settling for your role as secretary, you soon stumble upon a high-profile murder, a scandalous cover up, and the framing of an innocent man in Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal. Do you have what it takes to crack the story and finally be recognized as a top investigative reporter?
Find your A-HA! moment with mind-bending puzzles and jigsaw games.
1476 points
(views: 99)
REQUIRES Windows/MacOS
Ages: 3 YEARS & UPGame Description:
Become a young, aspiring reporter in the 1920`s looking for a big story. Can you crack the case and finally be a top reporter?
AFERON - BigFishGames
First, I have to say that I am tired of the typical hidden object adventure game. This game was so much fun! The storyline kept me wondering and I was actually scared at times that I (or Valerie) would get caught snooping around. I enjoyed trying to link like hidden objects as quickly as possible--especially the one minute subway challenges. I also liked mixing chemicals to develop film. Even though that part was easy, I liked the interaction with the game. This game reminded me a little of the first Murder She Wrote game that I also really enjoyed. Sometimes old is better. I would like to play more games like this one.
Oh how I wish there were more HOGs like this one!! There were no dark scenes, no monsters, no scary stuff, but it was totally engrossing! The time frame was what first drew me to the game as it isn't one I've encountered before and it was kept true through the entire game...by that I mean the clothes, the language, the backgrounds, everything was done true to the time. Valerie Porter is a novice to the newspaper business but she moves up very quickly as the story unfolds. She faces some difficult scenes as she learns her craft but handles them very well. I found the storyline engrossing as were the characters she becomes involved with. The mini games were fun and some of them were totally new to me. The VO's were excellent, the music was totally in the background and didn't become annoying to me at any time. The scenes were clear, not fuzzy or dark. I didn't find the game truly "challenging", but I've only had it a week and have already played it 3x! lo! Don't want to burn out on it, so took it off my play list for a while. Try it, you may find it a really pleasant break from the usual HOG's we've been getting.
Excellent game with the player as a journalist writing about a scandal. Travel to many areas via subway, meeting and interviewing people to uncover the real story behind the scandal. Overall, the storyline is great, keeps the player engaged in a variety of activities--hidden object, creating articles, mini-games, puzzles and interactive scenes. No lags in this game. Well done in capturing the spirit of the era.
The story was good, logical and fun to follow. I really like the additional challenge of finding your own points for hints in every HOS. The graphics were excellent and I enjoyed the music. I had a great time playing this game.
first off i read the rave reviews of this game and bought it because of those ratings. Some were written by credible experts. First off the game is not full screen making the HOs VERY hard to find as well as the 2 batteries you need to power up hints. You also can find bells in every scene to get added bonus. I didn't mind the voice overs except for Valerie, who sounds like she's from the 80's. All others got into an accent aind attitude. mini games are not challenging at all, most common are circle words. I would recommend this game toward younger players who do not need glasses. I really had a hard time finding items hidden behind objects or too small.
I enjoyed this game. :) The characters are good, and are not crippled with stupidity like the characters in many games! :D I also really like the era it's set in. :) And I heartily approve of the game's message of gender equality. :) The hidden object scenes are broken up nicely with other activities, which keeps them from getting monotonous. There's a feature where you can collect 'batteries' to instantly recharge the hints, if you want to. I should think a lot of people will like that. :) For me, though, the best feature (out of many good ones) is the plot. You could tell that the makers had really taken trouble over it. Once it gets going, it's unusually complex (in a good way!) for this sort of game, and I found it quite engrossing. It kept you guessing about "whodunnit". There's also an above average level logic to the plot, although within the constraints of a game, that's never going to flawless. I particularly enjoyed it, as I've been losing patience lately with the games where there's virtually no plot at all, and what there is makes little sense. This game made a welcome and refreshing change! :) I'd advise exercising parental guidance for your kids, as some of the plot deals with adult themes (though it's by no means explicit), and the body count is pretty high by the end. I only really have 3 niggles: 1) It would have been nice if the game had been a bit longer. But that's really a complement to the makers, since it was so enjoyable that I wanted to go on playing. :) 2) I found it a little confusing that so many of the characters had similar face shapes. I sometimes had difficulty telling them apart and remembering who was who. 3) I often found myself squinting at the hidden object scenes, as the graphics didn't seem quite as clear as they might have been. However, this last may be down to my computer, which is getting a bit long in the tooth. :D It may work better on more up-to-date computers, with better graphics options.
Enjoyed this game quite a bit. The story line was great and definitly made me keep going. The graphics were quite clear and crisp. No darkness, no blurring. The music and soundtrack in general I really enjoyed. Definitely appropriate to the time frame. The "mini-games" were totally related to the storyline and gave the feel you were just continuing the plot. Very entertaining. The variations on the HOGs were great. So much to do in each scene. I found the chain action made otherwise simple scenes very challenging and fun. On the whole I was very pleased with this one. The time frame is not one used very often and was such a great concept. Hope this becomes a series at some point.
4 ? hour adventure ? HOG on casual mode. I thought it would be on the shorter side and a simple story; but it became much more intricate as the game progressed. You play Valerie Porter, a very young recently-hired journalist in the pre-historic days when women didn?t work in professional jobs unless they were nurses. Your boss treats you as his new secretary until a woman journalist who became famous for reporting took Valerie under her wings ? at least until a conflict seems to appear between them. A mystery evolves and you persist in investigating and solving it. Music is from the roaring twenties except during the gameplay ? too bad, there were times when it could have played without interfering with the game play. It was happy music. GAMEPLAY: You can earn 12 medals. In every scene, there are 2 batteries (to instantly recharge hints or retain for extra points) and 5 bells to collect in addition to the HOS. You can click an object name to see its silhouette. Chain like objects (ex: 3 medals) for extra points in the HOS. Once each chapter, you take a subway ride where you chain similar items (6-10) to get the maximum hint recharge. Sometimes, chaining can be expedited by pulling your cursor around the scene. Game isn?t horseshoes, so you do have to click exactly on the objects. Puzzles are varied, but 4 routinely reappear: focusing photos, building objects according to a schematic, writing news stories and writing the accompanying headlines. Game was much more delightful than I originally thought it would be and I?m glad I bought it.
Very cute story about a novice reporter, who begins to work and will help later to uncover the murder of a famous actress. Several interactive HOS (sometimes objects are tiny), and a lot of new mini games, others well known, but very entertaining and provide lot of fun. Excellent graphics, very good VO, as well as the sound of the whole game. Basically a game of HOS and mini games, but the story is well done and encourages you to continue. In each scene, besides the requested items, you have to find two batteries (which help to fill hint) and 5 bells (totaling 100). Relaxing and pleasant game.
Review after finishing the game: The Good: + Good crime story. + While the HOG scenes are kinda junk pile the rooms look a lot more believable than comparable games. + Most items you have to find have something to do with the storyline (e.g. find all parts of a typewriter that you have to prepare, or dress Valerie up so she can go to the newspaper) + achievement system (medals), although there could be more than just "finished chapter XX" + Back then when I played I haven't seen some of the minigames in other games yet. + Voices! YAY! :-) + Linkage system makes some clues easy to find... The Bad: - ...maybe even too easy - Now that they got the voices nailed, next stop: Mimics and lip-synced talking. The Nancy Drew programmers got that down, so developers, check out the ND Games. ;-) Bottom Line: When IHOGs and HOPAs weren't common this game shook up the straight HOGs. Definitely check it out.