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Dark Canvas
Jan. 12th, 2018 10:36 pmAlmost out of the woods with this cold! I downloaded more games from Big Fish that didn't have a chance to play from when I first purchased them years ago. The Dark Canvas series has three titles and I played two, A Brush With Death and Blood and Stone.
I was bummed to find out the studio behind them, a Canadian one called Vast, is no longer around. Fortunately the games can still be purchased. The first series I played, Nightfall Mysteries, is on par with MCF games of the same era. Actually it was in playing A Brush with Death and Blood and Stone that I realized how similar they were to MCF games of the day - it seems like the games really inspired each other and Vast copied the gentle snark along with strong graphics. I also realized what had been lost in the newer games - the diary! Photos, clues and narrative used to go into the diary and one could flip back and forth for clues or to refresh your memory.
Now, I was surprised that the graphics for both games looked a little soft and blurry on my monitor. Monitors sure weren't what they are today five years ago and it may have something to do with widescreen full screen support. Still, the scenes are colourful, engaging and gorgeous with pleasant music for the HOPs.
The series lacks the dreaded MCF super puzzles and the HOPs are excellent. Sometimes you have to return to a HOP to get a different object and this isn't entirely clear. Blood and Stone features a map that helps you stay on track though.
A Brush With Death feels a little short, but is still a challenging game as you visit a small Italian island in search of your missing, college age daughter. There's a mysterious prophet painter on the island - all his paintings seem to come true in some disaster along with murder. The murderer is a spectre known as The Silhouette. The ending was a little predictable, but I enjoyed the variety of puzzles and challenges.
I finished Blood and Stone tonight, which is set on a Greek island where the renowned sculptor Elias has created a sculpting machine...that sculpts death! Somehow the artist and his wife were turned into statues. I was reminded of another trend in these games - the helper animal. In this case, you have a kitten for a short time to help solve problems.
The stories in each game are standalone, so you don't have to play them in any order.
I was bummed to find out the studio behind them, a Canadian one called Vast, is no longer around. Fortunately the games can still be purchased. The first series I played, Nightfall Mysteries, is on par with MCF games of the same era. Actually it was in playing A Brush with Death and Blood and Stone that I realized how similar they were to MCF games of the day - it seems like the games really inspired each other and Vast copied the gentle snark along with strong graphics. I also realized what had been lost in the newer games - the diary! Photos, clues and narrative used to go into the diary and one could flip back and forth for clues or to refresh your memory.
Now, I was surprised that the graphics for both games looked a little soft and blurry on my monitor. Monitors sure weren't what they are today five years ago and it may have something to do with widescreen full screen support. Still, the scenes are colourful, engaging and gorgeous with pleasant music for the HOPs.
The series lacks the dreaded MCF super puzzles and the HOPs are excellent. Sometimes you have to return to a HOP to get a different object and this isn't entirely clear. Blood and Stone features a map that helps you stay on track though.
A Brush With Death feels a little short, but is still a challenging game as you visit a small Italian island in search of your missing, college age daughter. There's a mysterious prophet painter on the island - all his paintings seem to come true in some disaster along with murder. The murderer is a spectre known as The Silhouette. The ending was a little predictable, but I enjoyed the variety of puzzles and challenges.
I finished Blood and Stone tonight, which is set on a Greek island where the renowned sculptor Elias has created a sculpting machine...that sculpts death! Somehow the artist and his wife were turned into statues. I was reminded of another trend in these games - the helper animal. In this case, you have a kitten for a short time to help solve problems.
The stories in each game are standalone, so you don't have to play them in any order.
