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The expression that you should never look a gift horse in the mouth, which was based on the Trojan horse story from Greek mythology, should, perhaps, have been appropriately observed when receiving a box at the start of this next game.

As a member of the team at Detective United, you never know what the day may bring when you sign in for work in your role as Anna Gray.  In the event of the Beyond Time investigation, your arrival at work co-insides with the delivery of a mysterious parcel in the form of a box.  Being a detective, and having an inquisitive mind, you ignore the advice regarding Gift Horses and open the box which then sets in motion Detectives United – Beyond Time, a game developed by Elephant Games.

Spread over three chapters of detective investigation, the game presents you with the rather major challenge of taking part in a race against time to save humanity from total destruction.  It seems that there is an otherworld entity that is determined to destroy the world and you need to put in motion the relevant actions that will stop this cosmic catastrophe from happening.  You have no choice really as you made the mistake of opening the box and you must accept the consequences.

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For the more nervous gamer, this title does come with a warning that its content features graphic depictions of violence as you come across the forces that are welding by the monster entity that is known as Glimborg.  The warning is actually more of a cover-all attempt just in case anybody is offending by the content.  At certain times, scenes do appear featuring the appearance of floating figures and other disturbances that serve a purpose but are not too scary. 

While the various scenes depicted in the game are well drawn, they did sometimes have a rather flat appearance despite the presence of pulsing hot spots encouraging further exploration.   Arranged across the bottom of the different scenes are the tools available to the brave investigator.  There is a tablet, provided to all the detectives of the Agency team, complete with Map, Phone and Gallery information, your current task and an Inventory that can be locked in position or allowed to hide itself when not immediately required.  Items in the Inventory accompanied with a plus sign will need some work before use.  You also have access to a Strategy Guide and a Hint feature.

Central to the game’s story line is that of the Florence family who have spent years investigating the presence of the otherworld entities.  It is their work that has revealed the presence of the Glimborg entity and you have been assigned with the task of finding Ewan Florence and assisting him in an effort to stop Glimborg.  Your task is not made any easier by Ewan being not the brightest penny in the box but you can make up for that with your investigative skills.

Earlier I mentioned that your role was that of Anna Gray but this does change.  At various points during the game, you will be forced to switch between other members of the Detective team as certain necessary tasks are carried out.  You will be informed when such a change of role takes place but this does not affect the screen and tool layout.  In whatever role is your current persona, you can still encounter Hidden Object scenes and need to solve mini game puzzles plus gather morphing objects, puzzle pieces and other collectibles.

I was playing the Collector’s Edition of this title which comes with a number of bonus items.  Usually entry is granted to these bonus items once the main game is completed but this title was different.  I discovered that I also need to complete a bonus chapter as well before I was allowed to gain access to the full range of bonus offerings.

There were times when playing the game that I found its main story line to be a little confusing and I was left with a feeling of slight disappointment.  I downloaded my copy of the title from Gamehouse.com where it is priced at $19.99.  It can also be downloaded from Big Fish Games priced at £14.94.  The game requires a 2.5 GHz processor with 1024MB of RAM and 1.95GB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.

Detectives United - Beyond Time Collector's Edition | Big Fish Games

Detectives United - Beyond Time Collector's Edition | GameHouse