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Usually when a game places you in the role of a detective working in an Agency, your task will involve trying to find a missing member of the public.  However with this next case, your task will require you to find a missing member of the Detective Agency's team.  The fact that your missing colleague disappeared 14 years ago certainly adds an extra layer of difficulty to your investigation.  Providing the route to accept this challenge is Paranormal Files - Silent Willow Collector's Edition.

Developed by Elephant Games, this Hidden Object Adventure game presents you with the usual options for adjusting the game's playing environment.  Individual volume settings can be applied for background music, sound effects, environment and voice.  The action can be viewed in full and wide screen mode with custom cursor and special effects.  There is also a choice of four different difficulty levels as you select from Casual, Advanced, Hardcore or Custom options. 

The game casts you in the role of Rachel, the founder and head of the Paranormal Detective Agency.  In this role you will need to set out and solve the mystery of your old colleague, Rick Rogers, who went missing 14 years ago.  Assisting you in this task will be Gabriel your second-in-command at the Agency. 

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Further assistance is provided by a tool bar running across the bottom of the game's various scenes.  This bar can be locked in position or left to disappear when not immediately required. Positioned on this bar, running from left to right are tools to show your current task, provide a map with teleport facilities, an inventory, Strategy Guide and Hint features.  The recharging Hint feature will be represented by a candle which needs to be lit before use.  Items in the inventory accompanied by a plus sign will need some additional action before it can be used.

After a brief opening sequence introducing the Paranormal Detective Agency with its task-based pattern of operation, you receive information regarding your missing colleague.  As a result you set out to visit the Silent Willow mental hospital and the game starts in earnest with the revelation that paranormal activities are somehow involved in the events that follow as you learn that a magical shop is involved.

Exploring this magical shop and its contents forms a major part of the title.  While initial investigations might suggest the shop was just an old-fashioned type of establishment, if it was not for the presence of a burning Phoenix bird on a stand to attract customers' interest, further exploration reveals that this is the type of building that can grow in size as you make progress through its rooms and varied content. 

At various times you will need to create potions and deal with different figures who claim to be your missing colleague.  However they generally feature some slight difference which you will need to detect.  You will also need to discover more about contracts that exist between victims and paranormal entities.

While exploring different locations and completing a range of tasks, you will be faced by Hidden Object challenges and mini game puzzles.  In the case of Hidden Object scenes, you might be asked to find items identified by words, symbols, silhouettes, or parts of an image or clues in a story.  Some of these instances could involve more than a single scene housing the required items.

Mini game puzzles take on a variety of formats.  You could be asked to arrange images that are somehow associated or find the correct sequence to gain access to a prison cell.  Other types of task might require hidden symbols to be found on a map, guide a book to its destination and combine colours to match a target.  You could also be asked to arrange objects on shelves and match tools to complete certain tasks.

After completing the main game, you have the opportunity to continue your search for more information about the contracts and get the chance to arrange a display of figurines you have collected.  This title can be downloaded from Gamehouse.com where it is priced at $19.99.  The game is also available from Big Fish Games priced at £15.22.  The game requires a 2.5GHz processor with 1024MB of RAM and 1.45GB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.

Paranormal Files - Silent Willow Collector's Edition | Big Fish Games

Paranormal Files - Silent Willow Collector's Edition | GameHouse