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As the follow-up offering to the case of the Scarlet Hyacinth, Domini Games has released Unsolved Case - Above the Law. I have been looking at the Collector's Edition of this Hidden Object Adventure game which is based on the spectacular murder of a city's mayor and the investigation that resulted from this high-profile crime.  You take on the role of a detective hired to go undercover and infiltrate a crime family so as to bring them to justice for their crimes.

Bundled with the main crime solving action are Domini Games' usual collection of bonus extras.  While some of the extras, such as Hidden Object, mini games and videos, only grant access if progress has been made, you will need to complete the main game before a bonus chapter becomes available.

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In its usual fashion, Domini Games gives you the opportunity to adjust various audio volume levels, including that of voice, plus opt for a full screen viewing with an adjustable brightness setting.  When playing the game there is a choice of Casual, Advanced, Hardcore or Custom difficulty levels, offering different speeds of Hint and Skip recharging or even deactivating both features.

An opening introductory sequence will provide the means of building up the available tools to help assist with your undercover detective tasks that make up this game.  Running across the base of the scenic action will be icons giving access to a Journal and Map. plus an inventory showing items in your possession, along with icons for a Strategy Guide and Hint feature.  Occasionally an extra icon will be added and this allows you to move back to the previous scene. 

Completing the available tools are pop-out icons on the lower left and top right of the screen.  The left icon provides details of the newspaper clipping, badges and flower pots collected during the game.  The right icon gives feedback as to the various decisions made during vital points of action.  These decisions you make will lead to one of the three possible endings to the investigation but not to the game itself, as once this crime is solved, you are immediately move on to solve other crimes including the suspected death of Sebastian Griefer, an exorcist, and Lilith Oulson, a fortune teller.

The usual collection of features found in other Domini Games' titles are used throughout this game.  Split screens make regular appearance especially when communicating with other in-game characters who use spoken dialogue with lip movement.  A map feature will allow you to quickly move between locations and you will need to make decisions when there is a choice of routes to follow.  A changing mouse cursor and the appearance of sparkles will indicate when certain actions are possible.  You also get a number of Hidden Object scenes and mini game puzzles.

A variety of formats are used for Hidden Object game play.  You might be asked to find paired objects, search for items mentioned in a typed report, look for silhouette shapes or star constellations and identify items in a scene from a brief description.  With any of these types of scene, you have the option to switch to Match 3 play if it suits you better,  When faced with a mini game puzzle, you will be given the choice of an Easy or Hard version of the problem.  This task could involve moving elements of material to create a jacket, Spot the Difference between two similar scenes; plant flags on a map; guide a mouse through a maze; or arrange dates in images and rearrange linked elements.

Although it might not seem obvious initially, the crimes in this game are linked.  The circumstances of the different crime are spoilt somewhat by being hardly believable.  For example you would expect the head of a crime family to have more than one other member in his gang to carry out his bidding.  You can download this Domini Game from Gamehouse.com where it is priced at $19.99.  The game requires a 2.0 GHz processor with 1024MB of RAM and 0.99GB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.

Unsolved Case - Above the Law Collector's Edition | GameHouse