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Opening with a warning regarding its content, Halloween Stories - Written in Blood is a Hidden Object Adventure game from Elephant Games that is available in Collector's Edition format that bundles a number of bonus items to supplement the main game.  After working your way through environment adjustments regarding volume levels and screen size settings, you can select from Casual, Advanced, Hardcore and Custom difficult levels before being enrolled as Catherine Garcia-Gonzalez who is a member of the Debunkers, a team of paranormal investigators.

Not surprising, considering the Halloween aspect, your current task involves investigating a haunted museum.  This museum has a strong connection to the mysterious black box featured in the game's opening sequence.  While your investigation does not get off to the best of starts, as two members of your team are kidnapped by an evil sorcerer called Barlow, various tools are provided to assist you complete various tasks. 

Arranged across the base of the game's different scenes are a Map, offering transporting facilities, Task and Collectible feature, current Task notification, Inventory, Strategy Guide and Hint options.  The Inventory can be locked in position or left to disappear when not required.  It will mark certain items with a plus sign to indicate that some work will need to be carried out before that item can be used.

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Along with the previously mentioned museum, your investigation will take you into a Hall of Horrors, a Library that requires a special way of entry, Archive, Swamp Graveyard and a creepy Basement.  As part of the numerous tasks involved in trying to defeat Barlow, who gives himself the title of Lord, and rescuing your colleagues, you will need to tackle various spirits, avoid traps and remove the threats caused by spells.  Often the appropriate measure to achieve progress will require an action that is not particularly obvious.  But the solution can be found by testing different alternatives.

Each scene will be packed with items that might, or might not, be relevant to your search.  Among the more obvious items will be a number of mini game puzzles and Hidden Object game play that will block your progress.  The featured mini game puzzles cover a variety of tasks involving Match 3 game play, memory selection, repeating a sequence, shooter activity, move gears and create a path that needs to be followed. 

Indicated by an outbreak of sparkles, Hidden Object game play makes use of different ways of displaying the required items and the scene containing the content.  Sometimes you will need to search a scene or a book as you look for a list made up of images, words, silhouettes or patterns.  As well as finding the required items, you might need to replace some in the current scene.

Having completed the main game, with its special effects and sinister locations with an overall feeling of dread, you will be granted access to the various bonus elements such as a bonus chapter, secret room, Collectibles found, plus replaying mini game puzzles and Hidden Object scenes.  You can also tackle a bonus chapter to continue your investigation

I downloaded my copy of this title from Gamehouse.com where it is priced at $19.99.  The title is also available from Big Fish Games priced at £15.46.  The game requires a 2.0 GHz processor with 2048MB of RAM and 1.07GB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.

Halloween Stories - Written in Blood Collector's Edition | Big Fish Games

Halloween Stories - Written in Blood Collector's Edition | GameHouse