Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat

Did you enjoy Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Tim
Burton or the movies of Robert Rodrigues? If yes, the new game by Big Fish Game is definitely for you! Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat Collector’s Edition is the second endeavor of the studio to make a game based on Edgar Allan Poe’s novels. The first one was Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue Collector’s Edition and
got quit positive reviews almost a year ago. B

Did
you enjoy Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Tim Burton
or the movies of Robert Rodrigues? If yes, the new game by Big Fish Game
is definitely for you! Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat
Collector’s Edition is the second endeavor of the studio to make a game
based on Edgar Allan Poe’s novels. The first one was Dark Tales: Edgar
Allan Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue Collector’s Edition and got quit
positive reviews almost a year ago. But maybe the mysterious atmosphere
of Victorian England will bewitch you even more this time…

I’d
like to inform those of you who is acknowledged with Poe’s novels
pretty well that the black cat in this game is not at all a victim. The
only thing that makes BigFish’s cat related to his literary prototype is
a missing eye. A black cat in the game meets you at the very beginning
and the first thing you notice is his ruby eye. By the way all the tints
of red are so widely used in the game’s graphics that the movies of
Burton and Rodrigues were the first ones to come to my mind to compare
the game to. As for the cat it will be your main helper during all your
absorbing journey through the numerous back time locations in England.

The game plot is a continuation of the previous story: Inspector Dupin
proposes you to take part in the investigation once again. This time it
goes about a missing woman. Sara Davies has vanished in suspicious
circumstances and precisely 13 days later people started to see her on
the streets with her cat. But as soon as they tried to approach her she
disappeared. Perhaps some timid man would step back and refuse to meddle
in such a strange story. But that’s not you for sure. You’re already
following the cat.

The
game is a classic Hidden Object with a little quest and puzzles. The
unambiguous merit of it is its artwork. All the graphics are made inwarm
colors and provides you with the real scenes of good old England.
Though the place is nowhere indicated, hardly anyone can prove me it’s
not London. It is as obvious as the fact that money make world go round.
We may dispute that, but everyone will stick to one’s own opinion. So
following the cat you’ll ramble the paved streets and enter the
centuries-old estate. All the tiny details of the gorgeous interior just
made me feel sad there is no chance for me to touch them!

As for the music at the beginning it seemed really solid and worth some
opera show, but the more I played the more I got tired of it, as it has
repeated time after time. That made me appreciate the possibility to
mute it. The other strange thing concerning the sounds was that you can
hear all the noises starting with a barking dog ending with the wind,
but when Inspector Dupin addresses you, you may just read what he is
saying. In my opinion the overvoicing could make the game even more
fabulous…

The
thing that I liked the most as for the graphics was the unusual
inventory panel and the cursor that took non-standard forms. For example
when it is possible to take a look on something closer you’re informed
not with a magnifying glass that became standard for the majority of the
games, but with a revolving eye!

If I were asked what is the best in the game, I’d point on the
unpredictable plot. When it seems that you’ve already solved all the
tasks and approaching the end the plot makes a twist and everything
turns upside down. Many detective writers may be jealous to the
developer’s creativity!

All the tasks of the game are catching but not really challenging. The
HOG-scenes prevail. The hint and skip system works perfectly. You’re
provided with the tutorial and what is more there is a strategy guide.
For those who complete the game and don’t feel satisfied there are some
bonus scenes.