Fear for Sale: Mystery of McInroy Manor - Collectors Edition (PC CD)

Good hidden object and puzzle game - similar to Ravenhearst, Dire Grove etc. Reasonable story line. Kept me busy for a couple of nights.

... but then fizzled out. The start of the game showed lots of potential, for instance normally you'll find a hidden objects scene whereas the 'clutter' stays within the scene and you walk through it, there's lots of detail and then somewhere along the line I think the writers got bored. Most disappointing part is that the bonus extras are really the game itself cut into two sections so do the bonus to finish. No idea why this has been graded as 12. Mini games were easy. Good atmos music, some concepts of ghosts and things, but not Dire Grove or 13th Skull by any means. Could have been better. Filled a couple of rainy afternoons.

This is an un-timed middle-of-the-road point and click hidden object game played over five level plus one bonus level.
The first thing I noticed was the incredibly sluggish cursor. This was fixed by turning off the custom cursor via the options menu. However, the downside to using a normal cursor is that some of the changes to a pointer or a hand are so small that they can sometimes be missed.
The style of the artwork is constant throughout the game however, it is consistently mediocre with everything looking really grainy and sometimes, poorly drawn. It is this aspect, together with the unoriginal storyline, which holds this game back from being amongst the top echelon of the genre despite its reasonable length.
The point and click aspect is of an acceptable standard with no delays in travelling between the numerous areas and the many interactions being not that obvious for the most part. In any event, there is an integral strategy guide available in-game if needed.
Hidden object scenes are plentiful but they are usually quite crowded with objects altered in many different ways in order to hide and disguise them. By far the hardest to find are the miniaturised items for which excellent eyesight (or a magnifying glass) is required. These scenes are also non passive as well as a fair number of them require a small interaction with an object to reveal a deeper hidden item. With a small cursor these can be difficult to locate.
Each list details 12 items to locate and a lot of concentration is required to find them all due to the grainy style of the artwork and just poorly drawn objects. The artwork doesn't actually improve through the game and after a while it doesn't seem so bad but that's just because you simply get used to it.
Hints are unlimited and accurate and the recharge takes about 1.5 minutes. There is a small downside to using the hint/skip button however. Pop-in boxes let you know your percentage of accuracy in both hidden object scenes and mini-games and it is based on how often you use the hint/skip button. It has no bearing on anything and seems to only serve to point out how accurate or inaccurate your game play is.
There aren't that many mini games and they're not very original although they do vary in difficulty. All of them can eventually be skipped however.
The music is nothing special although at times it does add a sense of danger and foreboding as do the incidental sounds.
Once finished the bonus level is unlocked and it continues the story immediately on from where it was left off but in new areas of the building which is a nice touch. It's of a reasonable length as well. The subsequent other extras consist of the usual music, wallpapers and concept art.
If the artwork were more polished and the storyline more original then this could have been one of the top games in the point and click genre. As it is, there's just simply nothing special about it therefore resigning it to a middle ranking status and only 3 stars.