I'm a big fan of point and click games and think they're a great workout for the eyes, and when I was in my local Gamestation looking for some new games for my DS I found this pre-owned for £12.99, it looked like my kind of thing, I love a good mystery, mixed with some point and click puzzles I thought it would be a great buy. However, I was left feeling a little disappointed the further I got into the game and ended up trading it back in the week after I bought it.

Gameplay:

You play the character of a journalist who is holidaying on a picturesque Caribbean Island. After a kidnapping on said island, it is up to you and your trusty DS pen to piece together the clues and solve the mystery of an ancient Mayan Curse. Right from the off the plot to the story seems pretty lame.

There are over 180 different puzzles and mini games for you to complete, with over 1000+ hidden objects to be found. This however doesn't mean that these are 1000 different objects, a lot of the objects repeat themselves in puzzles so you get used to trying to find certain objects, after doing a few puzzles you get used to knowing what something looks like and therefore you can find it easier as you go along. There are 40 locations to explore taking you from the Caribbean to Berlin. There are 2 ways to play the game ; Normal mode wants you to play with a time limit, but if you're after a little less of a challenge you can play in Relaxed mode and not be timed.

Each location will require you to find certain things that according to the dialogue will be "vital to your investigation", so you're searching a location and apparently a tape measure or a bike bell will be vitally important to you finding the kidnappers! It's extremely far fetched, and there isn't really much you can do in ways of solving the mystery of the Mayan Curse. The game shouldn't have been titled as mystery stories but something more simple like "find the stuff", as the story really is quite ridiculous.

The locations in the game are quite stunning, and each picture is heavy with detail. As you move around the various locations around the globe searching for clues behind the mystery, each picture changes accordingly but the objects you need to find are always very similar. You could be looking for a snorkle and a pineapple in the Caribbean, and looking for the same things in Berlin. I think the developers simply ran out of ideas for objects in the end.

The controls are simple, you need the use of your Nintendo DS stylus and thats about it. You can scroll further across the screen in all directions on the hunt for the objects on your list, if you get stuck you can use hints, but these aren't in endless supply. You earn hints through each level and if you don't use them you accumulate even more. There is also an option to "freeze time" so the clock stops and you can have a free look around the screen. Once you have completed certain locations there is a small cut scene and some pointless dialogue to go with it, which is meant to talk you through the story and end up with the answer to the Mayan mystery, however towards the end of the game I ended up just skipping through the chit chat and getting right back into the game.

Overall:

The game has an age rating of 3+ but I really doubt that a young gamer is going to want to play this, even if they did I think they'd be bored to tears within a few levels. There's no blood guts or guns, so why would they want to play this? It's a good game for a lazy sunday afternoon as it's not very taxing on the brain and requires little thought to actually play the game. You aren't really solving the Mystery yourself, the game is basically a scavenger hunt on your DS. I'd recommend it to older players who like puzzles or point and click games, but it's not really worth anything over £10.

It took me a couple of days to complete the main story, in the end I never real took much interest in the story as it was so far fetched. I ended up just blasting through the levels and skipping most of the dialogue between locations. Some puzzles are tricker than others but it really doesn't take a genious to work out the mystery behind this game, that it's a complete rip off.