Dark Asylum: Mystery Adventure:

In Brief:
Dark Asylum: Mystery Adventure has a different take on the usual Adventure HOG, and in my opinion is well worth downloading. I’d score it a 8.5 out of 10 for refreshing game play.


The game was first given away on the 3rd of December 2017 where it received a positive 84% from 38 votes with 16 comments which you can see HERE. It was also given away on the 9th of June 2019 where it received a positive 91% from 33 votes with 16 comments which you can see HERE and finally the most recent give was on the 30th August 2020 where it received a positive 83% from 29 votes with 14 comments which you can see HERE.

You can see several videos of game play HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. You can also see four Steam community reviews of the game HERE (two negative & two positive)), and a written walkthrough HERE.

Introduction/ Background Story:
Strange things are happening at the local asylum and you've been tasked with the investigation. You must perform tasks for the inmates to gain their trust, and then find out what they know. Just don't be distracted by the screams that echo down the unlit corridors, or the voices that whisper in your ear when no one is standing there...

Featuring a captivating combination of adventure and hidden object gameplay, Dark Asylum contains dozens of unnerving rooms to explore and each one is packed with secrets and pulsating with an undercurrent of dread. To solve the mystery of the asylum, you'll need to search for hundreds of items buried within the decaying rooms and hallways and use special skills that allow you to locate objects quickly. Discover and use powerful artifacts, track your achievements, and experience multiple game modes, including the appropriately named "Scary nightmare mode." (You won't want to play this mode alone at night!)

Do you have a rational mind and a strong heart? If so, you just might survive to the end. If not, don't say we didn't warn you. Begin the descent into darkness today – if you dare!

Features:
Solve a thrilling mystery in a scary asylum
Enjoy adventure and hidden object gameplay
Use your eagle eyes in dozens of HOG scenes
Discover artifacts and earn achievements
Master multiple game modes

Reference accessed HERE, originally posted by Valve (Steam) 18th Sept 2018. Reposted by Whiterabbit-uk 16th November 2022.

The Game:
With its title of Dark Asylum: Mystery Adventure, you should expect that you are about to enter an environment where everything is not quite what you might expect; this is certainly the case with this Hidden Object game that has a slight adventure influence the main aspect of object searching game play.

In common with many games of a similar genre, you can make some adjustments to the game’s playing environment. You can set the volume levels for background music and sound effects. These settings do not apply to spoken dialogue as this does not appear in the game. You just get dialogue appearing as text in speech bubbles. The only other option is whether to play the game in full screen mode or not. The progress of individual players will be stored in their named profile.

When playing this game, you will quickly notice that the game’s developers are rather over-fond of the program’s title screen. This feature keeps on reappearing whenever you enter a new or previously visited area of the asylum. I would have happily turned off this feature if I had been able.

Dark Asylum: Mystery Adventure casts you in the role of an investigator who is charged with the task of checking out the strange goings-on that have been occurring at this strange asylum. Obviously, your superiors, well in name if not ability, who set you on this task, have a high opinion of you because actually assistance to help you complete the various tasks is limited, to say the least as you are thrown into the deep end.

You have to rely on the patients to help get you started, and I do not need to remind you that these patients are in an asylum where strange things have been happening. For example, your first encounter with a patient finds you being advised that this is a terrible place, and you should escape as soon as possible otherwise the sinister atmosphere would weaken your spirit and destroy your soul. You are then asked to provide the patient with a knife which can be located in the mental ward. This knife will be required to release other patients from the restraint jackets that they have been put in. So be warned!

You move around the asylum using a birds-eye view of a map with some rooms being currently blocked with a lock symbol. Various quests will need to be completed during the game. These quests are classified as either Story or Non-story tasks. With Story quests, you will need to find a well-hidden object, such as a telephone receiver. You will not be allowed to progress to a higher level until all the Story quests in the current chapter have been completed. Non-story quests provide the means of earning experience points and money used to purchase equipment. Non-story quests could involve getting rid of an enemy, talking with patients or finding certain objects.

Throughout the game you will come across Collections which are rare items that can be collected and bring with them experience points and money. You will also meet wandering enemies and patients. Enemies are nightmare creatures that can prevent you from learning the secrets of the asylum in various ways such as reducing the time available to complete a task, stealing your money or cutting the available experience points. The patients you encounter are generally friendly and will offer to give you money and experience points. You will only encounter patients in corridors rather than rooms and wards.

Food can be purchased and eaten to replenish your health and there are various tools available to help simplify searches. Hidden Object gameplay, with scenes, often repeated, will require you to find the six objects listed in text format within a specific time period.

There is a Hint feature, but this is not rechargeable; however, every so often this Hint feature will be replenished with more hints.

Dark Asylum: Mystery Adventure is not the easiest game to pick up. Even after playing the game for several sessions I still feel that I am struggling to work out what is required. In fact, if it had not been for the need to write this review I would probably have given up on the game. The full game is priced at USD $9.99. System requirements call for a 1.6GHz processor with 1024MB of RAM and 720MB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.

Personally (Whiterabbit), I found this HOG a breath of fresh air after playing so many HOG’s over the last several years. I totally missed this one when it was released, probably because I cancelled my BFG account as the monthly game I got invariably seemed to focus on HOG’s as not much else seemed to be released at the time (or at least BFG were not promoting other genres so well), so I cancelled my monthly subscription. After playing this for a few hours, I thoroughly enjoyed the refreshing take on this genre. Granted, at first, I was a little confused at all the different windows that popped up but discovering what they were and how to use them was part of the fun for me. This game is definitely a keeper for me.

Edited reference accessed HERE, Originally posted by mfereday on 4th January 2017. Edited and briefly added to (last paragraph) by Whiterabbit-uk 2nd December 2017, then reposted 16th November 2022.

Conclusion:
An excellent Hidden Object game, though you may find it a little confusing at first. There are elements of RPG included with respect to upgrading various things. I haven’t been interested in playing HOG’s for a few years now after playing far too many, but this one I really enjoyed playing and highly recommend it to all HOG lovers. If you don’t like the usual run of the mill adventure HOG’s try this one out, it may surprise you. 8.5 out of 10 from me.

Notes on Security
The file was too large to use Virus Total; however, Internxt gave it a clean bill of health. (The scan doesn't give me any details). If anyone is looking for more free cloud storage, Internxt allow 2GB with a possible 8GB more with a free account.