............................Moderator Comment..................................

I had unexpected visitors yesterday, which is why I didn't get the chance to play, then post a review of yesterdays game. The ssue with the file d3dx9_43.dll would indicate a problem with Direct X 9; thankfully there was an easy fix for that. :) My guests are still here so moderation will be slow.

James Patterson Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey

In Brief

Here's another Hidden Object Game based on James Patterson novels. As with last week’s game despite its age (almost a decade old), I found ''A Darker Shade of Grey'' refreshingly enjoyable to play after attempting to play innumerable stale HOG’s over the past several years. I give this a decent 8 out of 10

Installation:

James Patterson Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey downloads to a 110 MB zip file that unzips to three files, (a setup.gcd security wrapper, the set-up file and a read me). Those with multiple hard drives can save games on any drive they wish. The newly installed game is 121 MB in size. The game installs to the following path by default, but can be changed by the user if you prefer:

C:\Program Files (x86)\MyPlayCity.com\James Patterson Women's Murder Club - A Darker Shade of Grey

Four shortcuts are installed to the desktop. three of which can be safely deleted (Play Online Games, MyPlayCity Games and shortcuts to a free online game which vary each week). Also, if you don't like icons installed to the quick launch task bar, make sure you uncheck the box when the additional tasks window appears (after the Select Start Menu Folder window)

Introduction:

Investigate a mysterious crime in a detective game James Patterson Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey! You will come across a strange case – a cadet of a military academy fell off a cliff. But was it a mere accident? A detective, a forensic examiner extraordinaire and a reporter are ready to investigate the death of a poor boy. Search the crime scene for the evidence, take samples and examine them in the laboratory. A twisted detective story and a great number of puzzles are waiting for you in the game James Patterson Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey!

Reference accessed HERE 7th July 2018

The Game:

As more and more hidden object games are released, it sometimes feels like the best we can hope for is one that isn’t terrible, because finding one that’s truly great is a pipe dream. And then a game like Women’s Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey comes along and reminds us that even in a genre cluttered with repetitious and sloppily-made junk, you can still find examples of brilliance and ingenuity.

This second installment in the Women’s Murder Club series deals with the death of a young student at a military academy. At first, his fall from a cliff seems like little more than a tragic jogging accident, and the school’s headmaster is eager to have the case closed – a little too eager for Detective Lindsay Boxer’s liking. With a little help from medical examiner Claire Washburn and reporter Cindy Thomas, Lindsay begins digging deeper into the so-called accident.

During the investigation, you’ll play as all three characters, though the bulk of your time will be spent helping Lindsay uncover clues and gather evidence. Gameplay alternates between puzzle solving segments and hidden object levels, though they’re not quite the kind of hidden object scenarios you’re used to. Instead of scanning an attic for three swords, a top hat, a baseball and a boot, you search an office for the remnants of a shredded fax or a desk for boxes of microfiche.

The locations don’t break the realism of the plot by being too outlandish or asking you to find something you wouldn’t genuinely find useful. And yet despite sticking to relatively plausible scenarios – or perhaps because of it – the object-seeking segments of the game stay fresh and creative right up until the very end.

The puzzle segments are where A Darker Shade of Grey really shines, though. Whether it’s deducing a newspaper archivist’s bizarre filing system or translating a message in Morse Code, the game is constantly throwing new and clever challenges at you. Plenty of them are fun enough to replay on their own, but if they ever prove too difficult (I never could figure out the right words to use in the database search), you always have the option to skip them. The hints are plentiful as well; you get five per chapter, and whatever you don’t use carries over into the next round.

The extra help is to ensure that everyone can make it to the end of the story and find out whodunnit, and it’s a story that’s well worth finishing. Rather than being tacked on simply to give you an excuse to be rummaging through attics and trunks, the plot of Darker Shade of Grey is intriguing and well thought-out, with twists and turns worthy of a James Patterson novel.

A Darker Shade of Grey is sharp, intelligent, and inventive, but it does disappoint in two minor ways. First, the levels in which you play as medical examiner Claire are pointless and annoying. In the previous WMC title, you figured out the order in which to use your chemicals by solving progressively more difficult logic puzzles. In this game, you simply must pull the appropriate bottle off a conveyor belt as it trundles by. There’s absolutely no challenge at all, which makes the sections feel less like a challenge and more like busywork.

Secondly, the cutscenes that advance the story between chapters go by at a snail’s pace, and there’s no way to speed them up. Given that they’re presented like pages in a comic book, you should be able to click through once you’ve read the text, but you’re stuck either waiting for the scene to advance or skipping it entirely. New characters and clues are introduced in the scenes, so skipping them isn’t an option if you want to have any chance of following the story.

These are minor annoyances only, though, in what is otherwise a smart, inventive and thoroughly entertaining game. If you feel like every hidden object game you’ve played recently is indistinguishable from the one you played before, you’ll be thrilled at how refreshingly different A Darker Shade of Grey is. Even if you don’t consider yourself a fan of the genre, the mystery and puzzles are more than enough to keep you playing right up to the very end.

If you liked this game, try Women’s Murder Club: Death in Scarlet, The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes, and Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!

Edited reference accessed HERE. Originally posted by Vanessa Carter on Mar 2, 2009. Edited and reposted by Whiterabbit-uk 7th July 2018.

Other Reviews and Videos of James Patterson Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey:

You can see community reviews of James Patterson Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey HERE and more help via the Big Fish forums HERE. You can also see videos of game play [SPOILERS] HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. If you get stuck, you can find walkthroughs HERE and HERE

If you miss today's game giveaway you can always get the game via MyPlayCity 24/7 HERE; or If you prefer to purchase the game you can get it directly from Big Fish Games HERE

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank MyPlayCity for giving away James Patterson Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey with the toolbars etc. removed and also to the game giveaway team, as always, for securing other ways to get free games.

Suggestions:

After you've had an opportunity to play James Patterson Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey please take a few moments to give some positive or negative feedback about the game; for example, what you liked or disliked, or how improvements could be made to make it more enjoyable and perhaps change your mind about this game? If you don't like Hidden Object games at all, please explain why? If you don't have time to post a comment today, please do so at your convenience. These comments will always be accessible for as long as this site is open and provide a valuable resource for game developers, thank you. To access the comments once the giveaway is over, open the game giveaway to its home page then scroll to the bottom of the page where it says Archives and select the date the giveaway was live (giveaway days are in bold type). This will open up the appropriate page for you to post your comment or review.

Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway:

I've updated the games section that used to be posted with the review HERE. The rest of the information that used to be posted here can be found in the forums HERE. Also, check out Delenns thread over in the game discussion forums for details of other free games and offers HERE

Having problems installing today's game?

If you have a problem installing or activating or getting James Patterson Women's Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey to work please visit the problems section, which you can find in the FAQ's thread HERE. Also read through the community’s comments because sometimes fixes have already been posted. The main issue we have is with the giveaway wrapper, which uses a Themida based code to protect the games executable. Unfortunately, Themida is also used to hide malware; so, as a precaution, some security software may block the installation and sometimes even delete the executable file. Blocking or deletion is usually determined partly by the way your computer is set up. Usually you'll get a message saying ''the file is corrupted'', but, the files are okay. There are a couple of things you can do to overcome this issue. The first is to reboot in safe mode with networking, install the game then reboot, or secondly you can (at your own risk) temporarily turn off your security, install the game, then turn your security back on. A note of reassurance to those that choose the latter and quicker method. The game giveaway team have been giving away games for over a decade (Dec 2006 & prior to that, via the main site 2 or 3 times weekly from Oct 2006 to Dec 2006) and have 'NEVER' given away a game infected with malware; they always test every giveaway with several of the top anti-malware suites to ensure all games are free from malware.

If for any reason you want to contact the giveaway team, for example, if you have a problem getting the latest game or other issues that the FAQ's thread or these comments don't cover or solve or if you have a game to offer the community you can do so HERE