Well, I'm back to an "F" grade on this game. I got almost to the end and the game crashed during (I am assuming) the final cut scene. Now I cannot continue because there is nothing to do in any of the scenes and the actions described in the walkthrough I found are unavailable. This seems to be a common problem so I will not waste my time replaying the game. Too bad. Gets a "thumbs" down from me.

I was really enjoying this game after giving it an "F" during my original demo of the game. However, when the game crashed and I restarted it, I had only 3 of the 8 rubies I had found. What I discovered was that the restart defaulted to the first profile (my demo). After changing to my current profile, I was back on track. Just thought I would mention it in case anyone else has the same problem.

Obviously today the give away has ended. Is there anyway to find where it installed and start the game that "said" it activated?

...........................Moderator comment............................

Most giveaways are free standing, which means no or few registry entries. This is why your windows uninstaller doesn't work on most giveaways. Usually game giveaways are either installed to C:\Games\name of game or C:\Program files\name of game, unless it's a Playrix game in wich it is installed to C:\Program files\Playrix entertainement\name of game.

Sundays game should have been installed to C:\Games\VampireSagaWelcomeToHellock_Game

Op[en up the folder and locate the games exe file then create a shortcut.

Thanks Bob. Since it has expired I can no longer test. However this is not on my end. Seriously. Was working just fine for some time. Only recently can I no longer test the applications. The giveaway no longer starts the packaged installation. And yes I have even added the installer to the exception rules for my firewall and Antivirus.

I made further tests on a virtual PC where no firewall or antivirus is present other then the Windows default, and here I get errors like, 'cannot write', 'cannot connect to server' as well as the error I had. I don't doubt that others are not having a problem, however how many are and not saying anything?

In any event, I cannot, and will not, give a positive to the author if I cannot install and test. And since the installation failed, I can only give a thumbs down on this. For me, this is 100% giveaway issue that really needs to be fixed. All other applications are working just fine, only the recent giveaways are failing to install, and only recently have I been commenting on this.

In regards to the log file, cannot provide this information, I don't see any link in your comments and in the temp folder there are only a few log files, all empty (o bytes). I doubt you'll actually answer this but I'm giving you, and giveaway, the information so that it can be resolved.

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

Hi Giveaway fan,

I'm sorry you've not been able to get this game. There were over 14 000 downloads of this game, with no one else reporting problems with the installer. It almost certainly has to be an issue at your end. Statistically with only yourself reporting this (0.007% of the giveaway population that downloaded this game). it's 99.993% certaintly that it is a fault with your system. If there was a fault with the installer, there would be a significant number of community members unable to install this game and we would have been inundated with complaints that community members were having the same issue as you are having.



Your argument about how many are having this problem, but are not saying has no substance to it, because if there was a population of giveaway community members having problems, even if some didn't report the problem (and I'm sure there would have been some) there would still have been some posting about the issue to seek help because they would have wanted the game.

You should be able to see log files of any errors/issues via the event viewer. Just type event viewer in the search field and it will open the viewer. From there you should be able to view any error messages that have been recorded. It's advisable to open the event viewer immediately after the event, otherwise it can be quite tedious searching through the error messages. Though, if they are dated with a time stamp it may be easier to find.

I do hope you are able to fix the issue. There are other alternative; if you really want these games you could check out the free games sites such as Toomkygames and MyPlaycity (I've linked to the main ones in my review (see comment number 1). They do try to persuade you to install tool bars and change your home page and in some cases your browser, but these are easily avoided by unchecking the check boxes during installation. One of the regular giveaway community members (Diane) has said that Toomkygames doesn't install toolbars etc and is probably the best to go for. Not all giveaways are available from the free games sites, but Sundays was. If you are unsure about installing a game from those sites, perhaps try using your VM first to see how you feel about using their games. They are absolutely safe with respect to malware. When you close one of their games down, it will open your browser to the sites home page. (it's their way of earning revenue as everytime someone visits their site they get income).

It's probably the setup.gcd file that you are having issues with. Becasue it's Themida based it has caused a lot of problems for quite a few community members. unfirtunately, the giveaway team were forced into adding the security due to unscrupulous community members, who found out how to hack the giveaway wrapper. This eventually led to some community members posting details of how to hack the wrapper, thus securing a permanant executable that you coulld install at any time. This had consequences for the giveaway team, becasue developers were not happy giving away games only to see them posted on peer to peer sites. Developers started to disappear, so the giveaway team had to take action and incorporate a decent protection memchanism to stop the hackers. This resulted in the themida based code.

Good grief! This game really takes you by the hand and leads you through in Casual Mode ; maybe I should switch to Expert :-)

I think the review you copied was unduly negative -- the graphics are crisp and bright, not muddy at all -- and the story is intriguing enough, so far as I've progressed. The setting is pretty depressing, but I'm hoping for a satisfying ending.

Thanks for this one, Alawar and GGOTD, and Whiterabbit for your reviews and moderating.

Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow, Canadians!

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

Thank you for your feedback Mac. :)

I just got to play the very beginning of the game. It really wasn't enough to say much as far as that goes. I really like Pandora's Box, so I'm sure I'll like this one. I assume they are along the same line.

I wanted to thank Alawar and GGOTD for the game today. It is always like Christmas and I really appreciate the chance to play the games.

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

Thank you Paula :)

I tried 3 times to install on my wifes computer. Although it says it is activated, I can not find the program. It states in read me file it should be in C:\Games\VampireSagaWelcomeToHellock_Game) that folder does not exist. I did not change installation folder during installation.
I tried to install in my computer with the same results. Also tried a search for the program, it does not exist anywhere. Hate I missed this game, seemed cool.

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

The search function won't work becsue the game is ionstalled free standing, which means no registry entries. Try installing to a path you know. i.e. C:\program files\VampireSagaWelcomeToHellock_Game, then go to that path and open the folder to find the games executable to create a shortcut.

I now see there WAS a sequel made, in fact there are three to the series, this one is number two. I'll wait for them to appear here because I don't like the toolbars and other garbage that come with games on other sites.

.............................Moderator comment..................................


:)

Hahaha I agree. Still wondering what it really means. Sequel perhaps?

for a while i always get "failed to connect"-screen, when i try to activate a game. turned of my kaspersky but the same result. has anyone an idea, where tp locate the problem???

missed lot of games, i would love to play.

please help

thanks!

suckie

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

Hi Suckie, have you checked the FAQ's thread. I link to it in my comment above (see the problems section comment number 1). Immediately after trying to install open up the event viewer and check the most recent logs. If there is a conflict or other problem, you can usually find a log of it there. Some error messages may seem cryptic, but often small clues can be found, for example if you see the words DX it would indicate your direct X needs updating. Often it's a graphic driver problem, or a conflict with security.

Hopefully you will find a fix in the FAQ's thread; it's not extensive list, but there are a few fixes that you could try, including going into compatibility mode and making sure 'Play as Administrator' is checked and maybe trying it on a different operating mode eg XP, Win 7 etc. If you're not sure how to find compatibility mode, right click on the games executable (you can do this via the shortcut to the game) and select properties.

When the properties window opens select the compatibility tab. Try various combinations by checking and/or unchecking various parameter to see if you can get the game to work.


You can find the FAQ's thread via the following link:


http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/11647

;)

Hi, since we had Vampire Saga: 'Pandora's Box' gave away here back in April - after completing it I went to check if there was more, and indeed there was already a 'trilogy' of them out there. Next came Today's Giveaway: V.S: 'Welcome tho Hell Lock', followed by V.S: 'Break Out'.
I got Hell Lock and Break Out from MyPlayCity, but downloaded Today's Game from here nevertheless, as I prefer clean download without watching any boxes to untick either when installing, or starting a Game from M.P.C's Console.

Really good set of Games these Sagas are - if one likes HOGs and a bit of atmospheric, 'dark & gory' Story line (never to be taken too seriously mind:), especially at this time of a year leading to Halloween.. I like graphics enough (nice HOs), but strangely enough find some scenes bit 'rough round the edges', perhaps because the concept of mixing realistic and cartoony doesn't work well in this instance? Just my impression.., well, only yesterday I completed playing 'Nearwood', main and bonus play, so I'm bound to be spoiled by enchanting (and consistent) graphic feast!:)..

Thanks very much GGOTD for Today's Gift, Stephen for hard grafting and moderating and above all (in recent times) for..continuity of this fine Site in keeping things as they are, where they are, where they make make perfect sense, where one can find and check Archives still on page(!) - with ease, interest and pleasure, where one can read, learn, being able to concentrate on essence and value of Comments, and when time allows - wanting to participate and leave own feedback in return.

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

Thank you as always for your comments Fran, appreciated. :)

Windows 10 x64 Pro Ok install. Only nag is game doesn't play FULL size, has black borders on sides. But
game is most excellent. I love the way they treat HOG format with the highlights in Casual (didn't try Expert). Other little bits make it decent to play. The objects are really nice. Whole thing has a comic book flair to it. Much fun keeper. 9/10 for me. Thanks for a great Fall season play.

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

Glad you liked it. Was dubious about posting the negative reviews, but didn't have the time to review the game properly myself. Agree about the comic book look.

From your description of the problem it sounds like it's most likely a false positive detection by your anti-virus program, which is blocking execution of the setup.exe program.

Check way back up at the top of Comment #1 for an explanation of the problem and suggested workarounds.
This has been happening to a lot of people recently and it's usually a fairly simple fix to get the installation running correctly.

..................................Moderator comment.............................

Thank you for your feedback Bob. :)

What more can I say than everybody else.

I love the game and the story line but it's much too easy.

Thank you anyway cause I will have something to spend free time with ;-)

..................................Moderator comment.............................

:)

Well, I was a little skeptical due to the bad reviews, but I don't find the game so bad, at least not so far. I think I'd recommend it for people with mild visual disabilities because it is so helpful, and the visuals are clear enough to see what's there. The repetition mentioned in other reviews might actually make it fun for people with memory problems too, who might not normally gravitate to HOG style games. So far, it looks a bit like a ghost story rather than a vampire, but I'm only a little ways into the game and haven't seen anything odd yet other than strange shadows. Installation was normal and I was able to switch off the custom cursor, which I like. It won't play in windowed mode unless you have a high enough resolution to support it. I think this game deserves a bit more respect than it is getting.

..................................Moderator comment.............................

Thank you for your feedback Therese. I agree that it would be ideal for visually impaired community members. I was sceptical of posting the negative reviews, unfortunately I wasn't able to find any lengthy positive ones which lead me to believe that it may have been a poor game, tohugh my initial feelings after playing it for 20 minutes was a little more positive. I did try to give a positive slant to it in my brief intro' before the two reviews. Just a pity that the owners have not been letting me get copies of the games for the past several months. I used to get a copy of each game a few days before they went live so that i could review them before they went live. Now I'm struggling to give the games justice as by the time I've finished playing the game and written a full review several hours have passed. Most visitors download in the first quarter of the giveaway, so i always feel it a waste of my time working on the day of the giveaway. I've been really busy for the past few weekends due to bad tenants so haven't had the time to play the games before posting reviews.

Nothing worked. Uninstalling.

..................................Moderator comment.............................

Please check the FAQ's thread over in the game discussion forums. You'll find a link in the problems section in my comment above. (See comment number 1). I'm sure you'll find a fix for whatever the problem was?

See my reply on comment 3 above, about the Properties box and checking the box for “Disable display scaling on high DPI settings.” This is all I had to do.

I also have Windows 10 64 bit system.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! For the tip about clicking on the Properties and Compatibility mode, to fix compatibility issues.

My issue was that the display was too big for my monitor screen, cutting off about 1/3rd of the screen. Checking the box for "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" fixed my issue.

You have no idea how many games I abandoned because of this issue.

Again, thanks!

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

Glad to be of help Shirley. :)

Windows 10 64bit. Downloaded fast and installed easily after I disabled Tencent PC Manager. Plays easily.

Sorry -- my last statement got changed. I didn't mean to try to use html but it thought my use of gamename (within brackets) with the last line as html. The default exe for ToomkyGames is the game's name.exe. Just change that to "game.exe" to avoid the browser opening.

..................................Moderator comment.............................

:)

One of the reasons games from free sites open your browser once you close the game down is because it gives the site earnings. Everytime you visit their site they earn a little through advertising; (more if you actually open an advert), but with thousands of visitors every day, those little trickles of earnings do mount up. They use the majority of those earnings to pay the developers of all of the games they are giving away for free. I've been told they pay a specific amout each year to each developer to be able to continue to give the games away. If everyone stopped the browser opening, it would cut the income from advertising drastically and would reduce the number of games the site could offer for free.

For those interested - This is the 2nd of 3 Vampire Saga games. The first one was already offered here. The three are: Pandora's Box, Welcome to Hell Lock, and Breakout. All three are available at both MyPlayCity and ToomkyGames.

I would recommend ToomkyGames because there is less "garbage" with the install and both have the ability (if you know how) to avoid the opening of the browser. ToomkyGames is cleaner (no attempt to hijack anything) and gives you the opportunity to put the game where you want!

With MyPlayCity, there are 16 or 17 files plus one folder that is just flat garbage that can be removed (about 5 MB/game). With ToomkyGames, it's one or 2 files. Just change the shortcut with ToomkyGames to start game.exe instead of .exe and no browser opening!

..................................Moderator comment.............................

Still not got ToomkyGames on my personal radar, which is why I don't check to see if there are any games at the moment. I don't usually get games from any the free sites any more as I personally prefer to buy the games (I feel like I'm supporting the developer a little, besides, I can afford them).

The archive is either in unknown format or damaged...
FAQ didn't help!
The content of the temp folder where the other setup.exe is:
pih.dll with 1.778.784 b
setup.exe (with a winzip icon) with 157.184 b

..................................Moderator comment.............................

Please check the FAQ's thread over in the game discussion forums. You'll find a link in the problems section in my comment above. (See comment number 1)

Inquiring minds want to know if NOPE juice stains. It does! NOPE juice stains badly! To remove a NOPE juice stain you have to apply a liberal dose of Dawn dishwashing liquid and scrub vigorously! SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB

This game requires A LOT of soak and elbow grease!

I just removed a Vampire Saga game from my hard drive earlier this week. I'm not sure but I really think that game left a visible stain on my hard drive! NOPE NOPE There is a spot on my screen that just won't rub off! NOPE NOPE

How worthless can a HOG be if the HOG tells you where all the HO are H?

NOPE NOPE

..................................Moderator comment.................................

Hi Swampy, I agree, it's made this game far too easy, at least for adults. It may be a game that kids may enjoy, tohugh I'm not so certain the theme is suitable. :)

(scoring table not visible Whiterabbit!)

..................................Moderator comment.................................

Hi nek4d, Your monitor may be set to an incompatible setting for the game. unfortunately you can't change resolution via the game options, though you could try disabling the display scaling via the compatibility tab. :)

Good grief! That was a surprisingly dark and disturbing ending! :O

I'm afraid this game was a total disaster for me. I've always loved Alawar games, but this one wouldn't work. I tried playing as Administrator and changing the compatibility to Windows 7. I have a Win10 64 bit system. I could get the executive file to open the game. However the introductory sequence and the title page was off-centre so I could only see 75 percent of them. When I clicked on anything other than 'play' or 'exit' on the Main Menu, the game would crash. After clicking on 'play', however, there was little joy. An opening screen showed with lots of insects flying over it, but there were no directional arrows or any interaction on the screen that I could see.

AS the game took about two hours to download, it's a little anti-climatic.

Thanks, anyway, GAOTD, for a great resource. I love the opportunity to play free games and most of them work totally fine.

..................................Moderator comment.................................

Hi Wendy,

From what you describe, it is probably your monitors resolution that is causing the problem. Whatever you have it set to isn't native to this game. Unfortunately there is no option to chage screen resolution in game. Try disabling display scaling via the compatibility tab. :)

Update on my last comment: contrary to the rest of the gameplay, with regards to the generator in the mine entrance, they allow the cogs to be placed incorrectly!!! Doh!! How inconsistent! As soon as I tried with the cogs switched, the generator chugged into life!!

..................................Moderator comment.................................

Hi Sunnaze,

Good that you figured it. :)

Aaghhh! I have gotten as far as the mine entrance, where you have to attach all the cogs, fan belt and whatnots onto the generator, and once you've done so, you then receive the message that you believe you can start it now by pulling the lever, which the sparkles indicate as well, but no matter how many times I try, after having tried to chugg itself into action, all the parts fall off again and I have to start over!! The inventory belt is not active, so it's not as if I can try attaching anything else from there, and the whole frame is inactive except for the start lever!! Aaghhh!!!

I've downloaded it twice. Both times, the game shut down before I started playing, when I clicked 'options' in order to soften the volume of the music. It looks like an old creepy-horror themed game, so I will not be trying a third time.

Does not install.

Extract all the files from the zip file.
Run the setup.exe and get a message saying Activating that closes after a minute or so, then nothing.
I waited about 10 minutes and even retried several times.

I can see in the Windows Task Manager that two setup.exe programs are running, one is in the folder I extracted the zip file to, one is in the Windows temp folder.

Ending the setup.exe process tree from the location where I extracted the zip file, closes both setup.exe programs from the task manager. Ending only the setup.exe from the Windows temp folder results in the wrapper showing again and opening the giveaway site.

The content of the temp folder where the other setup.exe is:
pih.dll with 1.778.784 b
setup.exe (with a winzip icon) with 157.184 b

Nothing more, and I did check for hidden files.

Appears the Giveaway installer isn't working correctly since the downloaded content is much larger then the content it is running to install? If this is an error with the giveaway installer this is very unfair to the supplier, if the supplier is at fault, they need to update the installer as it looks like the giveaway installer is failing.

Please repair and I can only give a thumbs down on this if the installer is failing to function correctly.

..................................Moderator comment.................................

Hi GiveAwayFan,

Thank you for your detailed message, however, it's not the giveaway installer that is the problem. Nearly 5000 copies of this giveaway have already been downloaded. If there was a problem with the installer, we would have been inundated with messages from the community. It has to be something at your end that is causding the problem. Please check the FAQ's thread over in the game discussion foirums. i've linked to it in my comment above. (see comment number 1). Check your event log to see if there are any logs related to the giveaway installation. It may be a program you are running in the background is interfering with the installation, for example, your security. Please read the first couple of paragraphs i've written in my comment above, which expalains about the Themida protection that the giveaway is packaged with, and its effect on some community members attempts at trying to install.

........................Moderator comment............................

Thanks Chewy, obviously a spelling error, nicely spotted. :) Deleted as requested.

Keeps crashing on the sign in screen. I've had problems before with other games, all I had to do was change the option for the windowed mode vs the full screen mode. I can't get there because of the crashing.
I hope I can get it fixed...

........................................Moderator comment.................................

Hi Daniel,

Please visit the FAQ's thread over in the game discussion forums. I've linked to it in comment number 1 above. Try right clicking on the games executable, then select properties. Then click on the compatibility tab. Make sure the administrators check box is checked. Also try checking some of the other boxes found in compatibilty mode. :)

I get this error while installing this game: "The archive is either in unknown format or damaged". After that nothing is installed.

........................................Moderator comment.................................

Hi Infiltrator,

Please visit the FAQ's thread over in the game discussion forums. I've linked to it in comment number 1 above. you will find fixes for this problem. :)

......................................Moderator comment..........................................



For those of you who are getting hits by your anti malware suites, firstly it will be a false positive; the reason you may be getting a hit is because your anti-malware suite is picking up the Themida based protection, which was put in place to protect the game from unscrupulous community members that were hacking the giveaway wrapper which then gave them unlimited access to a registered copy of the game, and which was being put on peer to peer sites. Some community members were even uploading video tutorials on You Tube telling you how to do it yourself.

Themida based applications are sometimes seen as a threat by anti-malware. I can assure you this game and hundreds before, that have given community members cause for concern have been totally safe. The game giveaway team have managed to secure well over a thousand games for us since they first started giving games away back in late 2006 (firstly via the main site back in Oct 2006, then via the game giveaway site early December 2006). There has never been an infected game given away.

If you are able to configure your anti-malware suite to allow the 'offending' file through security, the game should then install normally. If you can't, or don't know how to, then the other way would be to temporarily turn off your protection. You do so at your own risk, but please do take into account what I've already said above; in a nut shell, every malware occurance reported here since the game giveaway went live in Dec 2006 have been false positives due to overly sensitive anti-malware suites.

It would be against the teams best interest to allow such an occurance as it would destroy their good standing with the big search engines and I'm sure many who have frequented this site for a long time would leave. The giveaway team use several antimalware suites to test every game given away here.


Another thing to consider when you think the game is infected, if it really was, there would be hundreds of community members posting about the infection; we rarely see more than a few posts for any particular game. Since the gcd file was introduced over the summer of 2012 I have seen many more community members reporting infections due to the Themida based code found in the giveaways wrapper protection. However, out of the thousands of downloads each week, those community members reporting a malware hit are considered insignificant and support the fact that the results they are getting are actually false positives. They have always been proven to be so.

Vampire Saga: Welcome to Hell Lock:

Installation:

Vampire Saga: Welcome to Hell Lock downloads as a 147 MB zip file that unpacks to a read me document that contains the terms and conditions and a wrapped dual activation and set up module and a security set up file (setup.gcd). Just for the newcomers amongst today’s users that means the game will be registered once it’s gone through the set up process, so there’s no registering the game with an activation code. The instal path is:

C:\Games\VampireSagaWelcomeToHellock_Game

There is no desktop or Start menu shortcuts intalled. Sometimes I've found the installation path shows the previous game I installed from this site, so to be sure you don't install the game inside a previous game, check the installation path when you start the installation. You can usually find where it's supposed to go by looking in the read me file that comes with the download. To stop this happening, clear your cache. The installed game is 301 MB in size

If you have any problems installing or registering Vampire Saga: Welcome to Hell Lock, check the problems section below and if none of the fixes work, it is available free from MyPlayCity HERE 24/7. Please do take care when installing from such sites as you may install toolbars or have your home page or browser provider changed. Make sure you uncheck all check boxes during installation. :)



Introduction:

Welcome to Hill Lock, a place no one in their right mind would want to be. The abandoned town beckons you to explore its ravaged streets. Fire that reaches up through cracks in the earth threatens your life and signs that something unnatural is stalking you have your nerves on edge. To escape, you'll have to gather useful items and solve clever puzzles. Find the path that leads you out of hell in Vampire Saga: Welcome to Hell Lock!

Reference accessed HERE Oct 11th 2015

The Game:



The following two reviews were not written by me. I've posted them because I've not had time to play the game enough to write a full review. I've taken 20 or so screen captures and played through the initial part of the game. I don't particularily agree with what either of the two reviwers say about this game. both are quite negative about virtually every aspect of the game. I don't particularily enjoy Hidden Object games these days unless they are exceptional; todays offering is really just an average hidden object game with a slightly different way of navigating through the various locations using photography as a tool. The graphics are decent and the overall presentation is good. The only issue I really had with this game was in expert mode; the list of words telling you what hidden objects were to be found still glowed when you were near them, making this a very easy expert mode as there really was no hidden objects because of the prompting. Overall I still think this is worth downloading, especially if you like hidden object games and if you have young children that aren't bothered by the dark atmosphere, or if you usually have difficulty finding objects due to deteriorating eye sight etc.

When you first start a new game you will be asked if you want to learn how to play. If you choose yes, you will get the usual tutorial messages until its deemed you've got the basics. Useful information is recorded in the journal, which is located in the bottom right hand corner of the game play area. In casual mode useful objects that you need to collect will be highlighted with a white/vaguley yellowish glow with starbursts. Hidden objects are the easiest items to find i've ever seen in a HOG, simply becasue when your cursor is near or on the object the word related to the object changes color to green. The collision mesh for this 'cheat' is quite large, so it's easy to pick up objects simply by slowly waving your cursor around the scene.

Normally I like to begin a review by focusing on a game’s strengths, the aspects of it that are most likely to be well-received by players of all stripes, and so I shall do that here to the best of my ability by saying that Vampire Saga: Welcome to Hell Lock is almost certainly not the worst hidden object game you will ever play. To be fair, it’s not even all that terribly awful. It’s just blandly, generically bad: silly, tedious, eminently forgettable and, given all the other hidden object games out there that don’t suck, really not worth the bother.



To the game’s credit, there’s at least one moment that’s pretty creepy. You’ll know it when you see it, believe me, and I’m not going spoil the surprise for. It happens relatively early – within the first of roughly three hours of play time, maybe four if you like to take it slow – and it promises some legitimate, Salem’s Lot-style chills ahead. Sadly, that one creep-out on its own is not worth the price of admission and it’s all downhill from there, as the game fails to deliver on that early potential.

Welcome to Hell Lock is, technically, a hidden object adventure, but the vast majority of the adventuring consists of a simple, sequential series of “find object, use object” maneuvers. Puzzles and mini-games are very few and far-between, and tend to be frustrating despite their obvious simplicity because they’re also rather obtuse. One such “game” requires the use of a magnetic crane to move an obstacle blocking an entrance. The crane is about as complicated as a preschooler’s Tonka Toy; the trick is figuring out what specific part of the obstacle the magnet needs to attach to and because there’s absolutely no indication given, you’re liable to spend minutes just waving the thing back and forth until something clicks. A “skip” option is available and although it’s irritating being forced to throw in the towel not because a puzzle is too tough but because it’s so poorly designed, in this game I would advise that you not be afraid to use it.

It’s hidden object scenes that are the game’s raison d’être, but while they’re plentiful, they’re not particularly good. The game’s visuals are decent but tend to be a little on the muddy side, which may be appropriate for the dark subject matter but isn’t especially conducive to enjoyable hidden object searching. Not that the HOG scenes are very difficult. Quite the opposite, in fact. Welcome to Hell Lock is one of the easier hidden object games I’ve played, for two reasons: one, the hidden object scenes are used repeatedly, with all the same objects in all the same places every time, and two, the objects you’re required to find tend to be the same from scene to scene. You’ll be looking for the same mix of stuff – pliers, daggers, jewelry cases and ropes are popular – from the first hidden object search to the last.

Making things worse is the way each word in the list of items glows green when the cursor is near it. The closer the cursor is to an item, the brighter its description glows, and it’s no exaggeration when I say that I found a substantial number of the objects in the game by simply moving the cursor around on the screen while keeping an eye on the object list. There’s no way to stop the glowing short of covering the bottom bit of your monitor with duct tape, and assuming you don’t want to do that, you really can’t avoid that helping hand. The net result is that gamers who want any kind of meaningful hidden object challenge are bound to be disappointed.

The cleverest thing about Welcome to Hell Lock is the way it uses virtual photographs instead of a map to assist with navigation. Pictures of each of the game’s locations are added to a photo album as you visit them, and to travel directly from one spot to another you simply click on its photo. It even ensures that you know where to go (and reduces the aforementioned low difficulty even further) by tagging each photo that has an active hidden object scene or other activity.

The downside to that is that you can easily spend the whole game traveling via the photo album, bouncing randomly from location to location as you’re directed, with no feeling of a cohesive narrative unfolding before you. You’re just flipping randomly through a half-dozen pages of a virtual picture book, clicking where you’re told, working through a half-baked hidden object search or “use item on…” puzzle, and then returning to the album to find the next waiting activity. Repeat ad nauseum until it’s finally over.

If that doesn’t sound like much fun to you, there’s a pretty good reason. It’s not. Vampire Saga: Welcome to Hell Lock is an all-around disappointment in pretty much every way. The graphics and music are unremarkable, the story is nonsense (even for a hidden object game) and worst of all, it’s just dull and uninteresting. Even the connection to vampires is tenuous at best; I’m no fan of sullen, angsty undead hipsters but at least they show up in their games. And when a game is bad enough to make you feel a twinge of nostalgia for that sort of faux-Twilight drivel, well, there’s only one way to put it: it/s rubbish.

Reference accessed HERE Oct 11th 2015

Other Reviews:

First and foremost it is the story that makes the game bland. And every single character, especially the protagonist is devoid of personality; The games plot is uninteresting, never explained, and unbelievable. More then anything the actions, personality, dialogue, and looks of the protagonist reminds me of Ken, as in Barbi and Ken. He is just so dopey, and does not really seem to have any personally to speak-of; I can only assume that this game is aimed as young girls as I cannot see anyone else even potentially enjoying playing as him. The rest of the game follows pretty similarly. The vampire(s) in the game do not really make an appearance nor is any of their actions ever explained. If anything their main goal in life seems to be to simply make the city slightly spooky, like they were planing to turn the city into haunted house style attraction and they were practising for this role.


The game is also extremely linear, far more then it has to be. You often have multiple puzzles on the go, but that does not mean you can solve them whenever you want, for the vast majority you will have to complete a bunch of unrelated puzzles before you are allowed to find/pick up the needed object or try to solve the logic puzzle. But despite this linearness you are constantly backtracking to solve old puzzles and find new items; At random points in the game old previously used HOG locations will suddenly and inexplicably become active, with absolutely no in-game indication that they have done so. Which basically degrades the entire game into, solve a puzzle, check the "map" (picture album) for the new puzzle location, warp there and solve, repeat. And one rather strange thing is that the game does not even change the scene one iota when reusing a HOG location and many items you will be finding several times. So by the end of your game, even if you have a moderately bad memory, all HOG puzzles will consist of a significant fraction of objects that you remember the location of.

The rest of the game is pretty much what you would expect. the graphics are OK; The sound effects and music are OK; The gameplay is very repetitive but other then that about what you would expect from a casual HOG title. So all in all, it is a sub-par game but, while I am no expert, is it probably still an average, to above average, HOG title.

Reference accessed HERE 111th Oct 2015


You can see more community written mini reviews via Big Fish near the bottom of the page HERE and walkthroughs HERE and HERE




Video:

You can see several videos of game play HERE and HERE.

Music:


You can't change the in game music only turn it off via the options.




System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP/Vista/8
CPU: 1.4 GHz
RAM: 1280 MB
DirectX: 9.0
Hard Drive: 314 MB


Conclusion:

Hidden object parts of the game were far too easy due to the highligting of text that appeared when your mouse was close to the object. The collison mesh is quite extensive, so your mouse doesn't need to be right on the object for the word associated with that object to start glowing, what's worse is that it also happens in expert mode. apart from this I found the initial part of the game quite enjoyable. I can't comment further unless I get more time to play the game today. We are very busy preparing one of our houses for a new tenant. The previous tenant casued well over £3000 worth of damage.


Scoring:

I've not played the game long enought to give a meanigful score.

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Problems:http://steamcommunity.com/id/sigoya/


If you have any problems installing or getting today's game working, please go HERE for help. I've posted most of the common problems and solutions in a FAQ thread, which you can find in the sticky section of the forums by following the above link.




If you are posting late in the day I would also suggest posting in the main giveaway forums; in the game discussion section, because I cannot moderate 24hrs a day over the weekend. I've created a thread HERE for that purpose. If you've installed the game but it doesn’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at a later date. Unfortunately if your problem is actually downloading it, once the giveaway deadline is reached you will no longer be able to download the game unless you've already started downloading it before the cut-off. Sometimes you can still register the game after the giveaway has ended so long as you managed to start the download before the giveaway ends. I've tested this and the grace period lasts for up to 1 hour. Apart from the above instances; i.e. already installed, but having problems running the game, (with the possibility of receiving help from the community via the giveawayoftheday game discussion forum); or still downloading after the cut off period, but within the 1 hour grace period, or registering within an hour of the cut-off period. Once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done to get the game (unless its available from one of the free game sites) until the game is given away again (though that isn't always guaranteed).

It's worth checking the giveaway game discussion forums the day before the giveaways go live to see if we are getting a large sized file (I usually post a comment about approximately how large a file is, though if I'm particularily busy I may neglect to do this). It is especially important for those who have slow connections and even more so if the game is popular. We can have up to forty thousand (40 000) community members downloading over the 24 hour period, with the bulk of community members downloading in the first 12 hours of the giveaway going live, there is always a massive strain on the giveaway servers. The bigger the file size, the more community members will be downloading at any one time. Because the bandwidth is shared equally amongst all community members, downloads can become excruciatingly slow, so if you do have a slow connection, its important to start your download as early as possible to avoid disappointment. Because these games are free, the giveaway owners cannot invest in more bandwidth without compromising the whole project, so we have to be satisfied with what we have at present.

A download manager can help speed the download up and also protect the download in case of an interrpution. There's nothing as frustrating for those with really slow connections to have the connection break after an hour or so, then have to start from the beginning again. I would ask community members if you do have decent bandwidth please avoid using a manager as it does add to the number of downloads occuring at any one time, for example some download managers will download your requested file in up to 32 packets simultaneously, that will take 32 download spots, thus slowing down everyone else's download speeds. For those with slow downloads (due to having a slow connection e.g. a 2MB Broadband connection or less) I would advise using a download manager if the file is larger than around 200MB. My broadband connection is 100MBs, so I don't need to use a download manager, (I do have one called Internet Download Manager, but don't use it when downloading files from the giveaway site). For me a 1GB file usually downloads in about 1.5 minutes or less. My connection is quite a long way from the provider so it is slowed a little, but is still quite good at a download speed of around 12 to 14 MB's per second.

I hope the above goes some way in expalining why we sometimes have really slow downloads.


It’s always worth checking out the free games sites because sometimes the games we get here are also available for free from them. MyPlayCity (MPC) has the most with over 1000 games to choose from.


If you do download any games from MyPlayCity, or the other free game sites please 'do' watch out for toolbars etc. Make sure you un-check the check-boxes during installation, and, in the case of MyPlayCity, every time you boot the game up, (this may have changed now as these free game sites tend to change the format frequently)....... I've posted links to all of the common free game sites below in the games, games games section. If you do download a game from any of these sites you do so at your own risk. We cannot be held responsible for problems arising from an installation recommended here. :)


For now I won't be recommending you download games from Jenkat Games. They have changed the way you get games from their site. Diane has posted information about this over in the game discussion forums. If I have time or remember, I'll link to it. TooMyk Games are now safe to download from. They have removed the games that were suspect and have cleaned up their act. As always, you download from those free game sites at your own risk. The giveaway site is the safest site I know of where you can get free software and games. The only disadvantages with downloading from here is you have to download and install within the day of the giveaway (apart from the instances mentioned above and if and when you upgrade or buy a new computer legally you aren't allowed to transfer games given away previously, unless they are being given away on the day you upgrade, or if you've purchased a licence. :)

You just have to look at the sites track record since the game giveaway site was created back in December 2006. Zero games given away have been infected with malware, there are no toolbars installed, nor home pages hijacked or browsers changed. There is one slght annoyance, but that only occurs if a community member isn't paying attention when the final window pops up after installing a giveaway. That is the Software Informer installation. Some community members have complained that they were given no choice in its installation. That is not true; when the final window pops up, there are two buttons, one asking if you want Software Informer installed and the button to close the giveaway window down. Some community members have clicked on the wrong button, probably because they weren't paying attention. Thankfully Software Informer is a genuine application, that can easily be uninstalled by the usual means. It's actually a useful piece of software, especially if you have a lot of applications running on your computer. Basically the program will list the programs that need updating, or programs that have available updates. They wont be automatically installed (thus cancelling many giveaway registrations); you have to click on individual buttons to update each program/application. :D

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Games, Games, and yet more Games:




There are 372 games on sale over on Steam this week, ranging from 10% to 90% off. The weekend deals include up to 75% off the Telltale games catalogue Walking Dead seasons I & II, Tales from the Borderlands, The Wolf Among Us, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead: 400 Days, Back to the future: The Game, Night 2, plus loads more. There's also 40% of Darkest Dungeon, and 66% off Depth. There are too many other great deals to mention here, just check out the specials section for all 650 plus titles on sale HERE.

There's loads more in the weekly sales and the 48 hours sales to choose from. almost certainly something for everyone. The next set of weekly sales starts on Monday with usually a few hundred titles added. :)





You'll also find some excellent deals over on the following Game sites.

GreenManGaming They usually have coupons to the value of 23% and sometimes more off pre ordered games. I've just pre ordered Just Cause 3 XL and XCOM 2 using a voucher and saved £22 on the price paid in the Steam store
Gamersgate Summer Sale
GOG (DRM free games)
Gamestop
GameFly (soon to be sold off)

I've removed the Desura link because the owners are bankrupt and there has been no activity on the site in months. The servers are still live (at least until Bad JoJo's subscription to the servers has ended, Bad JoJo are the owners of Desura and Indie Royale, or were until filing for bankruptcy). If you own any games via Desura I advise downloading all of the drm free games you have on that platform and on the Indie Royale site before the sites are taken down.




Free Game Sites:


MyPlayCity (over a 1000 games to choose from)
Gametop
FreeGamePick



To be honest there are too many game deals around too list them all. Just visit the sites I recommend above and I'm sure you'll find something that suits you for a very decent price. If like me you prefer Steamworks games, many of the above sites also sell steamwork games.

If that's not enough, check out the Game Discussion forums HERE for details of other games either free or on deals such as the Indie Game bundles (there's over 20 of them - If you purchased all of them you'd be paying around $80 for around a thousand dollars worth of games); or check out the four day sales at IndieGameStand. you'll find the indie bundles thread HERE. The thread is outdated, but all of the links will still take you to the latest bundles.






The latest IndieGameStand game is Escape goat (this was also given away via IGS when it first started up)

Escape Goat is a new take on puzzle platforming:

• Developed with a unique physics engine that allows pixel-perfect world manipulation and destruction
• Use the environment to your advantage to overcome the infernal traps, puzzles and machinery of the prison.
• Over 50 rooms of puzzles in the main campaign
• Bonus campaign with 50 rooms of torture platforming, if you dare
• Easy-to-use editor and level sharing forum

You can get the game for $0.99; pay over the average to get two more games (Soulcaster I & II)

The deal ends Tuesday 13th Oct 2015 5am (GMT)



The latest DIG game is Space Farmers:
You get a double pack. Grab a friend, grab a gadget, grab a gun and get ready. Space Farmers is the most fun you'll ever have in a co-op game.

You're trapped on an alien space station and forced to share your secret British agriculture secrets. With no means of escape or tea making facilities this is all very uncivilized!

Luckily a hoard of hungry robots are attacking the station and your captors have vanished. Stopping only to pick up an Energy Shotgun and a Pie-O-Matic you begin your quest for freedom!

In Space Farmers you and a friend will encounter gadgets, guns, puzzles, pigs, a horde of killer robots and more. This one of a kind co-operative action adventure will make you laugh, cry and bring the human race together.

Pay £0.99 for the double pack or you can get two packs if you pay more than the average of $1.00 (at the time of writing ). One Steam key to share with a friend or family member perhaps? You'll find that deal HERE. They also have five bundles of several games that'll cost you less than $1.50 each HERE (DIG Bundles 40, 41 42 & 43 a Topware bundle). You get Steam keys for all of these games.
The single game deal ends just after Midnight Mondayday 12th Oct 2015 and will be replaced with Tribloos 2, later we will get The Defenders: The Second Wave then Pahelika: Revelations

Most of the bundles available retail for around $5 give or take a few dollars (apart from the Daily Indie bundles that only cost $1.49 for six games), but you can pay as little as a dollar for some. There are some excellent bundles out at the moment. Check out the following:

Groupees (5 bundles)
Indie Gala (? bundles)
Humble bundle (2 Bundles)
Indie Royale (this bundle is no longer live)
Bundle Bandits (0 bundles)
Blink Bundle (0 bundles)
Play Injector (0 bundle)
Get Loaded (0 bundles)
Games Rage (0 bundles)
Flying bundle (0 bundles)

The free game from Origin has changed from Zuma's Revenge to one of Command & Conquers later games Red Alert 2 plus you get the expansion Yuri's Revenge. This is another AAA game, well worth having if you are into strategy war games.

The world erupts in conflict as Soviet forces invade American soil in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. Time travel has helped to eliminate the German threat, and now the Soviets are expanding into the West unchecked. You are the Supreme Commander. Arm yourself to the teeth with top-secret technologies and lead the Soviet or Allied troops to victory.
Plus, defeat an army of mind-controlled Soviet forces in the expansion Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge.

Game Features:

Many ways to play. Lead Soviet or Allied forces in a gripping single-player game or a Skirmish game, where there's no particular objective other than destroying everything else on-screen. Who will win the war for world domination?
No need to play nice. You'll need to pull out all the stops if you're going to win this war. Thankfully, you've got a well-stocked arsenal of legitimate and illicit technologies from Prism Tanks and Terror Drones, to Psychic Mind Control devices and Soviet Cloning Vats. Use them.
Deliver the fury. Dominate land, air, and sea battles with the help of over 80 units and structures. Plus, you'll benefit from a enhanced veterancy system that turns newbie forces into battle-hardened war machines -- and brings you closer to victory.

Check it out HERE.


You do need a free Origin account and install the Origin client to get these free games. Once you've installed the Origin client and signed into your account select 'On the house' from the 'Free Games' drop down menu. Then select download now. The game will then be registered to your Origin account permanently.

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A Request for help:

Developers rely on good feedback to improve their games. If you download this game please take some time once you’ve played it a while to leave some constructive feedback either positive or negative. The more constructive feedback we get, the more likely developers are going to give more games away. The giveaway site already has a very good standing with the search engines. Developers want their products out there on the WWW, this site has the potential to do that. The game giveaway project gives away on average between 9 to 17 thousand downloads for each game depending upon what genre and how obscure the game is. That’s a lot of homes these games are being downloaded into and a lot of 'potential' cash that’s being lost by the developers. If we get better games because of better feedback, the community are likely to continue to benefit from the generosity of the developers. Satisfied community members are then more likely to visit the home sites of those developers and purchase games that they may not have bothered with before they discovered the developer via the game giveaway site, thus giving the developers more incentives to give away even more decent games.

Please leave some feedback once you’ve checked the game out. It can be positive or negative, but please explain what your reasons were for the feedback you post. You could also leave suggestions for improving the game, for example, this game could do with more block types for the levels editor, add more power-ups, describing the ones you think would be suitable, add some mini games (which seem all the rage in some arcade games now) or enable the user to be able to change the in game music easily.

Thank you in advance to all those who take the time to post a constructive comment, and a big thank you to immanitas games for sharing and to the game giveaway team for getting these games.

Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen