Here comes another hidden object game, but at least the Incan theme sounds like a nice change from the all too oft used Egyptian and Greek themes. Undiscovered World: The Incan Sun sends you into the South American jungles near the water where the Incans lived, with a map resembling scenes from photos of the Incan ruins.
It’s not clear who the characters are, as the main character tells the story in the first person. This character meets several people while schlepping around, but the game focuses little on the characters themselves, who only appear in conversations about the journey.
Here comes another hidden object game, but at least the Incan theme sounds like a nice change from the all too oft used Egyptian and Greek themes. Undiscovered World: The Incan Sun sends you into the South American jungles near the water where the Incans lived, with a map resembling scenes from photos of the Incan ruins.
It’s not clear who the characters are, as the main character tells the story in the first person. This character meets several people while schlepping around, but the game focuses little on the characters themselves, who only appear in conversations about the journey.
Alas, that’s about all the game covers about Incan history other than the two magical statues you find in every scene. The statues never change throughout all eight chapters of the game. You move from scene to scene repeating many trips back to the same scene where objects haven’t moved.
The start of the game begins strong with a decent story, sharp graphics, and accurate click recognition – the last of which many hidden object games struggle to get right.
As the game progresses, though, it never changes or grows harder. On occasion, an object hides well, but other than that it never takes more than a couple of minutes to find everything plus the two statues. With up to six hint coins to use for finding well-hidden objects, pros can finish scenes in less than three minutes. When you use one or two coins in a scene, they’ll show up in the next one so you can fill back up to six hints.
The aforementioned two statues contain pieces of the artifacts that fill up the artifact meter. When you collect all the parts of the artifact in a chapter – thus filling the meter – you finish it off with a jigsaw puzzle revealing a picture of the artifact.
Undiscovered World: The Incan Sun has a couple of quirky terms in its hidden items list, and you hunt down for objects having nothing to do with the story or Incans such as golf clubs, umbrellas, baseball bats and sports balls. The same items repeatedly appear on the list of things to find.
The game ends with barely a blip except that it unlocks the other two modes: Unlimited and Mini Games. Unlimited lets you revisit every scene and find all the objects. It’s possible you’ll have items that you never had to find during the adventure, which gives the game some replay value. Mini Games simply lets you revisit all eight artifacts puzzles.
One unique feature in the game is the stats appearing at the end of the scene. The three stats (Score, Accuracy and Time) might motivate some to do their darndest to work faster, more accurate and more effectively.
The problem is that you can’t go back and replay any level. You can view your time and score for each level by reviewing your ledger, which contains the story so you can re-read it. Once you finish the game, however, the game starts over if you return to it. It would be nice to be able to review your stats and replay a level to improve your stats without starting over. The ledger should also show which level a player reached.
You can also ignore the stats and play the game at a leisurely pace. Nothing on the screen ticks away or pressures you into hurrying. A clock showing how long you’ve been playing a current scene sits at the top left-hand corner of the screen, but it’s hardly noticeable not even out of the corner of your eye.
While Undiscovered World: The Incan Sun tells a little bit of the story at the end of a scene, it doesn’t take much to lose interest in it. Though a decent story, it just drags. The story could stand more twists and turns.
This would have the makings of an above average hidden object game by tightening the story and adding the suggested ledger features, a few original mini-games and tie objects better with Incan history. The game has roughly 70 scenes and it takes about three to five hours straight of play time to finish, which is about average for a hidden object game, but certainly not long.
Those new to hidden object games can dive right in Undiscovered World: The Incan Sun. It works well, it’s not complicated, and it’s easy to find things. Experienced players will most likely tire of the game before the one hour trial runs out.
Gamezebo tip: If you liked this game, try Lost Realms: Legacy of the Sun Princess, Mystery Stories: Berlin Nights, and Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold.
