The Secret Order 6: Bloodline
THRILLING STORY SET IN A MYSTERIOUS JUNGLE! Since the dawn of time, humanity has searched for panaceum – a miracle medicine that can cure every known disease and even overcome death. 39 VIBRANT LOCATIONS TO EXPLORE! Sarah Pennington travels to a research facility in the heart of South America, invited by her mother – a microbiologist – and immediately gets drawn into the whirlwind of dangerous adventures. 40 CAPTIVATING PUZZLES AND SCENES WITH HIDDEN OBJECTS! Sarah’s mother gets kidnapped by an old enemy, the Dragon Clan, which conducts secret experiments in the jungle and won’t hesitate to do anything to get the miraculous plant that grants control over life and death. FASCINATING LABORATORY MINIGAMES! Will Sarah save her mother and find the mysterious plant? Features 39 extraordinary locations! Thrilling story in a mysterious jungle! 40 intricate puzzles and HO scenes! Fascinating laboratory minigames! Stop the Dragon Clan's deadly experiments!
Steam User 1
<Game native resolution 1600 x 900>
Quick review before I start The Secret Order 7: Shadow Breach and start getting things jumbled together in my mind. The games in this series are very similar and it's very hard to separate them in my head.
We really have jettisoned The Order of the Griffins, the namesake of the franchise! What a bizarre direction for Sunward to go! I don't think the Order was even mentioned in Bloodline. They certainly didn't help against the villain, who was introduced as the leader of the rival Order of the Dragons in TSO5. Maybe they're "The Secret Order," now?
This series is workmanlike; just faithfully repeating the same basic formula. I enjoy this game design, but it's nice to play through a series and see improvements or innovations.
I've got two games left, and only a few days remaining. I'll start TSO7 tonight and I think I can finish the series before time runs out early next week.
Dang it, I wish The Order of the Griffins hadn't banned time travel. Not just for the sake of this hidden object adventure game series, but for myself.
Steam User 1
Another fun title if you need a fix for your HOG itch
The sixth instalment of The Secret Order does have a sequel feel to it, as the antagonist of TSO 5 makes a return here. As such, I'd say it's worth playing at least that one before playing this one.
This game's central mythology is the Flower of Life - a play on the old 'cure for all diseases' theme that permeates our culture, and is something of a pipe dream in our own fantasies. Here, the plot is simplified to the bare bones of finding it, and creating a cure to the antagonist's poison.
Like so many of these games, the simple story and fantasy elements, combined with rich environments, magical creatures, and vibrant colours, is well suited to a younger audience. The tame language and lack of violence works towards this end too. As such, it may also be suited to the very old. So if I get to 80 years old and I'm worried I'm losing my marbles, I might come back and see if I can still complete the minigames and puzzles, just to make sure my brain is still working.
While TSO 5 had its pipe connector puzzle gimmick, this one takes on a bit more variety with the cube and its three different 'spot the matching symbols'. Sometimes you'll need to find another symbol that is the same, other times you'll have to build the right symbol out of bits - all the while searching the screen with a magnifying glass as the symbols are invisible otherwise. It gave the game some good variety compared to the previous title, but once again most people are probably going to find the puzzles way to easy for any decent challenge.
As before, collections are something you will have to follow very carefully, as there are several points in the story that lock you out of previous areas. Thankfully, all the collectables are tracked in the menu under 'achievements', and everything is listed in order, so you know what to expect next in the case of morphing objects. Only 3 of the animal collectables are in the main story - the crocodile-shaped objects are only in the extra story. There is also one poster in the extra story, and some morphing objects. If you do miss anything you'll have to restart the whole thing all over again, so don't do that. Yeah.
One gripe (and it's a minor one) I always have with these HOGs is the quality of cutscenes, videos, dialogue and overacting. These games never seem to get any better, or improve over the years. The same old warped images assault our vision as we try to watch people talking. Sudden and unexplained objects dissolve away into the air like they never existed at all. Whole house loads of treasure are seen by our faithful protagonist with her batting an eyelid. It just doesn't do a very good job of suspending disbelief - a core feature of any good storytelling.
But apart from these points for us gamers between the ages of 12 and 79, I guess it does the job of providing an experience that is still overall a bunch of fun, and keeps our brains in some semblance of operation.
Just watch out for that beads-on-a-chain puzzle in the extras - I confess I skipped that one. What, it didn't affect the achievements ;)