Review of Five-BN’s New York Mysteries 1 game. The first installment in their top detective HOPA series!
Available for computer on PC and Mac. And on tablet and phone.
Including details of the game play. Screenshots, features and my review.
For a full list of the series so far, see the link included below.
New York Mysteries 1 Game Play & Review
From: Five-BN Games.
Genres: Detective, Mystery, Hidden Object, Puzzle.
PC release: April 2014.
New York Mysteries: Secrets of the Mafia
Plot: New York, 1955. It’s become dangerous in the city. The mafia is trying to seize power. But recently, a new force appeared. A far more terrible force.
Over the last few days, five mafia bosses have disappeared in mysterious circumstances. A strange liquid and a butterfly were found at the scenes of the disappearances.
But this isn’t what scared the citizens… Children started to disappear in the city. All of them drew exactly the same butterflies before they disappeared. This forced detectives and journalists alike to start their investigations.
New York Mysteries 1 – Gameplay
- Play as the investigative reporter, Laura James. Researching an exclusive into this supernatural 1950’s New York mystery.
- With puzzles, mini-games and unique interactive hidden object games (iHOGs).
- HO games include a variety of types. Mainly silhouette, and most of them including mini-games within the HO scene.
- Play in 3 levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal and Hard. You can customize each level to your own preference. Including the amount of help and hints you want. How long it takes for the hint and skip buttons to recharge. And in the Collector’s Edition (CE), whether you want the interactive map to show you where you’ve yet to find collectible and phantom items.
- This game plays across 8 chapters. Plus a bonus chapter in the CE. With 34 unique locations to unlock.
New York Mysteries 1 – Features
- Starting at the Natural History Museum, the location of the latest missing Mafia boss incident. Collect clues and items, that will help you get to the bottom of this mysterious case!
- Journal: Click on the book icon in the bottom left-hand corner to access your journal. Which is automatically updated with extra info gleaned from your interviews with witnesses. And from the new locations you unlock as you play through the game.
- Task List: Click on the clipboard in the bottom left-hand corner. And view a list of your current open objectives.
- Interactive Map: Click on the map icon in the bottom right-hand corner. This gives you a helpful overview of the locations you have unlocked and yet to unlock. And also use this map to instantly move to a different location.
- The Collector’s Edition includes: A bonus chapter, a detailed strategy guide, 4 different sets of collectibles, morphing/phantom items, 20 trophies to achieve and bonus puzzle game play. The trophies cover all sorts of achievements. From completing 3 puzzles in a row without skipping. To driving a train in the underground city!
New York Mysteries 1 – Review Summary
Pros:
This game has lots to recommend it. From the excellent graphics, voice overs and cut-scenes, to the weird plot that you’ll eventually find has many layers and twists.
The gameplay is enjoyable, especially the hidden object puzzles (HOPs). The HO games are not just the usual ‘find items in a pile of other items’ but seemingly normal scenes with items arranged in an everyday way.
Which, with the use of imaginative mini-games, get you thinking and interacting with the scene.
Cons:
I only found a couple of minor quibbles. The music, though in-keeping with the theme of the game, did get a little wearing after a while. (So I turned the music volume setting down.)
Also there’s a lot to do in each location. Especially if you want to collect all items to get all the trophies. But at least I had the map set to show me uncollected items. So I did have to refer to it a lot to find them all.
Overall
The storyline is definitely a weird combination. With missing Mafia bosses, green goo and disappearing children!
But if you stick with it, you’ll get to play a cool detective game. With an intriguing complex story and plenty of creative game play. All in all, New York Mysteries 1 is a top HO detective game.
This is the 1st installment in the series. See my post: New York Mysteries Game Series List for all the game titles in the series so far. For computer and mobile, in order of release.
More New York Mysteries Game Reviews
2. High Voltage Review.
3. The Lantern of Souls Review.
4. The Outbreak Review.
More Five-BN Games
For more games series from 5BN. For PC, Mac, Android, iPad, iPhone, Android and Amazon Fire. See also:
- Lost Lands Game Series List.
- Sacra Terra Games from Alawar and Five-BN.
- Darkness and Flame Games and Reviews.
- The Legacy Game Series List.
And for the best hidden object adventure games, see my Best Hidden Object Games page. For computer, tablet and phone.