[b]Note:[/b] A wonderful friend gifted me a copy of this game. ^^
[i]Rescue Team: Clouded Mind[/i] is a time management developed by Game Mixer and published by Alawar Casual. It is the 17th game in the [i]Rescue Team[/i] series. As usual, you take on the role of the rescue team, and this time, the world faces a new threat. Cultists are brainwashing citizens to cause mayhem, and disasters are happening all over the world. Thus, it's up to the rescue team to save the day. That's the basic story synopsis, so I'll stop here to avoid spoilers. XD
In regards to the gameplay, you can choose from among the usual three difficulty levels: relaxed, easy, or hard. (For review purposes, I chose to play on easy mode.) There are a total of 50 levels, with an additional 15 levels that are unlocked after completing the main campaign. In each level, you're given a number of tasks to complete, which can range from rescuing citizens to putting out fires. You can earn up to 3 coins (a.k.a. stars) depending on how quickly you complete the levels. Coins are used to purchase upgrades in the store, and these upgrades can include making your workers run faster. Of course, plenty of Steam achievements/in-game trophies are present, and they count towards a user's global total.
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. I enjoy time management games a lot even though it has been a while since I last played one. As I'm a big fan of the [i]Rescue Team[/i] series, I couldn't help getting excited over this latest release. Yes, I know that there are a lot of games in the series, but I never get tired of them. Anyway, I'll first talk about the story. Even though the basic premise is the same (saving the world from disasters), I liked this spin on the cultists brainwashing people and making them do things to cause these disasters. (Guess they're like cultists in real life, and people can fall victim to them. :o) Clearly, the rescue team is on its craziest adventure ever, but as we can all guess, they end up stopping the cultists and save the world.
Of course, the gameplay is the main focus, so I'll talk about it now. I didn't encounter any technical issues, so the game ran smoothly for me. As for completing the levels and earning the maximum score, I was able to do so, and since this is a collector's edition, there's a strategy guide in case you get stuck on completing them. I should note that even though the guide is accurate for the most part, there were a few levels that it isn't possible to earn the maximum score by following it. However, I didn't have a problem since I simply tweaked a couple of the latter steps so that earning the maximum score was doable. In addition, I was able to obtain all of the Steam achievements/in-game trophies in one playthrough, so grinding isn't needed. Also, I liked that in the bonus levels, you can find easter eggs in the form of first aid boxes, which contain stickers.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3295801033
However, playing the bonus levels is optional since you can earn all of the achievements by simply playing through most of the main story levels.
In regards to the art, it retains that same cartoony colorful style that is a staple of this series. It fits perfectly well with this game, so I never tire of seeing it. I enjoyed the cutscenes in the form of television broadcasts despite that they aren't animated. With the music, the tracks are the same as in the previous installments. Although the tracks fit well with this game and this series in general, I do wish that there had been a couple of new tracks to add a bit of variety. Nevertheless, I like that the tracks have this adventure theme going on, making you feel like you're with the rescue team as they go about stopping world disasters.
Overall, would I recommend [i]Rescue Team: Clouded Mind[/i]? If you enjoy time management games and especially like the ones published by Alawar Casual, most likely, you'll enjoy this game. It can feel repetitive if you want some variety to change things up, but I think that the gameplay formula that the developers have works. For the asking price, it's worth getting since it took me around 8.5 hours to earn all of the achievements. If you choose to play the bonus levels, too, then it'll take around 12 hours to 100% complete the game. This is assuming that you're familiar with time management games. Of course, you can choose to wait for a sale, and it's in a couple of Steam bundles. ^^
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