[b]Shiver 2: Poltergeist CE[/b] (IHOG)
November, 2013 review, updated after briefly revisiting the game in April, 2019
[i]This is a standalone game. The only similarity to[/i] Shiver 1: Vanishing Hitchhiker [i]is the general look of the graphics and the fact that there are spooky goings-on.[/i]
Options include separate sliders for Music and Sound, Full-screen, Wide-screen, Custom Cursor, and the ability to change the difficulty at any time. There are three modes to choose from: Casual, Advanced, and Expert.
I have one gripe about this game, and that is that it had the potential to be truly scary, and they "ruined" it. We play as a man facing some truly horrifying situations, and he takes everything that happens way too casually, as far as I'm concerned. The devs had a GREAT opportunity to have him react realistically (as in being truly SCARED) and then become grimly determined. The setup was perfect, but they blew it by having him be blasé about everything from the very start. Meh, I say, meh! >_<
We find a map early on, but it simply shows us the general landmarks of the island we're on, and it sits at the front of our journal, with no other purpose. As for the Journal, there are four tabs: [b] Diary[/b], which gives us a little extra story and really no spoilers; [b]Story[/b], which shows us only the document-diary pages that we find during our travels; [b]Task list[/b] (self-explanatory :p) and [b]Photos[/b]. Later in the game, we will find a camera, which will park itself to the right of the retractable (but not lockable) task bar. Every now and then, the camera will turn towards us and the flash will blink. This is our cue to take a picture, which will then enter the Photos section of our diary. [b][u]WARNING[/u][/b]: These photos are spoilers for the mini-games! Thankfully, the photo-taking is optional, so if you don't want to know, just ignore the camera when it starts blinking at you! Luckily, it's not terribly distracting.
We will also find a flashlight during gameplay, and it will be placed on the right side of the task bar next to the camera. We can use the flashlight at any time, but there will be times that it is non-optional, including a couple of HOS. It's a nice large beam of light, so it's not as bad as it might sound.
The [b]HINT[/b] button (assuming that you're not playing on Expert) will give you a directional arrow during the adventure portion of the game without discharging your hint.
Some inventory items are interactive, and you will know that something needs to be done if there is a box around it with an eye pictured at the top. Click on the item in your task bar to zoom in and see what you might need to do. Sometimes it's just opening and looking inside, sometimes it's adding items and doing an actual mini-game!
The HOS are lightly interactive, usually with a couple of items listed in yellow which need to have some kind of action before you can find them.
The story progresses through a combination of short videos and the story pages that we find. Any cutscenes you've seen in the game can be re-watched at any time via the main menu.
The graphics and audio were nicely environmental, and the gameplay nicely balanced between the HOS, adventure and story portions -- Not quite so heavy on the HOS as in the first game. There's a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing, but it's intuitive enough that you don't have to worry too much about getting lost... and if you do, there's always the hint button to get you back on track. lol~
We have a few items that travel with us throughout the game, something that I really appreciate.
I really did enjoy my time playing this game. Part of that is that it's been a long time since I played [i]Vanishing Hitchhiker[/i], so I wasn't constantly grousing to myself that this one isn't the same. They really area standalones... BUT, there is one area where I have to draw a parallel, and that is the ending of the game.
Once again, we have a cliffhanger ending to lead us into the bonus chapter... meaning that you only get the true ending of the game if you buy the CE! That's a dirty trick, but luckily, Steam only offers the CE! While a lot of people preferred the SE-ending of [i]Vanishing Hitchhiker[/i], you'll need to play the bonus for [i]Poltergeist[/i] if you want answers.
[b]CE extras[/b]:
[list]
[*]Integrated Strategy Guide
[*]Bonus chapter
[*]16 concept art
[*]9 Wallpapers in four resolutions, from 800x600 to 1280x960
[/list]
The strategy guide returns to the main index every time you close it -- it does not stay open to where you left off.
Eight of the nine wallpapers are basically screenshots from the game.
[b]Bonus chapter[/b]:
We lose the inventory items that we'd been carrying around during the main game, save the camera and flashlight that are part of our toolbar. Shucks *snaps fingers in an exaggerated motion of mock-disappointment*
We have all new locations to visit, and this time, taking the photographs give us more story instead of being puzzle-spoilers.
The bonus is somewhat predictable, but satisfying, though the ending is abrupt. This really is a case of the bonus chapter being the true ending of the game.
I enjoyed [i]Shiver 2: Poltergeist[/i] and do recommend it... Just don't expect it to be anything like the first game in the series, as this installment is wildly different.
