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Haunted Halls: Fears from Childhood Collector’s Edition Review

Fears from childhood can be vast and varied. What are your memories from your youth? Haunted Halls: Fears from Childhood Collector’s Edition explores the nightmares of the young in their Mac point and click adventure game. This game is a sequel from their Green Hills Sanitarium where the Dr. Blackmore’s portal under the hospital took both Tim and a little girl away. You on their tracks following the trio to places unknown.

Dr. Blackmore is not happy you followed him but he is too busy to deal with you at the moment so you trudge on looking for Tim and the little girl. The little girl says she and Tim are happy where they are, but you don’t believe her and you continue your point and click search. Where are they and what kind of mysterious place are you visiting? The scenery changes from outer space-like place, broken down building with escalators, cave, forest and more. In each location you will find things you can pick up when your cursor changes to a hand, puzzles you will need to solve and hidden object games. The objects you pick up and find will be placed in your inventory to be used later in your journey. The tiles you pick up can be placed in a frame and pictures of children must be clicked into proper order. Once you enter the 5 photos, you will have access to another location. You must play in these 5 separate areas to save the children from their worst fears.

There are 2 modes of play in this game you must choose from at the start: Regular will give you sparkles for active areas to view closer with faster recharging for hint and skip buttons. The Expert mode has longer recharging times with no active zones designated making it more difficult. This mode is best played by the experienced gamer. At the beginning there is a lively voiced movie drawing you into Blackmore’s hideaway. It’s a little confusing if you have not played the first game, but there is no need to play that game for you to enjoy the sequel. In fact, the mystery is part of the intrigue and makes searching that much more interesting.

The layout of the game is your usual with the tabs at the bottom of the screen opening information you will need along the way. The strategy guide and notes are at the bottom left. The notes are a little different with a toggle switch with the right side containing what happened so far in the story and the left side you’ll find fairy tale books from around the world. The inventory screen is in the middle unless you are in a hidden object game and the hint/skip button is on the bottom right. The list in HOGs is at the bottom in panels. Each time you clear an entire panel that portion will sink down. I remember seeing this before in a headstone setup, but it makes it different from most presentations. If you click the wrong objects too many times, the cursor will explode. I tested this since this is suppose to be a fearful game, I thought it might try to scare you like some other games.

This game is interesting but not really scary. The play will keep you searching for Tim and helping the other children trapped in their fears by Dr. Blackmore. The artwork is creative with scenes you may or may not imagine. The music is good, although, a bit standard and familiar. The puzzles are varied but also many we have seen before. The HOGs are not difficult but if you need the hint button, it is there for your use, and the in-game strategy guide can be of help to those who need it. This game is balanced in its tale, HOGs, puzzles and the seek and find aspect. I give it a 3.5 out of 5 for a good but short game. The bonus chapter will take you less than a hour to complete and the game will take anywhere from 3-4 hours for the average gamer.

Features of Haunted Halls: Fears from Childhood:
-Original Tale
-Creative Artwork
-2 Modes of Play
-Collector’s Edition: Concept Art, Wallpapers, In-Game Strategy Guide, Bonus Chapter, Screensavers and Soundtrack.

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