Features

Evil mastermind, Dr. Chaos, travels the world in an attempt to cause destruction. Your job, of course, as an INTERPOL special operative is to stop him. The game does a superb job of giving the game a cool and futuristic look and feel with the Interpol Crime Computer. Other than that and scenes that reflect the current locale, Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos is an atypical game in the hidden object games genre.

Travel to Paris, London, New York, Rome and many other countries as you follow Dr. Chaos’ trail to thwart his plans. When you arrive in a country, seek out the hidden objects in different locations the run from the gamut of museums, coliseums, and churches. The game is very up to date as it includes objects like a USB drive, Bluetooth headphone for cell phones, and laptops for finding.

Each level requires finding a set number of objects — and the number goes up as you advance — and ends with solving the puzzle by seeking 10 specific objects or things wrong with the picture in a picturesque scene. You could be in China looking for 10 Chinese flags, in Italy looking for things that don’t belong such as an alien ship or clothing on a statue, or in Paris looking for differences between two of the same scenes.

Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos contains fabulous graphics, splendid scenes, and sleek spy-style effects. While it doesn’t offer anything different or original outside of the graphics, the game provides long lasting and an enjoyable gaming experience. It takes a lot of gameplay before the game starts reusing scenes and objects. By the point, the game feels repetitive as you find many of the objects in the same place as in a previous visit.

As you inspect a room, a green box like those you see in spycams acts as your mouse pointer. Even with the box, the game might not recognize that you’ve clicked the correct hidden object. Sometimes object clicking works well and others it doesn’t.

If you find multiple objects in a row, you must wait a second or two for the previously selected object to disappear before the game accepts your next found object. I appreciate the game retains the names of the found objects for those times when you luck out and don’t know what you found. I also pick up a couple of new words and remember forgotten words. One new one is fasces, which is a bundle of rods bound together.

As for hints, you get four per level and you pick which item you want to find. I prefer this to games that randomly select the object for you. Also be ready for unexpected music. Music pops out of nowhere while you inspect a scene. For example, expect to hear either orchestra music or applause while reviewing the scene at a theater. The music grates after a while, so just turn it down or off.

Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos makes a fine addition to the hidden object genre. The trial period is more than enough to give you an idea of the game. You won’t miss surprises down the road other than whatever comes with finishing the game. If you love things 007 or Mission Impossible, this one should satisfy your inner agent.

System Requirements: Windows

• Windows ME/98/2000/XP/Vista
• Pentium III 800 MHz or faster processor
• 128 MB RAM
• 75 MB available hard disk space
• 16-bit graphics card with minimum 800×600 resolution