Secret Files Sam Peters: A reporter's dilemma
Players solve puzzles in a point and click style adventure following the story of a reporter searching for an interesting scoop in Secret Files Sam Peters. The story takes players on a journey through intriguing locales on the hunt for a solution to a mystery that combines African folklore with science. Secret Files Sam Peters is compatible with iOS devices running iOS 7.0 or later.
The puzzles in Secret Files Sam Peters have a nice range in difficulty. Some puzzles are easier to solve than others and for players who are having trouble solving them, there is a walkthrough built into the game. This sometimes comes in handy, especially when players have no idea what to do for a particular puzzle. Occasionally, the walkthrough is a bit vague, such as in the swamp level where players have to figure out how to scare away the warthog. This can be annoying as players have to solve this puzzle to progress into the next area.
Sometimes puzzles require players to venture back through an area they previously visited, which can take some time. This happens often in the jungle levels, where players find themselves spending a lot of time going back and forth to solve puzzles.
Secret Files Sam Peters, is originally a game meant for PCs and as this is a port of the game to iOS. The smaller screen size and different input functions cause some problems for players. One of these problems is that sometimes tapping on a location doesn't work very well. This can cause the character tries to go through pathways that are not open. This is especially troublesome when players are trying to get their character to a cave entrance. Since the map of the area is much smaller on these devices, it is hard to find the character to direct them.
Another problem in Secret Files Sam Peters is using items from the briefcase with objects in the game world is difficult. Players will likely have trouble identifying where to tap on the object. This is mainly due to the areas for players to interact with are too small.
Secret Files Sam Peters does a great job of capturing the feel of a point and click adventure, and making that accessible on iOS. Even the sound effects in Secret Files Sam Peters compliment the gameplay rather well. This is really nice to see. Last, the overall story is quite interesting and enjoyable.
The only problems with the story are that players don't always feel as though they are a part of the story and that the dialogue feels unnatural. Players don't feel as though they are the main character, but rather are merely directing them. This creates some distance between the player and the game. This is a little disappointing given the beautiful backgrounds, interesting story line, and the fascinating puzzles. Sometimes the dialogue for the character gets in the way of the overall story and takes away from the strong points of the gameplay.
Secret Files Sam Peters is US$2.99 on the App Store and while there are two endings, the overall game is rather short. Sadly, there isn't much in the way of replay value for players to make it worth the money.
