The Casual Gamer reviews Haunted Legends: The Queen of Spades

Game publisher ERS Game Studios' visibility has risen quickly in the last year. With four strong franchises going now - the Redemption Cemetery, Dark Tales, Puppet Show and Haunted Legends series - the company's on its way to becoming a serious casual game contender.

Building on the company's knack for making games about the supernatural and spooky, its latest hidden object adventure, Haunted Legends: The Queen of Spades takes us on an investigation into a mansion rumored to be cursed by a demonic entity. This dismal and forboding edifice is said to be owned by a mysterious Countess who was also rumored to own a magical deck of cards said to give its owner untold riches. The problem is, anyone who's gone to the mansion in hopes of obtaining this deck for themselves has never been seen again. You play an inspector called in by a nearby village gripped with fear, to investigate the most recent disappearance--a young woman named Verna Doleur.

The first thing you'll notice about The Queen of Spades is that it's a really good-looking game. It's creepy settings are on par with some of the best hidden object games out there and ERS ups the ante by adding a fully animated 3D character in the person of a malevolent imp you'll encounter during your rambles about the mansion. It's this repugnant little guy who's seemingly behind the disappearances and it's up to you to undermine his evil doings.

The Queen of Spades doesn't break new ground in terms of gameplay, but what's there is solidly entertaining. You'll alternate between hidden object sequences and traditional puzzles, exploring both the mansion and the surrounding estate. The darkly comedic music is one of the highlights of the game and the only thing lacking in terms of sound design is perhaps more voice for the characters, whose lines are given via text only.

Once you've solved the case and beaten the game, you unlock further bonus content, which allows you to explore the nearby village (which until then had been off limits) and which opens the door for what's bound to be a fun-filled sequel. Other extras include a full game walkthrough for when/if you get stuck, game art screensavers, wallpapers and very cool concept art which you can peruse at your leisure.

The only real downside to the game (aside from a lack of voice over) is a bug encountered by a number of players which prevents a necessary item from appearing, thus stopping gameplay and forcing players to start over under another profile. Thankfully, this problem is rare and has only affected a small percentage of gamers.

Haunted Legends: The Queen of Spades is a lush, atmospheric, well-crafted hidden object adventure - a perfect past time for this holiday break. At this time, only the Collector's Edition is available now for $13.99 (for Big Fish members) on the Big Fish Games website. The standard edition will no doubt be available at a later date.