Snark Busters: High Society review for PS3

At this point, trying to draw a distinction between Alawar’s PS3 hidden object games is sort of like a theological discussion about angels fitting on the heads of pins. Apart from that one, weird interlude where they decided to make a hidden object game without hidden objects, in general the same things could be said for Snark Busters: High Society that you could’ve said for Sacra Terra: Kiss of Death, Mountain Crime: Requital and Twisted Lands: Shadow Town.

What does that mean? Well, for starters, it means you have thoroughly mediocre graphics, comically bad voice acting, and a storyline that you’re probably better off not thinking about too much. The plot, in particular, follows the developer’s tradition of starting off normal-ish enough (an evil socialite has made claims about an innocent man!), before veering off into all kinds of supernatural weirdness. Basically, if you’ve played any previous Alawar hidden object games, you know what to expect.

It also means, though, that you can expect some decent hidden object scenes while you’re at it. In fact, in this respect, Snark Busters: High Society does seem to mix things up ever so slightly. Rather than giving you an image and a completely unrelated list of things to find, this time out the hidden objects you’re looking for serves a purpose within any given particular scene — so, for example, finding robot parts leads to a robot being built, and that robot will then do something that helps you move forward in the game. I know that cause-and-effect has been one of the building blocks of storytelling for a couple of millennia now, so it’s the kind of thing you’d probably take for granted by now, but it’s still neat to see it deployed in one of these games in a way that makes sense (compared to, say, looking for a playing card and a guitar at the bottom of the ocean, or something equally nonsensical).

There are also straight-up puzzles. They aren’t challenging, to say the least. I mean, I’d like to think I’m just getting really good at them, but the reality is you should be able to solve them with a minimum of difficulty if you’ve ever played any game like this before.

So, moment of truth, is Snark Busters: High Society worth picking up? I think you already know the answer to that. If you’re not a fan of hidden object games, then I can’t imagine that plot-driven hidden object puzzles are going to be what suddenly wins you over. If, however, the words “plot-driven hidden object puzzles” sends a shiver of anticipation up and down your spine, then yes, you’ll want to download this yesterday.