A relaxing and pleasant point and click adventure that is a bit too easy for experienced players but could well be ideal for a younger or unaccustomed audience.
Type: Single-player
Genre: Adventur, Puzzlee,
Point and Click, Mystery
Developer: Specialbit Studio
Publisher: Specialbit Studio
Release date: 6 April, 2021
Intro🎬
The Wild Case is a 2D first-person point and click adventure.
A casual story-based venture into a remote Russian village containing light puzzle elements much akin to hidden object games.
Story📕
Employed as a sort of paranormal investigator, you receive a letter from the chairman of a remote mining village in Russia.
They are being terrorized by numerous wild beasts which seem to be out of control and have glowing red eyes.
Many of the inhabitants have been scared off and the village is in decline.
You set off to try and uncover the mystery.
Gameplay🕹️
The Wild case follows the usual rules pertaining to a hidden object game.
Search the environment with your mouse until a hand or magnifying icon appears. A hand icon indicates you can pick the item up and a magnifying glass signifies that you can examine the object. Once examined, a text description of the item will be revealed and you may be able to use objects in your inventory on it.
Objects in the scene cannot be highlighted but there are no red herrings and everything is relatively easy to find.
Items in your inventory cannot be combined or examined and must be dragged on to the screen to interact with other objects. It makes it very simple to play.
You will meet various characters throughout your journey and can talk to all of them. There are no incidental characters. They all play a part in the story. A dialogue selection will be presented. It is never extensive and usually sticks rigidly to the objective at hand. Of course, when objectives change then new dialogue options will open with that character if they play a part in the solution.
Objectives can be tracked using your journal but this is the only purpose of it. There are no notes, drawings or clues, which was a shame.
There is a map which gives you the opportunity to instantly visit any location already discovered without any loading screens. It is lightning fast and incredibly easy to jump around destinations.
The story is not frightening at all for adults. It would probably feel exciting and chilling for youngsters and would certainly be more appealing to them.
There are some achievements which are predominantly story based but there are a couple of vague achievements which you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the description if you want to get them all in your first playthrough. If you do miss them however, you can start again from any of the three chapters in the game which saves you a bit of time.
The game takes between two and four hours to complete depending on your experience.
Graphics 🕹️
The graphics are quite detailed and paint a realistic landscape of a remote Russian village. You feel isolated playing the game. Characters are drawn nicely and have personality and charm.
The animals looked realistic and the cutscenes were fun, if not a little brief!
All dialogues are displayed in text which is easy to read and can be skipped if required.
Sound🎵
The game is full of background noises, usually of a nature theme. Bees humming and birds tweeting are familiar sounds in the game. The destination is quite remote and the sound reinforces this notion.
There is no voice acting. All dialogue is displayed in text.
Verdict
The look and feel of the game are very reminiscent to hidden object games, but there are no hidden object scenes. The look, feel and gameplay are very similar.
I guess they picked a remote Russian village as the setting because the inhabitants are poor and rely on bartering as a means of payment, which fits into the storyline perfectly.
Need a hammer from the blacksmith? First go and get me some meat from the butcher.
Asking the butcher for some meat inevitably requires you to get him something else.
Nobody will do anything in this village without a favour and that is how most of the gameplay pans out. It is your typical hidden object type puzzle scenario. If you’ve played any hidden object games you will know what I mean.
Gameplay is quite basic following these rules. It certainly is not an advanced point and click adventure. There is no combination of objects to make new ones, no examination of objects and no manipulation of objects at all. Once you receive an item it will have one use and most of the time that use is obvious.
There is a handy map for fast travel which you receive at the start of the game, although being a first-person adventure moving between destinations is lightning fast anyway. The game doesn’t feel frustrating at all moving around the numerous locations, as is the nature of this type of game.
The journal was disappointing, only showing objectives. There were a couple of puzzles where you had to remember songs which would have been perfect for noting in the journal.
The game is quite easy to complete especially if you are familiar with the hidden object type gameplay.
I did not have any trouble solving puzzles and I tore through the game in two and a half hours exactly, spending a further half an hour mopping up a couple of missed achievements.
I’m not sure why I can’t pick up a magnet with my bare hands but hey ho.
I still enjoyed the game though, mainly due to the wonderful art work, atmosphere and characters. It proved to be a casual, relaxing and pleasurable romp into the wild lands of Russia.
Environments were well drawn, characters were memorable and had distinct personalities, music and sound effects were atmospheric.
The story takes a while to warm up but was intriguing. It reminded me a little bit of a Scooby Doo mystery. The excitement ramps up towards the end and there is a satisfying conclusion.
I wouldn’t say the story is scary, especially for adults, but children might find it spooky and there are a couple of jump scares but they’re pretty tepid.
The Wild Case is a basic point and click adventure in terms of gameplay that experienced players of the genre will find too easy.
That doesn’t necessarily mean it is a bad game, as there are numerous other reasons to play, but if challenge is your main motivation, then look elsewhere.
It’s a relaxing game full of charm and interesting characters that will keep you entertained for a few hours.
I would highly recommend this for a younger audience or newcomers to the genre as it is wonderfully presented and a pleasant experience overall.
