Sorry Santa. My line is busy! Wait till next year! – Christmas Eve: Midnight's Call HD - A Holiday Hidden Object Adventure (Full) Review

As a child, your twin sister disappeared through a "hole" in the ice while ice skating in Central Park. Now as an adult, you receive a mysterious package with an invitation to find out the truth of what really happened to her. Will you ever see your sister again? You accept that invitation, and you wind up battling against ice monsters to save the snow kingdom from the evil sorceress. You will use a medallion, which is only charged upon performance of good deeds. You are given a snowman helper from Santa to reach items in higher places or in small areas. The graphics are crisp and clear using many bright colors. The scenery is reminiscent of a holiday village in Europe, with its snowy, past century ambiance. The inventory is labeled but not interactive. The HOS are varied, such as word lists with interaction; progressive silhouette; and find pairs of related items. You can customize your mode of difficulty, as well as choose your mode of difficulty for the puzzles. I thought the puzzles were fun where you had to work some out a bit, like the one where you place holders on several shapes and create a connection to move a ball to its dish. They were relative to the holiday. There are lots of items to collect in each location, including in the puzzle pop-ups. This is where the decent aspects end. The map was terrible! It did not note any objectives or available actions so you are running around trying to find what needs to be done. There was no journal and no back button. The map, hint button, and strategy guide were all cramped together causing accidental tapping on undesired function. The only collectibles are presents scattered around, and they are too easy to see. Nothing unique for the extras. Each time you earn an achievement, the game decorates a room for you - how challenging! I experienced numerous glitches and was kicked out several times. This was an older game lacking any innovation that we have seen in other games. We have not had a decent game since Puppet Show, and it is time for some early Christmas presents in the form of some better games containing innovative game mechanics. I guess I will be checking out Black Friday sales to find something I missed.
Review by KimTwilight69 on Christmas Eve: Midnight's Call HD - A Holiday Hidden Object Adventure (Full).