Dark City: Vienna > iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac & PC Game

Overall rating

5 / 5

25 of 28 found this review helpful

Fine Plot Twists on an Old (but Good) Story

PostedOctober 11, 2019

LikeAGoodStory

fromFlorida

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Favorite Genre(s):Adventure

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

4 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

I enjoy this series, especially its storylines, and this "Phantom" story has some good twists, which make for enjoyable play. Perhaps what stands out the most is the creativity in the Hidden Object scenes. Also, their placement does not detract from the story, and the same is true for the puzzles, which are easy (my favorite kind).

I do wish the developer would use other music. I have grown ...Show more

I enjoy this series, especially its storylines, and this "Phantom" story has some good twists, which make for enjoyable play. Perhaps what stands out the most is the creativity in the Hidden Object scenes. Also, their placement does not detract from the story, and the same is true for the puzzles, which are easy (my favorite kind).

I do wish the developer would use other music. I have grown weary of it.

Lately, I've been thinking I have played too many HOPA games. I have to remind myself what a HOPA game is when I consider a rating and not rate it on what it isn't. This is a solid game in all aspects, especially as a whodunit (whose storyline is always about catching a murderer). And the developers are creative with clues and evidence. The pacing of the game is excellent; I really appreciate the chapter designations, too.

To me, it is an excellent game but as always, play the demo first. Show less

I recommend this game!

+22points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

1 of 2 found this review helpful

Outstanding Graphics!

PostedSeptember 21, 2020

Yanie1020

fromIowa, USA

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Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Marble Popper, Puzzle, Strategy

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

This game gets five stars just for the artwork! Some of the best I've seen! Loved all the puzzles and HOP's. Really liked everything about it, although the puzzles could have been a little more challenging. I'll be watching for the next Dark City!

I recommend this game!

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Overall rating

5 / 5

I NEVER WRITE REVIEWS EXCEPT THIS ONE AND PHANTASMAT

PostedDecember 11, 2023

puppymonkeymommy

fromCalifornia

Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Card & Board, Family, Hidden Object, Puzzle

Current Favorite:

Phantasmat

(155)

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

I Love this game more than most because of its puzzles and storyline. The puzzles are different from other games...Different and challenging. I wish I bought the CE version so I could replay them as much as possible. Oh Well, hopefully, it will be on sale, or one of the Free ones for us members. I highly recommend The CE version instead of the SE version.

I recommend this game!

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Overall rating

5 / 5

Good series and a great game but a bug in extras

PostedDecember 2, 2023

robotics1

fromcambridge, UK

Skill Level:Intermediate

Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

I enjoyed it very much. Like the others in the series it features something mysterious that turns out to be just a bad guy! Only downside in the extra game play there is a puzzle (if that's a good word) where there is a circle with letters round it and a single word VIENNA. You have to turn the dial to the letters one at a time. Then the word changes to SINGER but the letters do not - no S for ...Show more

I enjoyed it very much. Like the others in the series it features something mysterious that turns out to be just a bad guy! Only downside in the extra game play there is a puzzle (if that's a good word) where there is a circle with letters round it and a single word VIENNA. You have to turn the dial to the letters one at a time. Then the word changes to SINGER but the letters do not - no S for example. So I had to abandon the game. So just get the standard edition. Show less

I recommend this game!

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Overall rating

4 / 5

45 of 57 found this review helpful

IF POSSIBLE OPT FOR THE CE VERSION-IT HAS GREAT COLLECTIBLES

PostedOctober 11, 2019

pennmom36

from4 Friends Games doesn't get enough credit sometimes, but they have amazing games and I love their clever CE Morphs & Collectibles :)

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Skill Level:Expert

Fun Factor

3 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

3 / 5

Storyline

3 / 5

Completed Game approximately 5 hours
(including completion of all mini-games & CE Bonus Chapter)

The Phantom of the Opera is wreaking havoc within the Vienna Opera House, seeking Justice and demanding the guilty atone for their sins! The lives of the troupe and the Opera House are at stake because the Phantom won't stop until the criminals confess, but who confesses and for what crime?

The ...Show more

Completed Game approximately 5 hours
(including completion of all mini-games & CE Bonus Chapter)

The Phantom of the Opera is wreaking havoc within the Vienna Opera House, seeking Justice and demanding the guilty atone for their sins! The lives of the troupe and the Opera House are at stake because the Phantom won't stop until the criminals confess, but who confesses and for what crime?

The first of two Gadgets is the All-Seeing-Eye which requires you to collect "evidence" in the form of a small Hidden Object Scene. As you find the Listed items, they show a brief description next to them and the detective gives a brief summary of events that took place. This gadget is used 7 times in the main game and 4 more times in the CE Bonus Chapter.

The second Gadget is a Deduction-Conclusion Notebook. Once you gather a slew of evidence and photos, you are tasked with placing them into corresponding oval slots that highlight automatically, no actual deductions necessary (What's the point of this annoying task? At least let me try to figure out where the items should be placed!) This gadget is used 7 times in the main chapter and 2 times in the CE Bonus Chapter.

In the CE version, there are 30 Morphing Opera Masks in the main game and 8 within the CE Bonus Chapter. There are 20 Hidden Alphabet Letters in the main Game and 7 within the CE Bonus Chapter. They have done a really good job with both features, the Opera Masks not only morph slowly but they don't morph into something that looks out of place. Once you find all Morphs and Letters, they are used to unlock additional Bonus Super Puzzles!

There are 14 Hidden Object Scenes +6 within the CE Bonus Chapter, not including the Evidence All-Seeing-Eye HO's. I have to give kudos to our 4 good Friends who were able to reinvent the wheel to bring a new type of HOP to the table! You have to grab pictures or images that have a missing section from the inventory bar and align the hole with an item in the scene. The First one simply required finding a logical shape like a missing bouquet of flowers but the second go-round was way cooler because the objects were so well blended into different fabric textures in the scene, Nice! ✔ There were also the usual Interactive List Finds, Silhouetted Shape Finds, Replace Item Finds, and several Multiples Finds that were usually offered in a repeated scene.

There are 18 Mini-Games +10 in the CE Bonus Chapter. There are several smaller puzzles to solve before using an inventory + item and within most of the HOP's such as placing torn photo fragments, rotating circles on disks, etc. Below are brief descriptions of some of the mini-games I liked:

♫-Jump Red and Blue Chips until only one remain.
♫-Use the empty slot to replicate a bird's flight on a film strip.
♫-Select the number of moves & direction to travel from point A to B.
♫-Place wine bottles of different categories for each country.

The CE Bonus Chapter story takes place shortly after solving the Phantom of the Opera case when the Detective receives an urgent message from Johann Strauss, the conductor at the Vienna Opera House. A Muse has been appearing to Johann shortly after sunset and everyone thinks he's lost a few nuts and bolts and desperately needs the detective to validate and identify the Muse and its purpose. The chapter is slightly longer than any of the main games' chapters, spanning over 8 scene locations. There are 10 Mini-Games and 6 Hidden Object Scenes and you will collect the remaining 7 Letters and 8 Morphing Opera Masks. You will use the All-Seeing Eye Gadget 4 times to collect evidence via HO scenes, and the Deduction Notebook Gadget one final time to draw your conclusion and put another Dark City notch on your belt.

The Collector's Edition version has 11 Wallpapers (psst, Friends of 4, most ppl want wallpapers of the beautiful scenery you created so can you skip the character cameos?) 19 Concept Art Pictures, 4 Screensavers, 5 Music Soundtracks, 26 Movie Video Cutscenes, 23 Achievements, 12 Replayable Hidden Object Scenes, 13 Replayable Mini-Games, 4 Main Chapters +Bonus Chapter and a Built-in Strategy Guide.

DARK CITY SERIES LIST
Title***Standard Edition Release Date***Average Rating

1-London (December 29-2017) 4.4
2-Munich (December 7-2018) 4.4
3-Vienna (October 11-2019) n/a

by: 4Friends Games Show less

I recommend this game!

+33points

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Overall rating

4 / 5

23 of 30 found this review helpful

GREAT GAME BUT ONE STAR DEDUCTED FOR TOO MANY PUZZLES

PostedOctober 12, 2019

biscuitsmama

fromGreat HOPS are much more enjoyable than having too many PUZZLES to solve

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This "Key Contributor" plays, rates, and reviews a lot of games. We think you'll trust their thoughts and opinions about games.
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Fun Factor

4 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

Dark City Vienna is the third game in the Dark City series and it is, IMHO, the best. I enjoyed the first game but the second game not so much. Dark City Vienna is a vast improvement in the HOPS but still has far too many puzzles as far as I’m concerned.

This developer has been a long time favorite and has consistently created some excellent HOPA games over the years. In Dark City Vienna they ...Show more

Dark City Vienna is the third game in the Dark City series and it is, IMHO, the best. I enjoyed the first game but the second game not so much. Dark City Vienna is a vast improvement in the HOPS but still has far too many puzzles as far as I’m concerned.

This developer has been a long time favorite and has consistently created some excellent HOPA games over the years. In Dark City Vienna they have taken creativity to a new level in the design of the HOPS. I’m not going to give you all the details as I believe it is far more fun for you to discover those for yourself. If you play the demo for the game you will soon see the excellence and creativity in the HOPS and even some of the puzzles.

The story is told in a well-constructed manner as you use your detective skills and a deduction journal to help you categorize the clues that you find as you play the game. The only issue I have with the deduction journal is that you really don’t need to figure out where to place the items you have gathered. I don’t know why the developer found it necessary to highlight the circles where the gathered items should be placed. It would have been far more fun to figure it out without all the hand-holding.

The gameplay was excellent but there were far too many puzzles that cropped up before I could make any real progress in the game. For example, there were nine puzzles or mini-puzzles in the first chapter of the game. Although I do enjoy puzzles, I dislike having so many that they overwhelm the gameplay. Puzzles are often used as game extenders and replace the necessity for a well-crafted HOP scene in a game.

Although I am not a fan of having far too many puzzles in a HOPA game, I did find several of the puzzles fun to solve. The game was one that I purchased before the end of the demo and I have enjoyed discovering who was behind the phantom’s mask and his motivation. I’ve not yet played the bonus chapter but I do highly recommend Dark City Vienna as a terrific game, even more so if you happen to enjoy puzzles. Happy gaming! Show less

+16points

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Overall rating

4 / 5

1 of 2 found this review helpful

really enjoyed this game

PostedAugust 29, 2020

storm011

fromaustralia

Key Contributor
This "Key Contributor" plays, rates, and reviews a lot of games. We think you'll trust their thoughts and opinions about games.
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Skill Level:Intermediate

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

i have a couple of Dark City games and this one was enjoyable.

This game was on the daily special - even though i enjoyed it not sure i would have purchased for full price.

The puzzles were easy (not a puzzle person and i was able to complete them). Loved the twist on the hidden objects and the puzzles were interesting also.

The storyline was good - had a start, middle and ending - that ...Show more

i have a couple of Dark City games and this one was enjoyable.

This game was on the daily special - even though i enjoyed it not sure i would have purchased for full price.

The puzzles were easy (not a puzzle person and i was able to complete them). Loved the twist on the hidden objects and the puzzles were interesting also.

The storyline was good - had a start, middle and ending - that is all i need.

Great music and visuals.

Great way to get through a couple of hours in lockdown.

Try before you buy -happy gaming :) Show less

I recommend this game!

0points

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Overall rating

1 / 5

21 of 28 found this review helpful

Awful

PostedOctober 12, 2019

roaming

fromTexas

Key Contributor
This "Key Contributor" plays, rates, and reviews a lot of games. We think you'll trust their thoughts and opinions about games.
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Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object

Same old story set in Vienna instead of Paris. I don't understand why some folks think this is new and special.

Graphics are flashy, lots of flaming stuff, but mediocre at best. The squirrel was cute, but that was about it. The characters stand stock still like paper dolls with moving mouths pasted on.

HOS are the standard ones.

The phantom keeps appearing and disappearing. I'm pretty ...Show more

Same old story set in Vienna instead of Paris. I don't understand why some folks think this is new and special.

Graphics are flashy, lots of flaming stuff, but mediocre at best. The squirrel was cute, but that was about it. The characters stand stock still like paper dolls with moving mouths pasted on.

HOS are the standard ones.

The phantom keeps appearing and disappearing. I'm pretty sure there'll be a magic lantern projector showing up later in the game, but I don't care to hang around to find out. Show less

I don't recommend this game.

+14points

21of 28voted this as helpful.

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