Publisher: Namco Games
Developer: Virtual Prophecy
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista, 1.0 GHz CPU, DirectX 9, 512 Mb RAM, 330 MB hard-drive space
Genre: Puzzle / Casual
Release date: Available now

Something rather strange has been happening as of late. It seems in the past month there has been a resurgence in hidden-object games. We’ve reviewed Otherside: Realm of Eons and Fashion Assistant, and we’ve announced the release of The Mysterious Past of Gregory Phoenix. I wonder what prompted this. Has there been some market study that has conclusively proven that such games are in great demand? Is it nothing but a simple coincidence? Whatever the reason might be, more of these games continue to appear. Not surprisingly, I bring you the news of another such game.

Mishap: An Accidental Haunting, just like the others, is a game in which you are presented with a series of screens that contain hundreds if not thousands of objects; you have to click on a few dozen correct ones to move on to the next stage. This is made more difficult by the fact that some of these objects are barely visible, or at times it’s unclear what a particular item looks like. Of course, there is also the matter of trying to find a needle in a haystack – a difficult endeavor in and of itself. To aid you in your task, you are given a list of all the things you need to locate, as well as a hint feature that recharges after each use.

Each stage includes a main room and three adjacent rooms that are all haunted by the same powerful spirit. To appease it, a number of items need to be found that are used to construct a device that can fulfill the spirit’s desires and put it to rest. Since it would be quite boring to pixel-hunt all the time, Mishap also includes a number of mini-games that break up the pace. For instance, you can catch minor ghosts in each room and read funny descriptions of how they died. Once the device is complete, you play a mini-game (different for each spirit), and once you’re victorious you can move to another area of the house.

Graphically, the game is very pretty. All the stages are beautifully rendered and the cut scenes are quite plausible. Some are done in a comic-book style, while others are actual 3D cartoons. The sound effects are mostly appropriate, although the music can get repetitive and annoying after awhile. Installation was simple, I found no bugs or crashes while playing, and the general quality of the game is consistent with Namco’s usual high standards. Granted, it’s a relatively simple application, but I feel that attention to detail and good QA always warrant a tip of the hat.

Gameplay-wise, I wasn’t equally impressed. Perhaps the most telling is the fact that rapidly clicking all over the screen is guaranteed to help you complete any given stage faster than if you methodically search for the objects on your list. The game tries to address this by making an angry specter block your ability to click for a few seconds, should you select too many unlisted objects. Still, despite incorporeal obstacles, random clicking is a faster method. The story is also somewhat unimpressive, with a plot twist being evident after only a few clues. Also, a lot of objects are reused throughout the different rooms.

When all is said and done, Mishap: An Accidental Haunting is a casual game and I shouldn’t be too hard on it. For a mere $10 it allows you to have a decent gaming experience, which is exactly what it claims to do. With that said, it’s not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. You will not want to come back to it again and again, as is the case with other casual games such as Plants vs. Zombies. However, if you’re in a situation where you have to kill a few hours and there is absolutely nothing else to do, Mishap could very well offer some positive emotions. Just don’t expect too much of it.

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