Final Cut: Fade to Black

Companies are big enough nowadays to pose a threat to entire nations, especially in certain fields that bring in a lot of profit. Things get even worse when such companies decide to fight each other to gain more power, because they can resort to shady tactics that put innocent bystanders at risk. Thankfully, these disputes usually take the form of lawsuits and various legal procedures.

Final Cut: Fade to Black is a hidden object game in which your task is to explore a variety of locations, find useful items that can help you in your quest, and solve tricky puzzles to unravel a mystery. The mechanics are repetitive and not very original, but the thrill is there, which means that you can find yourself frantically searching for clues in order to move on and watch the story unfold.

Speaking of which, the entire plot revolves around a rivalry between two film companies. As it happens, a close friend of the main character is investigating this skirmish when he asks for help. Unfortunately, you arrive too late to help him, which means that the rest of the game is spent trying to find out who killed your friend and what’s the truth behind the two studios in question.

Just like in every other HOG out there, finding useful objects is your main activity. Each location has a couple of areas you can investigate closer, and it’s usually a long grind backwards and forwards until you find what you need to unlock doors and containers. There are a few other puzzles to solve as well, but they are not as intricate as you might hope, especially if you are familiar with slightly more advanced adventure games.

In the graphics department, there really isn’t much to complain about, because the environments are full of detail and quite moody most of the time. The cutscene animations are as stiff and awkward as always, but you should probably expect that. Thankfully, the soundtrack and the voice acting are decent, which helps a lot with immersion.

Even if Final Cut: Fade to Black might not satisfy the hardcore fans of the genre, it should be more than enough for those who enjoy a relaxing HOG adventure with an interesting plot. Some of the puzzles can be quite daunting, especially later on in the game.