PuppetShow: The Face of Humanity Collector's Edition

One of the modern concerns regarding technology is that many jobs are about to become obsolete once scientists devise robots that can do them cheaper and more efficiently. However, most of that is still in the future, even if there already have been a few cases. Thankfully, it would seem like this transition is completely in our hands, so at least we have the power to reverse it if it doesn’t pan out.

PuppetShow: The Face of Humanity Collector's Edition is a hidden object adventure game in which a different kind of revolution takes place, one that is not as pleasant as having robots doing your work. Instead of robots, the game features humanoid puppets that take the place of human workers, which is a lot more strange. In short, your task is to investigate, find hidden items and solve a variety of puzzles.

The entire story takes place in the city of Saltsbruck, which, to no one’s surprise, is actually a mining town where the main output is salt. However, the miners are being replaced by puppet workers, which leaves them out of a job and out of money to buy food. When strange murders start to happen and the mayor’s daughter goes missing, you are called to investigate the matter and save the city from disaster.

Most of your time is spent searching for items and using them to unlock the way further. Some objects are locked away in various containers, and you must find the keys to open them. It’s actually a repetitive cycle that gets pretty annoying after a while, but you can get used to it if you concentrate on the good parts. As an example, the atmosphere is quite nice, especially since the whole city is on lockdown and there’s even a curfew in place.

As far as the artwork is concerned, the game looks sublime, especially when it comes to the backgrounds and the locations you get to visit along the way. The cutscenes are quite intense and nicely animated as well, although you shouldn’t expect anything too great either. The voice acting gets a passing grade too, and the music goes very well with the general atmosphere.

Even if PuppetShow: The Face of Humanity Collector's Edition is designed with a casual audience in mind, even hardcore adventure fans can have fun with it. Granted, puzzles are pretty simple and the plot is not very intricate, but at least the idea is intriguing.