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The Silent Codex
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Continuing their investigation into crime and unusual events that occur in Victorian London and its surrounding areas, the detective duo of Morgan and Jack return for the latest offering in the Gaslight Cases series. Now up to number 12 in the series, this particular episode, entitled The Silent Codex, opens with the death of Professor Lyle Hemsworth. As usual with titles in the series, the game spreads its story line over five chapters of Match 3 game play that can be conducted in either Timed or Relaxed mode.
Extremely popular with his students at the University of Aelwich, and other well respected other members of staff, the Nobel Prize winning Professor Hemsworth had undergone a recent change to his normal behaviour of being friendly and always approachable following the discovery of a certain forbidden book. It was while being completely absorbed in this book that the Professor walked into the path of a moving car and died. This was the situation facing Morgan and Jack, accompanied by their friend Evelyn, arrived at the University to investigate the Professor's demise.
In order to progress through the game's five chapters, you will need to complete a series of Match 3 grids. Each grid, with a content of various embellished tiles, will be positioned centrally. It will be sandwiched between available power-ups on the left and the challenge for the grid level on the right. The challenge will consist of the type and number of the different types of tiles that will need to be removed. Achieving the required challenge for the current grid can be carried out by swapping adjacent tiles to create groups of three or more tiles which then disappear. You can also remove tiles by using the limited supplied power-ups. Fortunately additional power-ups, in the form of bombs, can be created by making groups of more than four tiles and used when required to clear ages.
Occasionally a grid will feature Crystal tiles. This type of tile can not be removed by the usual methods. Instead you need to created pathway beneath such a tile so that it can fall to the bottom of the grid and can then be removed. If a Crystal tile is featured in the grid then it will also be featured in the Challenge.
Completing a grid's challenge will bring the reward of stars. You use these stars to activate the four upgrades that are available to complete each chapter. As with the chapters, the upgrades need to be performed in a set order. After each upgrade you will encounter a rather static cut-scene involving the two detectives and their friend with printed dialogue that advances the story line.
During these interludes you will be informed about dreams of a spinning corridor and a book that predicts forthcoming actions. There will be the appearance of a Shadowless figure with a shifting face and shelves of books that breathe. During their investigation, the three friends are introduced to Chrono-Ink which is a substance that has the ability to cause the rewriting of reality through collective belief as they need to navigate layers of the mystery and the effects of madness in order to decipher the riddle of the Codex.
Those looking to assist the detective complete their investigation can download this title from Gamehouse.com where it is priced at $9.99. It is also available from Big Fish Games priced at £7.59. The game requires a 1.5 GHz processor with 1024MB of RAM and 111MB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.
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