“The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.” ― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Right at the beginning I must say that even though they are my favorite type of casual games, I am not easily impressed by hidden object games. You see, I've played many, many of them and they all end up following a basic formula, never surprising you. They are like comfort soup. It's not grand, but you are used to them and find it to be enjoyable, so you always find that sense of familiarity with each new one. But I've just finished all 4 episodes of this game without nearly taking any breaks and I am impressed! The overall quality of Adam Wolfe is breathtaking to say the least. Now I already knew that Madhead Games was one of the big guns for the HOG genre anyhow, yet I've never had the pleasure of playing any of their other games before. Gosh, I must make a personal note to watch this developer more closely in the future.

Our titular character, Adam Wolfe is a detective of the paranormal, living in San Francisco City. We are not given the details of how he has come to be specialized in that particular area, but he has one ultimate goal besides keeping the city he lives in safe and in one piece: that is to find his sister, Allie. Adam's sister has gone missing some time ago without a trace, and since then, he's been trying to investigate the case, without any solid leads. He keeps having the same disturbing nightmare about her over and over again. Most his friends and the police think that she is already dead. Yet, he keeps looking, hoping that he may come across something relevant in each new case he takes.

Establishing the baseline for our character and the setting, this first season of the game - yup, this whole adventure consists of episodes, guys and girls and I bet we will hear more from Adam as the time passes - centers around a mysterious cult and its influence over various cases that Adam has been working on. Oddly enough, the deeper he gets into this whole mess, the closer he seems to get to finding his sister! Now what could be the connection here? Well, that is for us to find out. At the end of the 4th episode, we are presented with an elaborate storyline and a huge cliffhanger. Only "time" will tell.

The story pace heavily relies on narrative and the portrayal of all characters are vivid through this narrative. For the most of my experience, I felt that I've been playing a light-weight but excellently done adventure game rather than a HOG. Sure, the gameplay dynamic is a HOG in the end, but all cinematic cutscenes, dialogues and investigation processes invoke the feeling that you are actually looking at an interactive novel. You are directly involved with Adam's reaction rate while he fights, escapes, investigates etc. most of the time, with various mini games. Story build is fast-pacing yet elegant, keeping you within the flow of the adventure without you even noticing the passage of time. The best part is that plot twists DO actually surprise you! The paranormal detective concept itself might sound like a cliché, but the execution here makes Adam Wolfe stand out from various other examples.

Artwork is top notch quality, animations are brilliant - especially for this genre - and the environment design is surprisingly satisfying. I ended up just watching the place rather than going on with the game more than once. Characters look and act alive, with a marvelous amount of attention to detail, whether it be a change in their voice, or a piece of attire you might find peculiar. Whole design has an air of Vertigo Comics, with proper shading, decent shadowing, successful color combinations etc. It all feels realistic in a manner. Voice acting is amazingly good too, maybe the best that I've encountered in a HOG so far.

So... we've come to the crucial part of this thing: the gameplay. Adam Wolfe mostly consists of item collecting and combining with various puzzles, true. But it has certain unique qualities that I've never seen in this genre. There is a unique investigation process, which allows you to take a closer look to the crime scene and even travel back in time to the exact moment of the crime to deduce what might have happened. HOG scenes themselves are not various, but they serve something that I've never, ever seen in a HOG before: the storyline! Each HOG scene - alongside most of the puzzles - do serve to progress the storyline! For example, a friend of yours agrees to make a concoction for you at some point, and a HOG scene appears as he ask for ingredients from you to pass from the shelf while he is working. The narrative and HOG scenes pace together, eliminating the awkwardness of "how the hell this thing ended up being here anyhow?" Now this is a huge success and a revolution for this friggin genre. Puzzles themselves are not incredible, but they are appealingly polished versions of many classical ones. They don't force you 'till you get suicidal, neither annoy you with their simplicity.

For the bottom line, Adam Wolfe is a really great light-weight adventure rather than a HOG and it most certainly delivers a successful storyline with interesting characters, a fast paced game flow and awesome display quality. I would like to say that the full-price might be an exaggeration, but it is not. Go for it if you enjoy the genre!

Please also check out Lady Storyteller's Curator page here - follow for regular updates on reviews for other games!

[b]“The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.” ― Kahlil Gibran, [i]The Prophet[/i][/b] Right at the beginning I must say that even though they are my favorite type of casual games, I am not easily impressed by hidden object games. You see, I've played many, many of them and they all end up following a basic formula, never surprising you. They are like comfort soup. It's not grand, but you are used to them and find it to be enjoyable, so you always find that sense of familiarity with each new one. But I've just finished all 4 episodes of this game without nearly taking any breaks and I am impressed! The overall quality of [i]Adam Wolfe[/i] is breathtaking to say the least. Now I already knew that Madhead Games was one of the big guns for the HOG genre anyhow, yet I've never had the pleasure of playing any of their other games before. Gosh, I must make a personal note to watch this developer more closely in the future. Our titular character, Adam Wolfe is a detective of the paranormal, living in San Francisco City. We are not given the details of how he has come to be specialized in that particular area, but he has one ultimate goal besides keeping the city he lives in safe and in one piece: that is to find his sister, Allie. Adam's sister has gone missing some time ago without a trace, and since then, he's been trying to investigate the case, without any solid leads. He keeps having the same disturbing nightmare about her over and over again. Most his friends and the police think that she is already dead. Yet, he keeps looking, hoping that he may come across something relevant in each new case he takes. Establishing the baseline for our character and the setting, this first season of the game - yup, this whole adventure consists of episodes, guys and girls and I bet we will hear more from Adam as the time passes - centers around a mysterious cult and its influence over various cases that Adam has been working on. Oddly enough, the deeper he gets into this whole mess, the closer he seems to get to finding his sister! Now what could be the connection here? Well, that is for us to find out. At the end of the 4th episode, we are presented with an elaborate storyline and a huge cliffhanger. Only "time" will tell. The story pace heavily relies on narrative and the portrayal of all characters are vivid through this narrative. For the most of my experience, I felt that I've been playing a light-weight but excellently done adventure game rather than a HOG. Sure, the gameplay dynamic is a HOG in the end, but all cinematic cutscenes, dialogues and investigation processes invoke the feeling that you are actually looking at an interactive novel. You are directly involved with Adam's reaction rate while he fights, escapes, investigates etc. most of the time, with various mini games. Story build is fast-pacing yet elegant, keeping you within the flow of the adventure without you even noticing the passage of time. The best part is that plot twists DO actually surprise you! The paranormal detective concept itself might sound like a cliché, but the execution here makes [i]Adam Wolfe[/i] stand out from various other examples. Artwork is top notch quality, animations are brilliant - especially for this genre - and the environment design is surprisingly satisfying. I ended up just watching the place rather than going on with the game more than once. Characters look and act alive, with a marvelous amount of attention to detail, whether it be a change in their voice, or a piece of attire you might find peculiar. Whole design has an air of Vertigo Comics, with proper shading, decent shadowing, successful color combinations etc. It all feels realistic in a manner. Voice acting is amazingly good too, maybe the best that I've encountered in a HOG so far. So... we've come to the crucial part of this thing: the gameplay. [i]Adam Wolfe[/i] mostly consists of item collecting and combining with various puzzles, true. But it has certain unique qualities that I've never seen in this genre. There is a unique investigation process, which allows you to take a closer look to the crime scene and even travel back in time to the exact moment of the crime to deduce what might have happened. HOG scenes themselves are not various, but they serve something that I've never, ever seen in a HOG before: the storyline! Each HOG scene - alongside most of the puzzles - do serve to progress the storyline! For example, a friend of yours agrees to make a concoction for you at some point, and a HOG scene appears as he ask for ingredients from you to pass from the shelf while he is working. The narrative and HOG scenes pace together, eliminating the awkwardness of "how the hell this thing ended up being here anyhow?" Now this is a huge success and a revolution for this friggin genre. Puzzles themselves are not incredible, but they are appealingly polished versions of many classical ones. They don't force you 'till you get suicidal, neither annoy you with their simplicity. For the bottom line, [i]Adam Wolfe[/i] is a really great light-weight adventure rather than a HOG and it most certainly delivers a successful storyline with interesting characters, a fast paced game flow and awesome display quality. I would like to say that the full-price might be an exaggeration, but it is not. Go for it if you enjoy the genre! Please also check out Lady Storyteller's Curator page [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/ladystoryteller#curation]here[/url] - follow for regular updates on reviews for other games!