Demon Hunter 5: Ascendance Review: A Long Way to Fall

“Ascendance” is the subtitle for the fifth installment of the Demon Hunter series, and like the other installments in the series, this game exemplifies the hidden object puzzle adventure sub-genre.

The hidden object games from Polish publisher Artifex Mundi are always straight-up camp, but Ascendance heads into uncharted territory. It steps beyond the weirdness of previous games from Artifex Mundi like Dark Arcana: The Carnival, and strikes bizarre new ground for itself.

The main character of Demon Hunter 5: Ascendance is Hector Cole, a battle-hardened member of an order that combats the forces of evil. This is the first title with Cole as the protagonist but presumably not the last. His task is to investigate the mysterious disappearance of one of the guests at Edmund Strange's Museum of Mysticism and Monstrosity. This exploration is complicated by the fact that the location is apparently possessed by a mysterious entity that is carefully watching Cole's every step.

The Strange character (who looks something like Vincent Price, but sounds more like James Mason) is pretty easily figured out from “go,” as even the bumbling Scooby-Doo gang would know that he’s up to no good.  He doesn’t want the police involved, as he wants to maintain the Museum’s standing. His wife is also along for the ride, and she appears to be a crusty old version of Samara from The Ring movies.

In this experience the player will find thirty-five hand-drawn locations to check out, where there are twenty-six puzzles to solve, most of which rely on the search for concealed objects. As the game progresses, we learn more about the big ol’ mystery the storyline spins, and also uncover more about the past of Mr. Strange's museum...and the wicked proceedings that took place there.

Demon Hunter 5: Ascendance is a game of two halves, really. The first half remains in the museum, and it has a great deal of scare-tastic fun with this setup. Animatronic ghosts zip past, shrunken heads chat up Hector, and it all has the distinct feel of a Tales from the Crypt episode...which is never a bad thing in my mind. But an odd narrative twist ruins the whole situation and things get real boring, real quick. I would have much rather carried on down the path that the first half of the game laid before me.

Otherwise, it’s all traditional hidden object stuff. In most scenes you have to spot items from a list, and Demon Hunter 5: Ascendance opts to have a high degree of interaction in these. You lift up objects to see what’s underneath, and it works reasonably well. There are also a few three-item match scenes where you scan through illustrations in a book that are too often repeated and far too simple, but the hidden object elements are otherwise clear and well done.

The game also features puzzle mini-games, and they, too, do a fine job. Unfortunately, every one of them has been used before in previous Artifex Mundi titles, so don’t expect any fresh new designs here—but for a meal of three-day-old leftovers, it is still reasonably appetizing. Also present is the Demon Hunter series staple: the magical battle while looking for symbols that don’t happen to be in the normal array of the opponent’s attacks. I had to use a hint on one of the puzzles, which shows that Demon Hunter 5: Ascendance still maintains some challenge, and you can play a match-two puzzle mini-game to skip hidden object sequences, as well.

There are also the graphic adventure elements to consider as you accumulate items to use in the environment or on others. This landed in my wheelhouse: giving me lots of items to monkey around with, rather than a few (some hidden object games can be excessively one-dimensional and obvious), and offering a large number of areas at a time in which they can be used. Nothing is abstract, everything has an obvious use, and there are no awards for guessing the kind of basic items you are given: rope, a flashlight, knives, crowbars, axes, keys, etc.

In terms of art and design, the landscapes are fantastic, but can be taken for granted in the grander scheme of things. They are suitably gloomy and painterly, and the artists clearly had fun in the museum itself at the outset, but the character design is pretty weak. The budget must have been lower than average, as none of the characters truly animate, instead warping and morphing to communicate things like speaking or attacking. One of them consistently attacks you throughout the experience, and I spent most of the game just snickering at anything approaching a real menace.

What sandbags Demon Hunter 5: Ascendance the most though is its fall from grace in its second half. The later portion of the game is so incredibly generic, with a boss enemy that feels blander than unbuttered toast. I went through the motions, though, hunting the same old enemy, doing the same old mini-games, and gathering the customary items. The B-movie campiness is eroded away from this experience eventually, and what shows through is straight-to-the-bargain-bin schlock.

Demon Hunter 5: Ascendance isn’t that bad in hidden object game terms. For its first hour, it even attempts to break new ground, taking you into an intentionally tawdry house of horrors. But soon it becomes generic, and the second half of the game is the perfect average of almost every hidden object puzzler that has come down the pike.

For a game subtitled "Ascendance," it should have endeavored to reach much greater heights. But as C.D. Bales (played by the always excellent Steve Martin) declared in the movie Roxanne, “When you're reaching for a star, there's a long way to fall.”

SCORE: 2 STARS OUT OF 5

PLAY IF YOU LIKE:

• Dark Arcana: The Carnival. Give Demon Hunter 5: Ascendance a look if this previous Artifex Mundi release was to your liking.

• Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books and games. Demon Hunter 5 may not achieve the cult status of these two legendary mystery franchises, but it attempts to follow a similar formula of puzzles, secrets, and thrills.