Azada 3: In Libro

It's the 1920's, and a distant cousin has just left you an unexpected inheritance in Prague. You jump on a train to the capital of the Czech Republic, and a taxi takes you and a notary to a house #38, which doesn't appear on any map. You have to make some inventory/action connections before you can even get in the house and by then the notary has abandoned you. When you do get in, you're met by the old butler, a weird old bird. All of a sudden, he tugs at his face. It's a mask - he's the notary in disguise! He pulls an urn over and the floor slopes beneath you. You slide down into an underground hole, while the "notary" says, "Please forgive me for the trickery. I did what I had to do for Azada has chosen you, my friend. That's the first thing that you have to know." Candles and strange fairy lights illumine the cavern you're in. Off to the side is a stand with a giant open book, hanging above it an ancient mirror. When you look into the mirror, you see Titus, the Guardian of Azada, and he talks to you about the book. "Within its pages lies a world both literal and magical, but that world is in danger. Azada has chosen you for its salvation." A page of the book starts to glow, and then you have a view of a distant land within a border of swirling mist. Can you? Yes, you can! And you step right into the book, now irrevocably committed to saving Azada, as well as yourself. 'Azada 3: In Libro" is such fun to play. It is an adventure (inventory-based) and puzzle game. There are no hidden object (HO) scenes. The storyline goes all over the place, but basically there's an evil magician who's been slowly taking over Azada. You not only have to beat back his evil black mists, but at the very end, you have to get by him before he throws a ball of lightning at you. You will best him, but you wont' destroy him. Hmm, an Azada 4 in the works? When you start your game, you pick from among three modes of play: Casual, Advanced and Hard. In Advanced, the hints and skips (for puzzles) take longer to recharge. In Hard, there are no hints and the Skips take even longer to recharge. I counted 21 fabulous puzzles. Some are a little easier than others and a couple really challenged me. All were creative. A paint-puddle one was my favorite. One is set up like a difficult Sudoku puzzle, except, instead of numbers, you use images of different magical creatures' heads. Instead of arranging 1's, 2's, 3's, etc., so that that there're all in different rows, you are arranging nine types of heads in the same way. I am reviewing the standard edition. Apparently, Big Fish will publish a Collector's Edition, which will have a built in strategy guide and some Extras. I did need a hint a couple of times, and used the walkthrough on Big Fish Games. The game saves automatically when you exit. After installation, you do not need the disc to play. I played on a Windows 7 with no problems. A very recommended game! Happy Reader

Great game! All the puzzles are different and fun. I needed a change from my usual Hidden Object type game and this is a great one for that.

This game is divided into 3 distinct parts. I thought the first part was ok, but not that gripping, and is set in a coastal town. The second was my favorite part, with woods, cottage, castle/tower, water-scenery, things like that and the third is fun and volcanic. This is not your typical Hidden Object, Adventure, Puzzle game. This does not have scenes devoted to a page of Hidden Objects. It does however have all the adventure, and plays the same in every other respect, with clues and objects to be found, collected in an inventory and used. The ending I found was a bit abrupt and I think it would have been better if they had added a 10 second animated cut-scene elaborating on the results of the quest’s success. Also in a particular part of the middle section, I found I kept getting a lagging cursor, but it was still playable. I found I couldn’t cure this even by altering the screen resolution. First time this has happened in a game on my computer and I've played other games on my computer with detailed graphics, that have filled the whole screen (so it's not that my computer can't handle it). I also tried playing the same place in the game the next day to make sure it wasn't my computer playing up and it kept happening in the same spots. Played this on windows 7, 64-bit.

I love computer games. Especially the computer games that challenge, stimulate, and reward the senses. I have Azada and I had to add this one to my collection. Amazon has a vast selection of games for purchase for the computer. Most are reasonably priced and the sellers are reliable. I can't think of any other place than Amazon for finding what you want in merchandise.

Keeps me entertained and playing into the wee hours of the morning once I get started! A great continuation of the series!

Excellent game! I enjoyed this game from beginning to end. It was delightful in the quality of the graphics and the music. The clues were cleaverly presented and the hints were used in a way that made you think, not just give away the answer. I have played the other Azada game, but this one was much better.

Enjoy the ongoing storyline yet each game is able to stand alone. Nice variety of action and puzzles. FX are realistic without being over the top. Has received high marks from Metacritic and other review media.