Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos

Interpol was never a game that was going to set the world on fire, but it does offer the kind of experience that is becoming quite rare these days. It is a genuinely calming and relaxing title and when you consider how many levels you are getting here, is good value for money.

Interpol is an interesting Xbox Live Arcade game and one that offers easy pick-up and play mechanics. It’s a puzzle game that you can play in small doses and is well worth it for keeping non-gaming family members and friends entertained.

This game fails to be a really great conversion of a traditional "search and find" style game. The digital medium feels unsuited to a game such as this, and it can be frustrating peering into your TV set looking for some of the more tricky items. The game is much better when played in co-op either locally or over LIVE, as it makes searching more fun and also speeds up the game.

While the sound and controls are fine, the somewhat-finicky detection system for clues doesn't help make things easy for beginners. The game length is also very short, and you have very little incentive to keep playing once the main story line is finished. The biggest offender, though, is the graphics; blurry pictures and a small playing area don't make this a very desirable title, especially for the $10 (800 MS points) asking price.

There are times where you’ll appreciate the throwback to old detective games, but then you’ll realize that Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos needed a lot more work graphically to keep your attention past the first few cities.

A nice relaxing and simple XBLA title that shouldn't offend your Auntie Nellie, and has enough "one more go" appeal to see you right through to the end of the game. Not scintillating and exciting, but certainly not a lame duck either.

I actually enjoyed playing Interpol while it lasted, but I honestly can't fathom spending $10 on it, especially when you compare that value to other things available on XBLA.

Poor visual presentation, repetitive, very short.

Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos will likely only be enjoyed by a very select few, and even they will likely have a hard time swallowing the price tag here. While finding every object in the game can be slightly addictive, there just isn’t enough here to warrant a look if you’re not a huge fan of the hidden object genre.

Interpol doesn't do enough to create or maintain interest or excitement. If you're already into the idea of finding hidden items, Interpol will keep you busy for a few hours (including bonus "spot the difference" puzzles, ala QuickSpot on DS), but if not, the bland interface and narrative are unlikely to win you over.

In the end, Interpol: The Trail of Dr Chaos is a fun little title let down by awful presentation. The score could of been a lot lower if it was not so addictive.

While it is fairly short, simple, and not particularly impressive in any way, Interpol still somehow manages to be an enjoyable experience.

Interpol is a game that few will return to after the first session. The game's main strength is that it's easy to understand, but when the overall experience is monotonous, short lived and lacking in the challenge department there isn't much to motivate a buy here.

Pro: The handling of the game is very easy and you will have it understood in no time. Con: This small amount of time is too much to invest in Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos. Better look for an Internet game, which is free for download.

This sort of gameplay, while not being too terrible with a controller, is still much more suited to a DS stylus or a mouse. When you throw in a lot of repetition amongst objects and a general lack of varied gameplay, Interpol is hardly a game I’d recommend.

When it comes down to it, Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos is just not an exciting or interesting introduction to this obscure genre for console or handheld owners.

Interpol is good for a few short bursts of seek-and-find fun, but it’s just not a game that’s very well suited to the console. Add that to the poor image resolution, inconsistent puzzles and overall shaky production value, and you have a game that’s probably not worth the download.

It's hard to mess up a hidden-object game, but Interpol tries.

The story is nonsense, the puzzles are ugly and blurry, the clues are often indecipherable, and the game reeks of laziness, lack of polish and bargain-bin production values. To top it all off, it’ll run you 800 Microsoft Points, which is too much by half.

Some games baffle us by merely existing, and yes, Interpol, you are one of those games.

Playing Interpol is like reading a "Where's Wally?" book, only without Wally. Or Woof. Or even Wenda. [Issue#37, p.117]

In the end we don't believe Interpol's incredibly simplistic gameplay is worth the 800 MS Point price tag, and the rough presentation hurts what would have been a reasonably entertaining title for casual gamers.

This game might appeal to fans of looking for items in small images but that's it. I'm not really sure how they could have improved the game overall. Maybe get rid of the stupid plot which has nothing to do with the game, reduce the stupid price tag of 800 Ms points and you might have something to keep you occupied for 30 minutes or so.

It's unsurprising that developer TikGames is primarily known for cell-phone games and casual Flash-type stuff, because that's exactly what Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos feels like. This is exactly the kind of simplistic, disposable, and completely charm-free junk that Microsoft shouldn't be clogging up Xbox Live Arcade with.

Finding hidden objects is a delightful activity for children, but there is no tangible value for anyone looking to play a game.

Buy this to waste money! [Apr 2009, p.104]