The Last Door: Collector's Edition is one of the latest Windows Phone games in the Game Troopers portfolio. It is a mystery game where you have to search manors, tenements and warrens for clues to solve the puzzles.
The game is set in Victorian England where your character, Jeremiah Devitt, receives a cryptic letter from an old schoolmate Anthony Beechworth that leads him to believe something is wrong with his friend. Visiting his manor, he finds the home abandoned and begins to search for clues to solve this mystery.
The game has retro styled graphics, fairly easy to use controls and plenty of doors to unlock to discover the good and the bad. In playing The Last Door over the past few days, it is an appealing game, but the lack of a trial version may keep a few gamers at bay.
The Last Door: Collector's Edition greets you with a very simple main menu. The menu provides you with options to play the game, access the extras and access the game's settings. Game play is spread across four episodes and the extras include four mini-games. Options include sound/music levels, language support and close caption support. You also have the option to turn on Dyslexia-friendly fonts (non-pixelated) which are a little easier to read.
Game play starts out with you walking Anthony Beechworth through the final moments before his disappearance (or should I say demise). The gaming screen has your scene displayed across the center of your Windows Phone display with an inventory box running across the bottom of the scene. This box also has a magnifying glass that you can use to inspect areas or items closer.
Movement is accomplished by tapping the screen in the area you want your character to move towards. Tapping/holding the screen will pull up a target symbol that you can place over an area to inspect. As you tap/hold the screen and roll over areas that can be search or where an action can be attempted, the cross-hair will turn into a magnifying glass or a hand. Release the screen in these areas to take the relevant action.
As far as your inventory is concerned, tapping on an item that can be collected will add it to your inventory. To use the item, just tap and drag the item from your inventory box to the area of the screen where it should be used. Sometimes this means dragging it to your character, to another object in you supplies or an object in the scene. For example, to light the lantern you will need to drag the matches to the lantern and then drag the lantern to your character.
As dialog is generated, the text of the conversation or thought will appear in the inventory box. The Last Door: Collector's Edition isn't a game where you can skip through the dialog and hope to have a chance at success. The passages that appear will not only give you an idea what to look for but where you might find those items.
I have to give Game Troopers props for an excellent soundtrack and sound effects. The creepy music, squeaky floor, ticking Grandfather Clock and other background sounds helps the game project its mysterious mood. Even the drawers creak as you search through them.
Room for improvement
While, overall, The Last Door: Collector's Edition is an impressive game there is room for improvement.
The graphics are reminiscent of what you would find on a Commodore 64. While they offer a retro feel, they are a little on the dark side. This does add to the challenge of the game but almost to the point of being frustrating. You will miss clues, doors and objects that are needed to solve the puzzles.
Don't get me wrong, the game looks good and will appeal to those who like the old-school look of pixelation. It just needs to be a little brighter to give you a chance of seeing what is in the shadows. I did find playing The Last Door: Collector's Edition in a dark room with headphones worked a little better. As a bonus, the dark room and headphones helped enhance the spooky and mysterious mood of the game.
I did find some of the mechanics for game play a little on the stubborn side. There were occasions where taps to collect items or open doors would not register or would be noticeably delayed. I had similar experiences with action and search commands.These glitches were not terminal, but could be frustrating at times.
Lastly, I did experience stability issues while playing The Last Door from a Lumia 830. Game play is saved when you leave the game to allow you to continue game play when you return to things. My saved game would load but would be frozen. I also had one occasion where the soundtrack hit a strange loop and the game froze. The instability wasn't too frequent but significant when it did strike.
Overall Impression
The Last Door: Collector's Edition is a challenging, time-consuming Windows Phone game. While there is room for improvement, as is, the title does have a nice level of appeal for those who enjoy mystery games.
Game Troopers has created a diverse collection of entertaining Windows Phone titles. From Tiny Troopers to Twins Minigames, these titles have a tendency to stand out from the pack. The Last Door: Collector's Edition is no exception.
The graphics have a retro feel and while a little on the dark side, they help set the mood for the game. The soundtrack has a Dark Shadows feel to it that doesn't hurt either. Game play does have a scavenger hunt feel and your skills at deduction are tested more than your skills at tapping the screen.
The biggest downside to The Last Door: Collector's Edition will be the lack of a trial version. If you are a fan of this genre of games, it is probably worth the price of admission. The game does score a 4.5 Star rating in the Store, which is where The Last Door should be rated at.
The Last Door: Collector's Edition is available from both the Windows Phone and Windows 10 Store as a Universal Game and has support for low-memory Windows Phones. If you have given The Last Door: Collector's Edition a try let us know what you think of the game in the comments below.
- Download The Last Door: Collector's Edition from the Windows Phone Store ($2.99)
- Download The Last Door: Collector's Edition from the Windows 10 Store ($2.99)
