Review: Hot Pursuit by eSoft Interactive (Windows Mobile)

Have good mystery-solving skills? How about traveling to 42 different countries to get clues from witnesses and capture the thief? But, how good are you at geography and history knowledge? Hot Pursuit by eSoft Interactive puts you in the situation and you will have to capture the thief within the time limit given to you. Think you have what it takes?

Features:-

A different kind of mystery-puzzle gaming!

Travel over 42 countries right on the palm of your hand!

Includes tons of geographical trivias

Cool sound effects and music

Save/Load your game anytime/anywhere

Online score ranking!

FREE lifetime updates!

Game Play

You start off with a 'News Flash', which is actually your mission details regarding what had just happened. Your job? Find the criminal within the time limit, which is stated in your mission details. In order to do so, you have to pay close attention to the clues given by witnesses that you will encounter while you are investigating in different countries.

You will be given 3 random clues to where the suspect will be headed next. This is where the adventure begins. In order to figure out where the suspect will be heading next, you will have to build up your geography and history knowledge because the clues given are based on those 2 areas. This will definitely make the mission easier to solve. Click on the 'Earth' icon and you will see 4-5 different countries that you will be able to choose to go to next. 

Using the clues collected from your 'witnesses', select the next country that you think the suspect is headed to. If you selected the wrong country, 'witnesses' in that country will tell you that their country is peaceful and you must have gathered the wrong information. You will then have to head back to the country that you came from and gather more clues to where exactly is the suspect headed to. 

Once in a while, you will get the suspect's description. When you do get the suspect's description, the first thing to do is to go to the 'Issue Warrant' menu and put in the description given by the witness. The description given randoms from what hair type does the suspect have to what vehicle is the suspect driving. Once you have completed all of the 4 descriptions ((hair, feature, item, vehicle), you will be able to issue a warrant to arrest the suspect.

Once the 'Warrant of Arrest' is issued, you will be able to arrest the suspect at the next country where the clues are pointing to. However, bear in mind that you have to complete this within the time frame given in the mission details. The in-game time is displayed at the top left corner, which will adjust accordingly when you travel from country to country. Once you have successfully completed your mission, your stats will be updated accordingly. 

In the 'Stats' menu, you will be shown your current rank, mission played, mission solved, miles traveled, countries visited, thieves captured and total time played. There's also a 'Medals' menu, which will show the medals that you have earned. There's a total of 10 medals to be earned, and the toughest medal to earn would be 'Certified Addict', which apparently you will have to play for 336 hours to be able to earn it. 

Performance

The graphics for this game is just great. There's a total of 42 countries in this game and each country's screen shot is nicely done, with a short but informative description of the country. The background music and sound effects are also nicely done. The background music sets you in the mood for the game. Sound effects, such as the sound of the plane taking off whenever you fly off to a different country to catch the suspect, are well synced too.

 
Overall

Overall, eSoft Interactive's Hot Pursuit offers a whole new different approach to building up your geography and history knowledge. The graphics, background music and sound effects are nicely done. The only update that I wish to have for future update would be an information dictionary of the countries visited. With it, I would be able to refer to the dictionary for future references. So, build your geography and history knowledge and take on a crime solving journey spanning over 42 different countries around the globe. With unlimited hours of playtime, this game will definitely take your geography and history knowledge to the next level.

Hot Pursuit is available from eSoft Interactive at $9.95.

Rating:-

Edit: You will be able to upload your 'miles traveled' online here.