Secret Files 3

While I loved Secret Files 1 and 2, the series took a nosedive with part 3 and I will never understand why. It was made by the same people and had two really good predecessors so the foundation was there. But the second sequel just can't reach the high bar the other two games had set.

While the graphics have improved again, the locations we visit this time aren't as pretty as the last times anymore. No European places or pretty nature spots, we mostly spend time in jail cells, labs or underground.

Two new features were added: you can pick the difficulty level for a few puzzles and there are two points in the game where you have to make a decision that "influences" the ending (there are 4 endings in total). The first one is a nice idea, the second completely superfluous since the ending is nothing more than a loveless slideshow.

The submarine labyrinth puzzle was the most outrageous puzzle by the way. As if a submarine couldn't move up and down...

The biggest problem this game has is its story, it's all over the place. I do appreciate that part 3 tries to wrap up things from part 1 but it makes everything unnecessarily complicated by adding dream sequences that weirdly enough influence the plot and retconning developments we saw in the first two games. Eventually, I completely lost the thread and had no idea what was going on anymore or how anything was connected.

If you're a completionist, get this game on sale. But if you were happy with the ending of SF2, don't bother playing this.

[H3]Not a bad continuation.

Better voice acting, decent plot and the same self aware humor you hopefully loved in the previous games. It's considerably shorter, but enjoyable throughout. While the music is good for the time, I'd turn it down because the voice balance is very low sometimes.

The main character is less of a pick me girl in this then the ones before it. Sadly it makes it worse as I enjoyed that she was so annoying it became fun now she is more bland. Otherwise it's meh. For a pound I would buy them but not for much more.

I have mixed feelings about Secret Files 3. While the voice acting got better, and the environments look beautiful as always, the other aspects of the game have drastically decreased in quality. The story is boring and feels rushed, the puzzles have been lowered in numbers and quality which is a shame because those were my favourite parts about the previous titles along with its goofy, self-aware humour. The playtime is also shorter, and there aren't much memorable moments. We also don't get to see Max that much.

Overall, Secret Files 1&2 were much better games with memorable moments and enjoyable, interesting puzzles. As a saving grace, SF3 atleast leaves a nice aftertaste with its final cutscene and artwork extras. I suppose the developers didn't have enough time and budget to flesh out the game to its fullest potential, and it's sad, because I loved these guys' previous titles a lot.

This game is a quintessential old-school point-and-click adventure. Although the animation and graphics may seem somewhat dated, it's still enjoyable. It will appeal not only to fans of the series but also to those who enjoy this genre.

It was okay and quite entertaining. But the different endings were all a bit unsatisfying. I actually got a bit more out of the game as it crashed on me twice and I got to replay a lot of the progress

Much better game than SF2 with this having mostly very realistic puzzles that make sense. But game is really short and was completed in like 4h with was unexpected. Plot is quite odd too. Get it from deep sale. It's ok for evening playthrough. 7/10

although i luv the secret files series this one was extremely short it seems a bit rushed but it was ok not better than the other two. but the graphic upgrade was definitely beautiful even the new way to play different than before more modern and updated of course, so if u want something to play in a day or 2 or for weekend fun , you should check this one out.

Secret Files 3, the third and final game of the Secret Files series (minus the short Sam Peters game they did)

Honestly, this game is ok that's it. The first 2 games in the series are much much better, I would put this as mixed if I could.

I can only recommend it as it's the final game of this series but it just doesn't have the same charm as the first two at all. It was sadly done so much worse, and choices matter so you can replay and see different endings.

It's a shortish game, can do easily 4 hours or less, but the puzzles aren't the best and majority of them are really simplistic.....
Spoiler: This game involves time warping more than it should really, and a couple of them are really annoying. Especially the puzzle where you need to continuously try to follow the man through the paths/alleyways.
Then the robot fight......... this didn't need to happen.

I kind of feel like they didn't exactly know how to proceed with the story to they added extra steps to some puzzles, and they added in some random stuff here and there.

I think they could've done so much better to send off Nina and Max, but alas this is what we got, BUT it IS better than nothing.
So again I can only recommend this so you can see the ending and you get to decide what happens to Nina and Max.

Liked it all right, but not as well as the first two. There wasn't as much character development or character focus in this one. It was also too complex and confusing; a lot of the time, I didn't have the slightest idea what I was doing, and I couldn't have advanced without looking at a walkthrough. I missed the paper hints and recaps. Also hated the addition of taking the Lord's name in vain. The character of Nina was rather mean-spirited and quite unlikeable in this game, and a game isn't enjoyable if you don't even like the protagonist. She was annoying. Focus more on the characters, make the story and puzzles not so complex, and take out the cursing. May play the first two games again, but definitely no replay value in this one.

pros

+ high quality and polished pre rendered graphics. the backgrounds being particularly beautiful and well-designed
+ a intriguing sci fi story mixed with history
+ there are many different locations
+ enjoyable puzzles. they are not too easy or overly complicated. there are also inventory puzzles you can combine some items
+ enjoyable mini games with two difficulty option
+ Nina is an likeable protagonist
+ decent voice acting
+ good looking character models
+ fun to watch and well made cinematic cutscenes
+ there is auto save
+ when you press to space, hotspots highlighted so no need to pixel hunting
+ user-friendly point and click interface
+ good soundtrack
+ there are 4 endings

cons

- game shorter than previous two games. it looks like this game made with lower budget than previous games.
- convoluted and confusing narrative with too many plots in the past and present
- lack of character development and depth for most of cast. second character Max doesn't appear too much in this game.
- doesn't have the charm of the first two games. SF 3 is not as funny as its predecessors
- there are no Steam achievements
- game doesn't drop any cards

Overall this is decent game but i enjoyed more from previous two games. i felt like writers tried too hard to create a compelling high tech sci fi story but final product turn out to be convoluted and little bit dull.

The game was far too short, the characters that were unique to the game were poorly developed and the writing was mediocre at best. I am a huge fan of The Secret Files and I love adventure games in general (been playing them for 20 years) but I was very disappointed with this one.

Secret Files is a strange series. Secret Files 1: Tunguska had a very good story, but awful voice acting and nonexistent logic. Secret Files 2 had a slightly worse story, but slightly better logic and voice acting (though still not good). Now Secret Files 3 has pretty good logic almost all throughout the game and actually enjoyable puzzles, but the story is incredibly short, awfully told and the ending is so quick, you might miss it if you blink. The voice acting has been further improved and could even be called decent now, but the audio balance is kinda wack; Nina speaks so silently sometimes that the music is 5 times louder than her voice, on default settings.

Anyway: from a gameplay perspective, there is improvement as the game becomes much smoother as a result of improved puzzles and logic; but from a story perspective, this game is painful, doesn't make any sense and is (luckily?) over far too quickly. My guess is that they extracted some logic from the story and put it into the puzzles; why can't both be good for once? We may never know, but I feel like this series could've been so much more.

Not much has changed with Nina and Max either, though there is slightly less forced humour. (Aside from the outtake reel in the end which seems, uh...misplaced?)

The overall experience is slightly improved compared to Secret Files 2, but as an adventure game, it still isn't that great and thus I can't really recommend it.

Technically superior from the previous iterations, with a more than decent voice cast this time around, solid riddles and puzzles and a somewhat ridiculous (unfortunately not in a good way) storyline. Recommended with caution.

An enjoyable game for fans of the series but considerably shorter and easier than the previous two efforts. Also that ending was...it felt like they forgot to make an ending and tagged it on 5 minutes before the final deadline.

I recommend the game but only if you can get it on sale for a couple of dollars.

I'm a fan of Secret Files, but this game was just a disappointment. The puzzles were a bit more realistic, but the game was ridiculously short and the story was lacking. Not worth the 5€ I spent.

Still playable but worst of the series (haven't played Sam Peters yet). Recommended for 5 Euro or less

• Decent voice acting – third time around they’ve finally managed to get it more or less right.
  
• Very nice backgrounds and some interesting camera angles
  
• Mostly logical puzzles
  
• Good music
  

• Character animations for performing actions – or actually lack of it. It’s really big downgrade since previous installments
  
• Plot-wise its weakest of the three
  
• Very week secondary characters that shows up suddenly and disappear after few moments (without a chance to hold decent conversation)
  
• Character models better than in predecessors but still below average
  
[*]Much shorter than the other two (gameplay around 6-7 hours) – not a problem for me but I think it’s worth mentioning

The same overly unrealistic puzzles you know from the first two games, except that these now have ones that will punish you if you misstep and have you repeat the same tedious stuff just in order to provide filler material and make the game seem longer than it is.
Unless you're really prepared to suffer just to play another installment of the series just because you've endured fownsides of the first two, do yourself a favor and use your money to buy a different game instead.

Secret Files 3 treads on very thin ice. It's short, it's got an overly complicated plot line and just doesn't have the charm of the first two games. Not to mention the ending involved watching a 5 second long cut scene and finding out what happened after the end of the game with some images and text. Then, for no reason other than to add some 'levity' they tagged on a terrible 'outtake' reel. It fell right through the ice and died a death. At the moment, I'm not looking forward to 4/Sam Peters and I'm starting to think Deep Silver are giving up on point-n-click adventures. I'd think it was a damn shame if this game wasn't so half-hearted.

Another less than impressive entry in the Secret Files series. At least they replaced the annoying voice actors, but otherwise the game felt way too run-of-the-mill and rushed. The story doesn't make much sense, skips exposition when it wants to and ends very suddenly. Yes, we finally get at least some kind of answers, but at least I thought those answers were pretty dumb. It's a better game than the suckadelic Part Two, but still a good measure below average.

This is a bad game. I hate to say this, but this is a bad game and an even worse adventure game.

I still like Nina and Max is alright, but it was a struggle to power on through this game. Most of the situations are totally abstract which the developers use to excuse their needlessly odd solutions to puzzles. The "minigames" all have the option of easy or difficult. Easy is tedious and boring and difficult is the same, but you have to do it longer. Oh and this game is weird.

I sigh, but I suppose if you are a Secret Files fan, like myself, you will buy this game anyway, but if you're looking for a good adventure game and figure this is a recent one from a company with a pedigree, it's a mistake. Take a look at The Next Big Thing or Deponia instead.