Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me!

The Good
I have a compilation that contains Miss Teri Tale: Where's Jason and Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me! so I have played both back to back. Both games are very similar but this one I think is just a little bit better.

The gameplay is very similar in both games, well they are hidden object games so what can you expect. In the original game there were some minor Mastermind type puzzles to solve between the scenes, they weren't that challenging. However in this sequel there are more challenging between-the-scenes puzzles. There's a couple of circuit type puzzles, connecting the pipes to get garden sprinklers working and another to fix the circuit of an electronic toy. There's also a few logic puzzles too. These more difficult puzzles are, in my opinion, an improvement but for those who disagree there's always an option to skip past them.

Another improvement was the change to the hint system. In the previous game the player was limited to five hints, represented by clover leaves, when all were used up the player had to return to their office to collect two more. In this game the player starts with five clover leaves and there are three more in each scene. I found this to be an improvement but I concede that others may appreciate the unlimited supply of hints available in the games earlier incarnation.

I also like to be challenged in hidden object games, not just because objects are well hidden and obscured by things in front of them but by being asked to look for unusual items. In this game i was asked to look for lichis, papaya fruit, a cockade, TGV, a phrygian bonnet, and a stirised Miss Teri tract.
Also among the items to be found were a pair of panties, a garter belt and a pair of Y-fronts as well as assorted guns and rifles which, while challenging, is a little at odds with the PEGI 3+ rating.

The Bad
Oddly the biggest let down was the story. The previous game had Miss Teri searching through people's homes looking for a kidnapped dog, you could justify a spot of breaking and entering where something cute and cuddly is concerned. Here she's entered into the local mayoral elections by her electronic blackmailer/tormentor and goes off on another rummage through other people houses just to see which way they will vote. It's a flimsy excuse for a game and just not good enough.
Also the newspaper articles of the previous game had been replaced by diary entries. While the newspapers created a backstory and added to the town's characters giving me the feeling that that someone was trying to create the atmosphere of a small American township, this game's diary entries did not add to the game playing experience at all.

Also, the game is short, very short and it's easier than its predecessor. I completed it in around four and a half hours and at the end I had thirty-five unused hints. This could be because the artwork is better than the previous game so I didn't need to use as many hints to locate difficult to see items, or it could be because by playing games back-to-back I'd become accustomed to the designer's tricks.

Some bits of the game just didn't work for me. There are two points where the player has to choose what Miss Teri is going to wear. Now what's the point of that? This is a 1st person hidden object game and what she's wearing makes no difference at all though, to be fair in one scene I was asked to find a couple of items of her clothing so i guess I did have to remember what I dressed her in. However, overall this element felt like something they developers were going to build on but decided to cut from the final game.

The Bottom Line
Short, inoffensive, part of a series, good for an afternoon. Like it's predecessor it plays in both French and English.