Masters of Mystery: Blood of Betrayal (iOs) Review

Sometimes getting together with family can be murder.

Masters of Mystery: Blood of Betrayal is the latest hidden object adventure from G5 Entertainment to hit your iOs device of choice. You play as a homicide detective who is dealing with a whole lot of crazy stuff. Her father, once a revered detective himself, has been mysteriously missing for years. Dead bodies are turning up, and it’s seems almost certain a trusted cop is involved. And to top it all off, her new partner is making more of an impression than perhaps he should.

But you’re a cop, and the job comes first. And in Masters of Mystery: Blood of Betrayal, that means searching for hidden objects to solve the crime. The hidden objects in this game take the form of one screen locations that must be thoroughly searched to uncover a list of clues. In addition to just a naked eye search, you’ll also be given some tools of the trade to uncover slightly more hidden clues. A uv light, magnifying glass, and fingerprint duster means you won’t miss another bloodstain, fingerprint, or boot print in your quest for a killer.

The hidden object jumbles themselves are challenging, but not overly so. You can use the magnifying glass to zoom in farther to help your search, but I found it wasn’t really necessary. Besides, it made things seems kind of fuzzy, and that actually made it harder to see for me. If you get stuck on any of the jumbles, you can simply click on your trusty flashlight to get a quick hint (or to skip a mini game, if you like). The flashlight works on a timer, so while you won’t be able to immediately get two or three hints in a row, it’s nice to have for those times when you get truly stuck.

While most of the gameplay in Masters of Mystery: Blood of Betrayal is standard hidden object jumbles without a lot of filler, there are some story appropriate mini games thrown in for variety. You’ll match up fingerprints in a database, look for chemical similarities in a drug sample, reassemble torn items, match boot prints found at a crime scene, and so forth. The mini games are fairly short, and not at all hard, but they do mix it up a bit and are a nice addition to the game. They also help stack up the achievements, for all the cheevo chasers out there.

For most hidden object adventures, the story and the jumbles are really all that matter. After all, there really isn’t all that much more to this type of game. The jumbles in Masters of Mystery: Blood of Betrayal are great, but what about the story? Having a little something as motivation for your actions is always important, and the story here does a great job of advancing you from puzzle to puzzle. The Masters of Mystery games play out a lot like your favorite crime drama or novel, with twists and turns to match. All of that serves to make it a game you’ll want to keep playing – both for the fun jumbles, and to figure out what happens next.

Final Thoughts:
Masters of Mystery: Blood of Betrayal is a well presented game. With romance and intrigue, murder and betrayal, it has all the making of your favorite drama. The hidden object jumbles are in keeping with the story line, and are both challenging and fun. There isn’t a lot of filler here either – you’ll get a lot of object finding, without having to wander around and figure out where to go next. With the adult themes of murder and drug use present, it isn’t really a safe bet for young kids, but adult mystery fans will have both a great story and great jumbles to look forward to.