Guardian writes: "Psychic Cate West gets involved in the investigation of a string of seemingly connected murders, using her powers to assist the Arcadia City Police Department in their enquiries. Rather unfortunately, the sole content of your extrasensory quest is a series of tawdry, spot-the-difference and find-the-object puzzles. Presented with a cluttered illustration, you use the Wii remote as a magnifying glass to identify a list of objects that include things as random as a hand axe, a viking hat, carrots, pliers, Excalibur, a flamingo, antennae and a palm tree."
N-Europe writes: "Cate West: The Vanishing Files is based upon the PC game of the same title, which actually has a free demo to download. The game revolves around finding items hidden in images, but not hidden as you might expect, some are stashed "in" the furniture, a shotgun might be superimposed on a chair leg or a broom, and the quest to find them begins. Unsurprisingly, you assume the role of Cate West, a mystery novel writer who has visions."
Cate West lacks the style and humour found in Phoenix Wright but surprisingly, once you strip away those desired factors, you are still left with something reasonably solid and presentable.
While adventure games are becoming more and more popular over recent years, there has been a new entrance to the arena: the Hidden Object Game. This new breed has inundated the PC with numerous variations on the theme, taking place in fairgrounds, lost temples, mysterious locations and even haunted houses, and naturally they all vary in quality. It was only a matter of time before these games would filter across to consoles, and while several average efforts have featured on the Nintendo DS (why hello, Mystery Stories and Millionheir), this outing from Cate West is actually worth consideration.
