Hidden objects games are a great way to have fun while checking out other artist's digital graphics and style. Some of these graphics are created as 2D art and some are created in a 3D software. Most of all, they are striking. Playing these games can be a great study of texture, proportion, composition and animation. The games have many scenes and some resemble a movie.

I love history and therefore most of the games I have purchased have been based on historical topics. The game I'm going to discuss in this review is called Mystery Legends - Phantom of the Opera by pixelStorm Entertainment Studios Inc. Many of these games can be played on an iPad but this one was meant for the desktop. When playing some games that have both an app and desktop version, you might see some lose in quality of the graphics if you play the games as full-screen Desktop mode. It's best to set the game to Windowed mode which will maintain the image quality.

The game begins with a beautiful boat floating in the water in front of the entrance to the Phantom's lair. The detail in the boat and the liar entrance is beautiful. The mist animation above the water is very realistic and sets the mood. Next you are carried through the draped entrance and up the stone stairway where the menu appears. Maintaining this elaborate statement, all of the buttons and menus are gilded in gold and of course there are a lot of candles.

Another scene is the lobby of the Opera House with the coat room and ticket box on each side of a circular marbled floor. The artist did a beautiful job with the textures in the red velvet drapery, marble floor and old furniture. Choosing to go right to the coat room, the first task is to use a flashlight to look around. I really liked the flashlight effect which follows your mouse. You only see a small round section of the room. This effect has been around for awhile but it was perfect in this situation.

One hidden object challenge was in the ticket box area and the hidden objects were reflective of the Phantom of the Opera theme and the time period of the story line. I had the hardest time finding the Edison Stock Ticker.

Moving throughout the Opera House, there are a lot of ornate woodwork on the walls, elaborate furniture and chandeliers. The detail in a roll-top desk was impressive, down to the old scratches in the wood. The desk and all its contents are viewed from a top-down perspective. Thanks to 3D software and the ability to control the camera view, this was a nice composition.

There are many hidden object challenges and the number of objects that the artist needed to create for each challenge is overwhelming. It's the choice of quality textures that make this game so impressive.

The atmosphere for the Phantom storyline is dark and foreboding. The artist did a great job creating the atmosphere in these scenes while keeping the lighting adequate to see the small items cluttered together for the HO challenges.

I purchased the game with my own funds for the purpose of doing this review.