Paranormal Files: Fellow Traveler – Review

Rick Rogers was driving on Route 39, heading towards his parent’s house when he encountered a strange hitchhiker on the side of the road. With the goodness of his heart, he picked up the strange girl and promised to drop her off at a nearby mansion. Things took a turn when the girl suddenly disappears and Rick’s car crashed. Explore the creepy mansion and discover the dark truths behind the recent series of disappearances on Route 39. Will Rick be able to escape his fate and will he die within three days just like everybody else?

Paranormal Files: Fellow Traveler is the latest series from the HOPA veteran, Elephant Games. The game starts off with a cliché opening sequence, which then leads to a haunted house-themed storyline. While on the surface, the plot of Paranormal Files: Fellow Traveler seems like just another tired attempt at the haunted house theme, the fascinating backstory and the heightened sense of urgency make this brand-new adventure an unexpectedly entertaining one.

Elephant Games is always reliable when it comes to creating just the perfect environment for their games. Impressively, the environment in Paranormal Files: Fellow Traveler is extremely haunting and satisfyingly creepy. This is due to the outstanding visuals and effects, as well as the sinister and bone-chilling background music.

Gameplay wise, Paranormal Files: Fellow Traveler gives the player a lot to do. Each location is packed with interactive tasks and while they are often fairly straightforward, the back-and-forth navigation amps up the challenge level quite a bit. As for the hidden object scenes and the puzzles, they are well-crafted and nicely varied, but lacking in complexity and the integration into the storyline is not always seamless or smart.

Playing on the easiest difficulty setting, we finished Paranormal Files: Fellow Traveler in just slightly over three hours and the bonus chapter in just 40 minutes. Despite its underwhelming length, Paranormal Files: Fellow Traveler includes all the expected extra items; a strategy guide, wallpapers, a screensaver, concept art, soundtracks, replayable hidden object scenes, replayable puzzles, achievements. collectibles, and morphing objects.

Paranormal Files: Fellow Traveler is a solid start to a new franchise, but might still be too generic to stand out.