It is a mystery

You can usually tell a lot about a game by the title. That isn't really the case with Department 42: The Mystery of the Nine. You get the feeling that it's mysterious, and not just because "mystery" is right there in the title. The whole Department 42 part just sounds ominous.

Department 42 is a section of the federal government, the "paranormal department," and you'll be playing as Agent Alice Wright. The department is in charge of monitoring the globe for strange activities, namely instances of dark magic, and dealing with any such instances.

The entire presentation feels like you're logging into a special government database and it's all very cool. If you're even the least bit interested in spy stuff or things like The X-Files - and really, who isn't - you'll get a kick out of this.

The Nine

The Nine mentioned in the title refer to the Artifacts, nine magical artifacts full of unquestionable and deadly curses. A while back the department gathered all of the artifacts and had them safely locked away in a mansion, until the mansion burnt down and they were scattered all across the county. As a special agent, it's your job to find them all and safely bring them back.

Investigating a crime scene

It feels weird calling the scene of a werewolf attack a "crime scene," but I don't know what else to call it. The first artifact that you're after is a necklace that grants the wearer extraordinary strength, while also turning them into a werewolf during full moons.

Your first mission requires you to travel to Tennessee, where there's been a string of violent attacks on hunters by a large wolf-like creature. At the scene of the attack, you'll find prints, blood, and an assortment of the usual hidden objects. While most of them are filler items - hairbrushes, hourglasses - some of them will turn out to be legitimate clues and give you leads on your artifact.

Mini-games galore

Investigations require more than just searching for things. You'll have to decipher ancient runes, which is a surprising amount of fun, as well as mix chemicals in a lab until you get a solution that's the proper color. And those are just part of the first level! It's all a lot of fun and provides a nice break from searching.

The truth is out there

While I enjoy playing hidden objects games, I'm usually less than impressed with their stories. Most are tacked on and exist only to move you from one stage to the next. That isn't the case here. Department 42: The Mystery of the Nine features a great, original story, that for once takes precedence over the gameplay. That isn't to say the gameplay is inferior - in fact, it's fantastic. But a lot of love and care went into crafting an exceptionally entertaining and creatively bizarre story and possibly one of the best I've seen in games of this sort. I can't think of a single reason why you shouldn't check this game out right now.