Samantha Swift and the Mystery from Atlantis. Totem of Lights

• Pros: Bonus hidden object mode. Stunning carton-style graphics. Unlimited hint system.

• Cons: Confusing story. Perplexing tool-based puzzles. Lacks originality.

Samantha Swift, an archaeologist-adventurer hunting for ancient artifacts, needs no introduction. Seasoned hidden object gamers remember Sam and her exciting expeditions (Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena and Samantha Swift and the Golden Touch games). Pack your bags again as Samantha returns for another adventure!

Samantha Swift and the Mystery from Atlantis opens as Sam discovers the Totem of Lights while on a mission. According to the legend, the totem connects mankind to the heavens and the spirit world. Tribal elders, healers and shamans across the world use the totem.

Sam is not alone in the quest for the Totem. Colonel Tempesta confiscates the artifact in hopes to enslave the humanity with its help! To stop Tempesta's plans, Samantha explores the four corners of the Earth to collect all the devices leading to the Totem of Lights.

Samantha Swift 3 sticks to hidden object game play. Like in the two previous installments, you ransack game scenes to find the listed required items. Essentially, each scene contains two lists. Some hidden objects are named while others call for your guessing the objective. For example, if you see "Upgraded Abacus," you need to look for a calculator. "Monkeys' treat" refers to bananas. Besides, several found items enter your inventory for use in solving puzzles.

After finding all secondary items, the game asks you to find archeological artifacts to enhance the Museum of Secrets Lost exhibit. Use the found instruments to locate them. However, the task can cause problems because the tools used to uncover those items are barely related to the artifacts. Just go over all accessible instruments until you find the right one.

Each hidden object scene contains two Swift birds. You need to find 60 birds to unlock the bonus hidden object mode where you can replay any scene you've completed.

To help you in your search, the hidden object scenes offer a scanner, a useful and unique device. It will show the shapes of hidden items. Too many failed clicks can break the gadget rendering it inaccessible for a set time. At the beginning of the game, you receive one hint. Once used, you'll need to wait until the hint bar fills up, or look for a couple of bonus hints hidden somewhere in the location.

Although Samantha Swift and the Mystery from Atlantis is mostly a hidden object game, it has a couple of puzzling mini-games that you can skip.

The story has too many details, a perplexing story line and an overly complicated plot. Maybe if the dialogues came with voice-overs, the story would work better.

The Samantha Swift series can boasts of splendid carton-style graphics and Mystery from Atlantis continues the tradition. The thoroughly drawn scenes also contain neat animation. The audio follows the previous games using the same satisfactory style. Despite the lack of originality, Samantha Swift and the Mystery from Atlantis is still is a nice overall hidden object game.