The story is told with a nice, tongue-in-cheek attitude, as you hunt down your target and his ragtag assortment of stereotypical, over-the-top accomplices. It sets the tone well and adds some character to proceedings, which would have felt rather dry otherwise. Each city is split into 3 or 4 levels with the majority of them also featuring a special puzzle to tackle. Normal levels feature a picture filled to the brim with items, from which the player must pick out 8-12 specific objects. The puzzles feature much more sparsely populated images and the goal in these is to locate all 8 instances of a single specific object. These, in particular, can be really rather ingeniously hidden, using light and shade to push the player‘s abilities further than the other levels do.

In each scene there are literally dozens of objects littered throughout the picture, which helps to give the game some replayability value due to the list of target items changing between successive attempts. Strangely though, it does not present a completely fresh set of items each time. So while half of them might be new, the other half were likely discovered last time. Given the large number of objects available this is an odd decision on the designers’ part.

One aspect that is particularly well-implemented is the variety of ways that items are hidden in the images. Players are often tasked with finding a certain number of one particular object, however the same name can sometimes apply to more than one type of item. This helps to keep the players on their toes and can lead to those moments where you spend 5 minutes panning around the TV only to realise the object was right in front of you the whole time. It is also not uncommon to see items hidden away in decoration, in pictures or carved onto surfaces. Additionally, each level features three calling cards left by the criminals, which change position each time. These can sometimes be concealed quite deviously, sandwiched in between the different layers of the picture.

Having said this, there are a very small number of items which really don’t look like the object they are supposed to represent, even when inspected through the magnifying glass viewer. It’s not a major issue and is one that can be tackled by using the hints available, but it is a niggle that should not have been present in the final product. There is also the fact that a few of the images are noticeably lower resolution in parts, which is further compounded when magnified. It doesn’t particularly spoil the game and in the majority of the levels it is not an issue but it is a little disappointing to see it at all.

Over the course of the 42 levels the developers have delivered quite a variety of locales. Highlights include the likes of a beautiful, secluded Japanese park, the ancient Coliseum in Rome, sunset at the Forbidden City in China and an ominous, cloudy London bridge. There are a couple of cities, however, where you can’t help but feel that more could have been made of the available landmarks. Like when the Kremlin level turns out to take place in a small basement room. The pictures themselves have a wonderful early to mid-nineties retro style, rich in colour and featuring small amounts of animation, adding to their character.

Particular mention has to go to the soundtrack, which is excellent throughout. The audio that plays during the investigations meshes perfectly with the game’s ambience. A number of tracks are featured, most of which are quite quiet and brooding, really rather reminiscent of Mass Effect’s score. Of course, in keeping with the game’s general mid-nineties styling, the odd bouncy, midi-based number is included as well. The audio really is one of the treats of the experience and excels at fleshing out the mellow, relaxing vibe that the game goes after.

Players do have the ability to use hints to locate hard-to-find objects but exploiting these will see the game completed very quickly. Higher scores and an achievement await those able to resist such temptations and this provides a much more satisfying experience overall. The game does in fact use a simple and effective score multiplier system as well, rewarding players for locating objects within a couple of seconds of each other. Going for the top scores requires both familiarity with the levels and the ability to quickly identify the randomly placed calling cards, adding significantly to the longevity for those so inclined.

An online and offline multiplayer mode is featured for up to four players, who work cooperatively to complete the levels. This is something of a missed opportunity, as there was great potential for a competitive versus mode here, with each player racing against time to complete an item list. As it stands, it actually works out as more fun to just have one person using the controller in single player mode while others shout out items they've found.

Interpol was never a game that was going to set the world on fire, but it does offer the kind of experience that is becoming quite rare these days. It is a genuinely calming and relaxing title and when you consider how many levels you are getting here, is good value for money. For the kind of game that this is, it is a very good example, albeit with the odd flaw here and there.