Like I said above,
Hidden Runaway is
Runaway: A Road Adventure, just with a different gameplay style. This time around, Brian and Gina's first encounter is a hidden object game instead of a standard adventure game. The in-game excuse for this is that the now separated couple have been called in to tell their story so that a movie based on their history together can be made.
Like the old game, Hidden Runaway starts off with young Brian accidently hitting Gina with his car, not realizing that she was running away from some very bad men. He starts to realize what he has gotten himself into while waiting for her to wake up in the hospital. One of Brian's earliest first tasks is to confuse a hit man into thinking he should shoot up a dummy in a different hospital bed instead of killing Gina.
Where A Road Adventure did this by having you scrounge around the hospital room for the necessary decoy pieces, Hidden Runaway presents you hidden object screens that result in the required inventory item.
Where some hidden object fans might start to shy away here, at least those that don't like having to use adventure-styled mechanics to solve puzzles, they really shouldn't. In order to keep Hidden Runaway as hidden object as possible, the game tells the player exactly what inventory items go where. It does this by letting you tap on the place where the items will come together and showing you exactly which components need to be put where, so there is little adventure style problem-solving involved. That being said, Hidden Runaway does offer a few puzzles and mini-games, but I’ve seen far worse in the most basic hidden object/adventure game blends.
As a hidden object game, Hidden Runaway has a ton of screens for you to search through, but not everything is spelled out. I will say that this was one area where I felt Hidden Runaway was a bit lacking. Instead of simply telling you the name of a lot of the items you are searching for, it tends to present you with crossword puzzle phrases. So, instead of saying that you should look for a brain, Hidden Runaway will tell you "Zombie Food." To make matters a little more difficult, you will see the same items in many different screens, but it could have a drastically different name attached to it.
