The House of Da Vinci 3 Review

In case people don’t know, Leonardo da Vinci was a painter whose most famous work was The Last Supper. But the great man was also an architect, engineer, inventor, and thinker. He came up with concepts for tanks, flying machines, and solar power 500 years before they became reality. He has also appeared in games before, most famously in Assassin’s Creed 2, joining Ezio. 

In The House of Da Vinci games, the puzzle-solving ingenuity and mystery of the man are explored here, even though you aren’t playing him. I hadn’t played the other two games before diving into The House of Da Vinci 3, but it didn’t matter, as I was absorbed into this ingenious puzzle-solver.

The first game in the series came out previously on mobile, hot on the heels of the success of The Room. But now we’re onto the third game, present on console. It starts directly from the events of The House of Da Vinci 2. 

The hero of The House of Da Vinci 3, Giacomo, is on the run from some enemies. They fire at him and he ends up captured in a cell underground. Now it’s up to you to help him escape and find a way out. It’s a nice story told through cutscenes and documents you discover around the game world, running a strong narrative and some brilliant world-building. But it’s the puzzles that truly make the game excel.

The controls have come from the mobile/iPad scene, delivering touch mechanics to the console, so it takes a bit to get used to with your Xbox controller in hand. It’s not an unusual mechanic, but it’s one where you don’t freely roam around; instead, you click on the screen where you want to go, and the game moves you there. Then it’s a case of exploring your environment and seeing how you can progress.

The puzzles themselves are varied, interesting and are presented linearly. I like this because you know the answer is within a certain area since you can’t move forward, so you just need to exhaust every possibility. Early on in the game, you get access to a device you have to repair called the Oculus Perpetua. This device allows you to see through time. For example, in the present timeline, a door might be blocked with rubble, but if you look back in time and see it before it was covered by rubble, it will be unblocked in the present. This is a hypothetical example that won’t spoil your enjoyment of the actual puzzles.

I really like how The House of Da Vinci 3 is presented, with some great level design and a mixture of environments. The gadgets you get to play with are superbly designed and look fantastic on the screen. The surroundings are solid as well, and the time-travelling device is a welcome addition to the visuals. The game is fully voice-acted too, and there’s no doubt that the actors do a great job, accompanying the evocative soundtrack. 

Puzzle fans and problem-solvers will relish The House of Da Vinci 3 – and it really doesn’t matter if they haven’t played the first two games in the series before, mostly as the story is easy to catch up on. The tale itself is fairly simple but effective and engaging, whilst the world is a good place to explore and spend time in.

But it’s the puzzles that truly make The House of Da Vinci 3 engaging, with their variety and challenge, especially with the addition of a time-travelling device. Yes, the controls are a bit tricky to get used to at first, but you’ll soon become comfortable with them and so overall, there’s nothing but a thumbs up for The House of Da Vinci 3.

Unlock the mysteries of The House of Da Vinci 3: now available on PlayStation and Xbox – https://www.thexboxhub.com/unlock-the-mysteries-of-the-house-of-da-vinci-3-now-available-on-playstation-and-xbox/

Buy The House of Da Vinci 3 – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/the-house-of-da-vinci-3/9nt1s0nl51cc