Detective game is particularly rare for mainstream audience. Aside from PC niche of point-and-click adventure, there's barely any noir flavored game in recent years. Murdered: Soul Suspect tries to step in with cool modern supernatural ambiance for this investigative story. While it does look very fitting, the gameplay premise is very standard. Using the mix of detective and paranormal element is a nice idea, but soon after the initial discovery of quirky gimmick, the sense of novelty wears off fast.
You play as Ronan, a ghostly police officer who tries to solve his own murder. Being a ghost gives a bunch of nifty tricks to Ronan. His main ability is to possess someone, from there he can read their minds or peek from their perspective for further info. He can also influence more stubborn individuals if certain conditions are met.
This astral ability works well, especially when players discover it on several first cases. It gives good backdrop for the characters, although this gimmick grows old fast. Aside from the already pre-determined characters, mostly in main story or few meager side quests, the rest of NPCs feel detached. Furthermore, even the interaction to push story are straightforward, it'd be nice if there's branching results for these possessions.
Bulk of the gameplay is spent securing evidences. There is some sort of hide-and-seek fighting mechanism with demons, but this doesn't impact much, certainly not a good battle mechanic. Players can collect pieces of info, reveal backstories or interact with other unworldly characters. However, these offer only minor sidetracks or fetch quests. It makes the game too linear, definitely not what playing as phantom apparition should be.
The visual is aesthetically pleasing, using design of modern Salem with a glint of old touch. The buildings Ronan will visit have certain opaque blue tint for both mystic and noir flair. City of Salem isn't particularly big, but there's good ambiance with a few apparition of places from the past. It offers the perpetually night city a good personality.
Its animation for characters is solid, although some of NPCs might look lackluster. Ronan is portrayed with archaic detective costume which is fitting for the theme. Few of the side characters are also well done without being too dramatic. Motion and effect are fine, they produce adequate feel, although in some events they might seem jittery.
For a story oriented game, script and dubbing play large parts. Ronan does sound weary and burdened with dark past. Most interactions are spent with the witness, Joy and their chemistry is decent for an awkward buddy cop stunt. There just isn't that much content here, investigation works on small scale and while there are few nice side stories, the game feels severely lacking.
I finished it in about six hours and that's playing it leisurely. After the initial nifty ghostly investigation, the game turns into linear escapade. It'd be nice to have better side quests or more character interaction, instead the game offers brief minimalistic crime thriller and the story is decent at best. The detective theme might appeal to some, but with barebones gameplay and typical crime drama, Murdered: Soul Suspect is much too fleeting to be a stellar game.
Graphic: Fine artistic design for atmosphere. Animation can be stiff, but ultimately passable. 7/10 Sound: Dubbers deliver adequate performance. Score and sound effect don't offer much aside from basic eerie hum. 6/10 Gameplay: Rigid and unfortunately limited, the straightforward mechanic feels unrewarding. 5/10 Presentation : Decent noir work coupled with mysticism flair. However, the runtime is short, and there's not much side activities, let alone replayablity. 6/10 Overall 6/10
