Murdered: Soul Suspect

This is one of the games I got for my wife after googling "Best Mystery Games for Xbox One" in most lists it came up right behind LA Noire, which was FANTASTIC.

Anyway, this game scares the heck out of her and, full disclosure, she scares easy. Between the music, the sound effects, and the demons, she's on the edge of her seat most of the time.

Now, it's 10 stars because the concept is pretty awesome and the mood that the game sets is equally awesome.

Solving your own murder as a ghost is actually a very fun idea, and the combination of ghostly memories and real world is also pretty awesome. In theory this game is fantastic.

The little treasure hunting side missions reward you with a fun ghost story upon completion. Which is a reward that you actually want to achieve, just to hear them, and a lot better than the average run-of-the-mill trophies that are otherwise pointless. The stories you get are actually very well written and exceptionally well narrated. That reward is almost more of a highlight for me than the actual mission... which causes arguments when my wife plays and I force her to find all the pieces just so I can hear the story.

In execution, it's a little weak. The game's combat sort of stinks, but then combat isn't really the focus of the game. It's more about uncovering clues than fighting, so you can give that a pass in my mind.

And, honestly, the story is a little too short and a lot too lacking in places to really explore. What is done is done well, moody, spooky, but at the end, if you aren't our age, with actual lives and careers, you are probably going to beat it in a weekend.

This game starts off with a very cool theme: a ghost of a hard-ass delinquent-turned-detective that has to solve his own murder. It borrows themes heavily from several well-known movies such as Ghost (possessing people/solving your own murder/unfinished business) and Beetlejuice (certain places you can't go/weird girl can see and hear you). You gain the ability to teleport, possess and control cats, and you learn a lot about the Salem Witch trials, all while tracking a guy on a killing spree that leaves a cryptic symbol of a bell.

While this game has a lot of cool elements, it is lacking in a lot of areas as well. For instance, it's one of those games where the only way something has an effect is if it is supposed to in the story. Case in point: you have a power called Poltergeist where you activate something/make a phone ring/blow papers around, etc, something that gets the attention of the living. It only has an effect on people if it's supposed to to advance the story. If you just do it randomly, everyone ignores it even if you do it 3 inches from them. Also, this game is strictly investigation and collectibles. There are no boss fights at all.

If you want a game with a cool theme that you can beat in about 10 hours and get a platinum trophy on collectibles, check this out. It's usually on PSN for about $3. Well worth it.

Important note: If you're going for the platinim, i.e. Collecting everything, you must get everything out of the museum the FIRST time you get to go there. Once you go to the final area, the game locks you there. This is NOT a game you can beat the story on and then go back and get missing collectibles.

The game had a lot of potential, the story is rushed but it can be interesting in some level, the script should have been more elaborated, and there is a lack of action because the "combat" system of the game doesn't work very well. The rest basically you will walk a lot looking for clues while being annoyed by the enemies, which is a shame because the game had a promising proposal, it will only pay off if you buy for a cheap price.

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

I looked forward to play this game. I haven't played a good detective game in like a decade and I also love the mystery part. The story starts with the death of the main character Detective Ronan O'Connor. He was killed during an investigation by a serial-killer who terrorizes the little town Salem. Now he's a ghost and has to find his own killer to solve the series of murders. His only help is a 15yo medium named Joy because he can't interact with physical things or 'normal' people.

I like the story, I like the characters, but the game play is bad. The puzzles and investigations are too easy, the passages with enemies seem to put-on.

But the biggest failure are the game-breaking bugs. I couldn't finish the game because the game didn't load the next cut scene. That's a shame. I was tending to rate it 7, now it's a solid 5. Maybe I'll try it in a few month again. Then I will do a re-review.