Murdered: Soul Suspect

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

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.

Let me start off by saying that by "Murdered: Soul Suspect" is by no means a bad game. It's not a great game, but it's not bad and probably doesn't deserve some of the bad press it's garnered. The game follows Ronan O'Connor, a detective in Salem, Massachusetts who is murdered by the notorious Bell Killer. You play as the ghost of Ronan who must discover the identity of his killer in order to move on from the purgatorial world that you inhabit to heaven, where he can be reunited with his recently deceased wife. To find your killer's identity, you must gain the help of a young medium, who is also searching for her mother, an assistant to the police in the Bell Killer case. Firstly, this game should not be an "adventure, stealth" game (as Wikipedia describes it). In a game that centres around demons and ghosts, and takes place in numerous "creepy" locations (i.e. a graveyard and an insane asylum) should be a horror. The game has the potential to be one of the most thrilling horror video games in recent memory, with it's supernatural storyline and characters. It has all the promise of being the new "Last of Us" but its failure to live up to that just makes it all the more disappointing. Moving into the actual game, you're thrown into the game just after Ronan has been killed and discovers he's a ghost. Being thrown into the main plot instantly makes it harder to get into. "The Last of Us," "Mafia II" and "Assassin's Creed 2" are some of the best games I've played in the past 5 years, and they all share a common theme. Each of those games starts off with a slow, not particularly exciting level. It's in this level that you meet the characters, get to know the controls and area that you'll be exploring, learn some of the cool features and most importantly, gives you a (hopefully) good back story. Sure in this game, there is a short video that shows us the events of Ronan's life (his earlier years as a criminal, his marriage, his wife's death etc) but you don't really get the same interest in the game as you'd get in other games. Perhaps the most frustrating element is the graphics. They're not awful, but in 2014, you'd expect so much better. Think late PS2/early PS3. Considering I played it on a next-gen PS4, it was pretty disappointing to see. Yet another issue is the game-play. It's so easy, it's unbelievable. For example, in the game, there are demons who attempt to steal your soul, you'd expect to have a tough fight, right? Nope. To kill the demons (or get rid of them, is it possible to kill a demon?) you simply have to sneak behind them, and press the buttons it tells you to... pretty underwhelming! It's not even as if you have to creep behind them or they'll see you, you can run behind them and they wouldn't look! This isn't even the easiest aspect of the game, but there are so many, I'd be here forever if I wrote them all down! Despite it's flaws, there are some pretty cool, redeeming features that make this game... okay! Firstly, you're a ghost and that comes with all the perks. You're able to possess people and see what they're thinking (though they're not particularly interesting thoughts, and it's amazing how many of them think the same thing!). You can also walk through walls (though you can't actually walk into buildings through the walls, you have to get someone to open a door for you... I know right?!). You learn to teleport in the game, which is pretty fun! If ever there's a tight space (and you're not allowed to walk through the wall), there's always a cat conveniently nearby that you can possess, and control, so that you can fit through the gap. You can also make him meow! There are also several side missions that you can complete. These normally involve helping ghosts to find out how they died, which can be pretty fun. In certain areas you are also tasked with finding a number of hidden objects which, if you collect all of them, reveal rather gruesome stories! Plus, the ending is good and satisfying (I won't give away any spoilers!). Overall, this isn't bad, but not good. It's average, middle of the road, mediocre (if you want to be harsh!). If you've heard of this and you're hoping for the next "L.A. Noire," you're going to be disappointed! Maybe I'm overly harsh because I spent £40 on it! If you can get a pre-owned, fairly cheap version, I'd definitely recommend you get it, if you want to get an expensive, brand new version, well... learn from my mistakes! You don't want to spend that much on an average game!

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.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Murdered: Soul Suspect" (2014) was much better then i expected. I did not expected anything to be honest by picking this game at the end of 2018 for just 1.99$ - it is that deep in a sale. But to be honest i was surprised after i finished it - i kinda liked it. It has pretty unique game play ideas - nothing revolutionary or great - but it helped to tell and interesting story. The game was also not very linear as i expected, which i liked.

Overall, "Murdered: Soul Suspect" is OK game but with no replay variability. After you will beet it (the game is very easy), you will forget about it.