Post by tav7623 on Sept 18, 2014 12:05:28 GMT -5
With the month of October almost upon us and my recent decision to participate in a little gaming challenge for the month of October involving horror themed video games I felt it would be a good time to start posting a few game reviews on here especially since there aren't a whole lot on here to begin with. I've decided to kick this off with a review of a game for PC, PS3/PS4, Xbox 360/X1 called Murdered: Soul Suspect. The basic premise of the game is that you play a criminal turned police detective who get's murdered by a local serial killer called the Bell Killer who has been targeting Salem's (yes, THAT Salem) psychic mediums, now you as a ghost must solve your own murder using your ghostly abilities (like possession, poltergeist (object manipulation), etc) in order to move on and reunite with your dead wife. If this sounds kind of familiar, well it's because it's somewhat similar to the premise of Nintendo DS game Ghost Trick Phantom Detective (you play the ghost of a recently deceased detective, you try to find out who you are, how you died, and try to save some lives), though instead of being a 2D puzzler this game is more like a David Cage game (Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, Indigo Prophacy) but it feels/controls (imo) a lot better, is not as heavy handed or cinematic, is not (imo) as restrictive (you are for the most part allowed to explore the town outside of some late game specific areas from the very beginning of the game), and has no where as many QTE situations (most are relegated to demon encounters) as a game like Beyond: Two Souls.
Pros: Decent story with a fairly interesting premise , decent level & art designs (there are some cool creepy/gothic looking areas including a decrepit mansion & graveyard), decent controls, and it has an interesting mash up of game genres that for the most part is well done.
Cons: Very short ( about 7-8 hrs) with very little in the way of replay value (there is no New Game + mode, no additional modes outside of the main game, and over 250 collectibles (mostly Salem lore, side quest/character background info) most of which can be gotten on your first play through), the game becomes a bit repetitive after awhile as there isn't a lot of gameplay variety outside of the optional side quests (which themselves are very repetitive), demon encounters, and "stealth" sections where you must help a "human" NPC sneak through certain heavily guarded areas by using your poltergeist powers, not much in the way of scares (most of the tension/scares come from the Demon encounters cause you can't confront them directly) and I was not a big fan of the game's fairly fictional (outside of the Salem lore that was included/incorporated for the story) representation of Salem.
Overall I give this game a 5 out of 10 as it's a fairly decent, but it is imo hampered by it's short length (7-8 hrs), lack of re-playability, and fairly repetitive nature (go to place, search location for clues, hide from/sneak up on Demons, repeat) which in my book makes this game more of a "rental" than a "buy" or "must have". If you want to check out this game, but don't have the option to rent it than I suggest you at least wait to pick it up when it is $15 or less cause any price higher than that might make you feel like you've been ripped off once you've beaten the game.
P.S. If you are looking for secondary thoughts/opinions on the game then check out some of the links below
Zero Punctuation video review
metacritic
Two Best Friends Play - Murdered: Soul Suspect Episode 1
Pros: Decent story with a fairly interesting premise , decent level & art designs (there are some cool creepy/gothic looking areas including a decrepit mansion & graveyard), decent controls, and it has an interesting mash up of game genres that for the most part is well done.
Cons: Very short ( about 7-8 hrs) with very little in the way of replay value (there is no New Game + mode, no additional modes outside of the main game, and over 250 collectibles (mostly Salem lore, side quest/character background info) most of which can be gotten on your first play through), the game becomes a bit repetitive after awhile as there isn't a lot of gameplay variety outside of the optional side quests (which themselves are very repetitive), demon encounters, and "stealth" sections where you must help a "human" NPC sneak through certain heavily guarded areas by using your poltergeist powers, not much in the way of scares (most of the tension/scares come from the Demon encounters cause you can't confront them directly) and I was not a big fan of the game's fairly fictional (outside of the Salem lore that was included/incorporated for the story) representation of Salem.
Overall I give this game a 5 out of 10 as it's a fairly decent, but it is imo hampered by it's short length (7-8 hrs), lack of re-playability, and fairly repetitive nature (go to place, search location for clues, hide from/sneak up on Demons, repeat) which in my book makes this game more of a "rental" than a "buy" or "must have". If you want to check out this game, but don't have the option to rent it than I suggest you at least wait to pick it up when it is $15 or less cause any price higher than that might make you feel like you've been ripped off once you've beaten the game.
P.S. If you are looking for secondary thoughts/opinions on the game then check out some of the links below
Zero Punctuation video review
metacritic
Two Best Friends Play - Murdered: Soul Suspect Episode 1