Murdered: Soul Suspect is one of those games you cross your fingers for and hope it lives up to your expectations, or at least it was for me anyway. When I first learned about the development of this paranormal noir I became immediately invested. A game that infuses ghosts, mystery, and narrative seemed right up my creepy alley. And it is the sense of intrigue Murdered creates by combining these elements that keeps me interested in progressing the game forward despite some rather noticeable flaws.
As any proper murder mystery should, the game begins with death. This time, however, the unfortunate victim is actually the main character himself, Ronan, a grizzled detective. On the search for the illusive Bell Killer, a serial murderer who has been wreaking havoc on the formerly sleepy town of Salem, Massachusetts, Ronan is thrown out a window and shot to death by a hooded killer. After learning that he will not be able to properly pass on into the afterlife until he resolves all his mortal attachments, Ronan sets out to discover the identity of the Bell Killer.
The narrative of Murdered is built on a series of familiar tropes as the game draws from traditional horror and mystery source material. However, despite their familiarity, many actually help to give the game some charm. The successful elements tap into a sort of narrative nostalgia while still contributing to the genres. Some are mediocre and redundant; while they are forgivable, they fail to make the game stand out. An obvious example of this rests in Ronan’s archetype as the vigilante detective with the troubled criminal past. Coupled with his design, which includes a fedora and outfit that feels like it belongs in the closet of a online MRA blogger, I found it difficult to get invested in his character (an effect that I hope may dissipate with time). A few tropes did draw my ire, the most notable of which is an unfortunate “refrigeration” of Ronan’s love interest within the first ten minutes of the game. While her death is technically a vague flashback and while it’s not directly related to Ronan’s call to action, I have a feeling that her death will in some way be incorporated with the Bell Killer and will provide further motivation for Ronan.
What is perhaps most disappointing, however, is how restrictive Murdered’s gameplay is, considering that its core structure revolves around investigation. Failure has very little presence in the game. For example, periodically during investigations the player is prompted to decide what information or statements would be the most effective for discovering more information. While a number of choices are presented as options, only a single answer is considered the most “effective” and therefore correct. If the player does not choose that answer, they will not be able to move on until they find the right one. It feels very much like an elementary response to failure – with a limited range of options. Rather than allow the player to sort through all possibilities and determine the crucial information for themselves, the game presents a shallow illusion of choice and hinders their role as detective.
Finally, for a AAA title, the game is incredibly filled with technical errors. I accidentally succeeded in “breaking” it twice within the first thirty minutes of playing by doing nothing more than exploring all the game’s options. The second incident was particularly troubling as the input buttons simply stopped working entirely, resulting in me having to reset the mission entirely. Only after restarting did I realize that the tutorial prompts and, strangely, the background music, hadn’t started either. The grammar enthusiast in me also noted a few grammatical errors that certainly decreased the game’s sense of professionalism. While none of these were game ruining or devastating issues, they were definitely enough to take me out of the game and leave me feeling frustrated.
Overall, while Murdered’s unique combination of horror and detective noir is intriguing, its flaws prevents the game from realizing its full potential.
Disclaimer: Although this is a small incident involving a single NPC, there is a fairly detailed conversation regarding the NPC’s suicide attempt and, as such, I feel it’s appropriate to give a trigger warning for suicide for the game.
