In Short
Murdered: Soul Suspect was a surprisingly enjoyable game for me. Surprising, because it is let down by a few technical issues here and there, and it’s not the longest game, but I could tell it was put together with thought and consideration, and it offers somewhat of a unique experience. It’s a charming, slow burning detective saga with a twist, that at least tries to take an alternate path.
Developer: Airtight Games
Publisher: Square Enix
Distributor: Megarom Interactive
Reviewed on: PS4
Also available on: Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC
If we had to give it a numerical score: 7.5/10
What I loved
- Interesting protagonist
- Some interesting mechanics
- Good use of lighting effects
- Eerie sound affects
- Ghost story side-missions
Not so much
- Too short
- No map
- A few technical shortcomings
- Very generic NPC’s
Our protagonist’s back-story is such a cliché – how he became a ghost and what he now needs to do going forward is quite obvious. I could’ve envisioned the tale in a few short minutes. The rest of the narrative actually unfolds quite nicely though. Ronan O’Connor is a pretty interesting protagonist, rough round the edges sort of guy. He also has some seriously exquisite ink-work. A tortured soul, formerly a cop with a badass attitude. Being stuck between the world and the afterlife as a ghost, O’Connor needs to keep up the detective work, but being a ghost, he needs to go about it all in different and interesting ways.
Based on the latter statement, Murdered: Souls Suspect offers some really interesting detective gameplay, some surprising mechanics that are only let down with some technical shortcomings. It is also however a slower-paced affair, so it trades any adrenalin rushes for engaging you to solve the puzzle, piecing it all together slowly. I’m usually all about the action, but I actually quite enjoyed the slower pace, despite not usually being into the more reposed gaming experiences.
On the technical front, I was often annoyed by the fact that there’s no map. Since you are a ghost, you can go right through walls and doors. There is a catch though, if a door wasn’t previously open, you can’t go through it. You also cannot ghost through outer walls. But being able to move relatively freely through walls, and having no map, resulted in me often being disorientated. It is however unfair of me to critique this point, as I think the devs deliberately left out a map, to push on the “detective” side of things. This does force you to be aware of your surroundings, to pay attention. Still, I was often running around in circles because of this. Another technical issue that stood out for me was some clumsy camera angles, getting stuck in the scenery. This was again because you can move through solids, so I would often get a little stuck amongst objects. Not game-breakingly so, but it did make for some clumsy moments. Lastly on the technical shortcoming, the camera is a little on the finicky side. You need to be looking straight at a hidden object or clue for it to be highlighted. This meant I would often look straight past a clue, just because of the camera angle. Again though, this is part of the charm of it all. These trial-and-error hours tallied up a fair amount of hours, on what would’ve otherwise have been a rather short game.
Even though you play as a ghost, it’s not all about freely ghosting around as you wish though Salem. There’s loads of demon spirits around who will end you when they spot you. This aspect, and everything around it was well designed. You need to sneak up on the demons to stealthily take them down. For this you can move hidden between other spirits amongst the spirit world. You can even distract the demons by manifesting as a poltergeist in objects or animals. So for example, you can manifest yourself as a crow near by to distract the demon, then sneak up on it. To take down the demons, the devs used a variation on mechanics that are normally used. So instead of just hitting the X or O for a takedown, you would be given a random command to take the demon down, like holding up and hitting X. These commands are different every time, and if you get it wrong, you die instantly. This makes all these situations challenging, and therefore enjoyable.
The possessing mechanics are also used in the detective bits. O’Connor can possess people to read their minds or influence them. Often leading to clues. This aspect was also very interestingly designed. People can give you clues, but the depth of the clues will depend on how much other clues you find. The more clues you find, the more opens up. You can take a gander at solving the crimes at any time, but more often than not, everything unfolds only once you’ve collected all the clues for that particular crime.
Another aspect I absolutely loved about Murdered was the puzzle bits, in conjunction with how you need to traverse around. The challenge is not just that you can’t go through everything, but there will also be passages where demons block the path for example. So you need to work out how to get passed that demon when the option to take them down is not available. You will therefore sometimes need to possess people or animals to find a path to get past. And these paths are often far from obvious. I loved this aspect of the game as it offered a nice break from the detective work.
Salem is a haunted city of old, eerily beautiful and a worthy playground. The visual and lighting effects were well crafted between the real Salem and the spirit world within. The ghosting effects, the use of light and texture do make for a pretty experience. Salem is also scattered with interesting ghost stories, that when found, open up side-missions. These offer a little more value to the otherwise short campaign. The side-missions work much like the campaign, as in you will need to find clues and hidden hints to solve the mysteries. The side-missions are never as deep and therefore as challenging as the campaign crimes. I do think Murdered will still need to be backed-up well with additional content, to warrant its price tag.
Closing Comments
I’m glad I played Murdered: Soul Suspect for sure, but I also think some opportunities were definitely missed. The more time you spend wandering around, the more apparent it is how generic Salem and its population is. A little more developing on this front would’ve elevated the gameplay off the campaign’s path.
I also can’t warrant a second playthrough – you need to take the intended path to solve the crimes, so I would really just be repeating it all, and so Murdered falls short in terms of value. It was definitely a standout experience for me, and when looking back one day, I will probably remember the good and have forgotten any shortcomings. So because of this, I am even willing to bet that even the critics that didn’t score it all that well, would still be keen to see a sequel.
Zombiegamer Rating
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