Detective video games, like any other genre or subgenre derivative (or, in fact, any offspring of any media), can, of course, be made better or worse, but what sets them apart significantly from others is the fact that they mostly struggle with the same problem – low replayability.
In other words, when you uncover a serial killer, an incorrigible cheat, or any other predetermined villain in a detective title, it’s hard to return to it quickly (unless you have the memory of a goldfish).
However, since every problem is worth solving, the team at ColePowered Games has decided to finally put an end to this perennial genre malaise, and in their noble endeavor, believe it or not, they have largely succeeded.
Creating their own fictional detective according to quite modest options (name, skin color, and gender), and choosing the desired size of a randomly generated city (small, medium, large, and very large), we were more than ready to delve into the world of Shadows of Doubt.
Finding ourselves immediately in the middle of one of the streets of Neo Torino bathed in green mist, completely alone, without any goal or plan, and, as we would soon find out, with very little, too little money (or rather, credit), we decided to do what any reasonably normal and socially adapted detective would do – we looked for the nearest pub.
Spotting, after a short wandering, a glittering neon sign, seductive like those sirens who once lured Odysseus with their melodious songs, we decided to enter a small local pub in search of refreshment and shelter from the icy rain that just wouldn’t stop falling.
Ordering coffee (even though it was depressingly dark outside, it was still morning), we noticed, out of the corner of our eye, a bulletin board with one advertisement immediately catching our attention. It belonged to a poor soul who seriously doubted the fidelity of his better half, and who desperately needed someone to catch her in flagrante – that is, he needed us.
We picked up the vintage telephone receiver, dialed the number, and, after receiving crucial information from the client, got down to work, for which we also needed a camera, so we first went to the machine in the city hall, and then headed towards the factory where the client’s wife worked.
Since her shift hadn’t ended yet, we grabbed a newspaper, leaned back on a wooden bench, and waited for the clock to strike 5 PM. And indeed, a few minutes after 5 PM, the target came out of the factory, but instead of heading home, she went to a restaurant where a handsome, blond man was waiting for her (who turned out to be a colleague from work). They kissed, and we immortalized that touching moment with a photo, which we then forwarded to the jealous husband, thus undoubtedly ruining one marriage but also earning a few hundred credits…
Encouraged by our success, we returned to the bulletin board and started solving cases like a lion pouncing on a helpless gazelle – from obtaining trade secrets and finding lost items, to bringing in citizens with arrest warrants – and soon collected enough money to rent a modest apartment.
Just as we were getting comfortably settled into our routine, our faithful police scanner (which we didn’t know we possessed until then) sounded an alert about a murder. Unfortunately, it had happened on the other side of the city, which meant we would have to walk half of Neo Torino again because in SoD, apparently, nobody has heard of personal cars (in driving condition), public transportation, or, let’s say, teleportation.
The cops arrived at the crime scene first and didn’t plan on letting us into the apartment, but we elegantly circumvented this obstacle by activating the fire alarm, which allowed us to slip through the entrance doors taped with yellow caution tape. Entering the apartment, in a puddle of blood spreading across the living room, lay a man who, as we would ascertain through autopsy, had been shot to death by a nine-millimeter bullet.
Next to the victim, we also found a business card on which was written: “You weren’t good enough. Pass me by. Everyone must earn my respect.” We pulled out our reliable fingerprint scanner and determined that it was a type C fingerprint, which did not match the victim’s print. Then we found the victim’s wallet on the dining table, and in it, his ID card, revealing that the deceased’s name was… Neal Jeanbaptiste, and that he held the position of director at Flamingo Enterprises.
Having gathered, or rather assembled, all the information in our mental map, we decided to burgle… visit the headquarters of the said company in the hope of finding data on other employees there. To our great delight, we succeeded in our endeavor, but we still lacked the fingerprints of potential suspects, so we hurried to the city hall, or rather to one of those computers (called Micro Crunchers) where all possible and impossible information about the residents of Neo Torino was stored. Shortly afterward, we discovered that we were – right. Namely, the unidentified type C fingerprints found in the victim’s apartment belonged to a certain Akellu Ban, who – what a strange coincidence – worked as a receptionist at Flamingo Enterprises.
Buying handcuffs from a vending machine, we rushed to the suspect’s apartment, where, after a brief investigation, we found a nine-millimeter pistol. Now, no longer doubting that we had found our perpetrator, we woke up Akell by gently handcuffing him. Then we filled out the necessary paperwork and successfully concluded our first murder case…
If our clumsily pulp-ish attempt to portray the experience of playing SoD intrigued you even a little, there’s a good chance that the team at ColePowered Games has created their latest game just for you.
On one hand, a blend of a detective sandbox and an immersive sim – presented in first-person and heavily reliant on stealth – and on the other hand, a kind of cross between classic noir, Godard’s Alphaville, and Scott’s Blade Runner, Shadows of Doubt is an atmospheric title where a Vangelis-like soundtrack and voxel graphics fit perfectly.
The basic gameplay loop, which boils down to exploring locations, collecting and connecting (via the aforementioned mental map that doesn’t insult the player’s intelligence) information/evidence, establishing identities, and apprehending perpetrators – in short, what could comfortably be called detective gameplay mechanics – is extremely addictive. This is mainly due to the procedural generation that ensures high replayability for SoD, as well as the fact that every problem (because it’s still an immersive sim) can be approached in multiple ways.
For example, want to search someone’s apartment? Move the doormat to potentially find the key to the front door. If the key is not there, knock on the door to see if the resident is at home. If they are, offer them some credits and maybe they’ll allow you to search the apartment. If they’re not, pick the lock – just be careful not to be noticed. Trying to identify a person? If you have a photograph, ask around as someone might recognize them. Don’t have a photo but know the name? Open the directory listing addresses of all citizens. The murderer didn’t leave much evidence at the crime scene, but you know the murder happened late at night? Check the CCTV cameras…
It’s also worth mentioning that when you’re not playing a private investigator, you’ll be able to play as Mirjana Mikulec, and you’ll be able to decorate and upgrade the purchased apartments, as well as improve your character through the so-called SyncDisks (expand inventory, improve deductive abilities, efficiency in pickpocketing, etc.), but you’ll also have to constantly watch out (if you don’t disable it in the options) for statuses such as cold, hunger, thirst, and the like.
Of course, since the game hasn’t been released yet (and when it will be, we don’t know), or rather, it’s still in early access, be prepared for inevitable bugs, some of which could seriously annoy you – like the difficulty of using personal computers due to random issues with selecting icons.
There could be more content, or types of cases, as well as dialogue options, and that’s what the developers are apparently working on at the moment – or at least claim to be – to create additional content (including implementing additional types of interactions with citizens). Mechanically speeding up the time skipping would be possible, and so on, but these are all just minor and/or easily fixable shortcomings.
All in all, although the rating should definitely be taken with a grain of salt, when polished a bit more, Shadows of Doubt could become one of those indie gems that can never be too many.
