Murdered: Soul Suspect First Look

In Murdered: Soul Suspect, a new, interesting adventure mystery game, developed by Airtight Games, in partnership with Square Enix – We start off at the scene a crime. A murder – Particularly, your own. Your objective? Unravel the mystery of why you were murdered, or, rather, why our main character, Ronan O’Connor, was murdered. As you do so, you will experience an entirely new style of gameplay – Much of which could be likened to that of other games, but simply has a unique feel, all it’s own.

So, how do you start any murder case? Start off with what you know. In the opening scene, we observe Mr. O’Connor being thrown from a window, and falling a near-fatal distance, to the ground. But! His assailant doesn’t seems quite satisfied, making his way down the street, pulling Ronan’s side-arm from his near-dead body, and then proceeds to fire several rounds into Ronan’s back – Sealing Mr. O’Connor’s fate, and sending him over ‘to the other side.’

Now, in a limbo state, in the world of ‘Dusk,’ Ronan bears witness to ghosts (As one might expect), as well as all sorts of clues that will help him in finding the cause behind his murder, such as text, strewn about the crime scene – In addition, Ronan can still hear, and see the world of the living, to an extent – But, he can also ‘possess’ the living. Upon possessing someone, Ronan does not gain full control over the person, but, can simply see through their eye, and hear through their ears. He can additionally do something else, though – Let’s say that the person you possess is having a conversation with someone else, and this person isn’t quite sure how he/she feels about the subject. Well, Ronan has the ability to make little ‘suggestions,’ to help clear up their mind on the subject at hand.

But, what is an adventure game, without peril of some sort? The world of Dusk is not without dangers. You’ll have to be wary of Demons that search out fresh souls. Murdered brings us a new, interesting approach to this ‘combat’ system. Though one might have to enter, or exit a building through an actual door – Ronan is free to move through walls, while inside a building.

To destroy these Demons that hunt you, you will have to make full use of your ability to move through walls – But! That isn’t the only tool at your disposal. While possessing someone, Ronan is hidden from Demons. Hiding from Demons in this manner could probably be considered the most effective and efficient.

So, while you’re running from, and destroying Demons, as well as eavesdropping on people’s conversations, and investigating ethereal text – You were gain ‘keywords,’ that you will utilize, once you feel that you’ve finished investigating the scene, in a very L.A. Noire-esque fashion, answering questions with these keywords you’ve collected from throughout the crime-scene.

Murdered definitely brings some interesting new mechanics to playing field, with a fresh new story, and beautiful cut-scenes. But, I have one concern lingering in my mind (Help me out, here, Ronan?). If the main premise of the story is to figure out your own murder – How long will the game be? Or will you be taking on some kind of side-quests? Additionally, will there be multiple types of Demons that you have to run from? Or merely generic ones? Having a variety of opponents is always a challenge, and a good way to freshen things up, as the story progresses. We’ll have to see how it all turns out! Murdered: Soul Suspect is definitely a game to keep an eye on.