Crime O'Clock is an investigation and time exploration game with a deep storyline. Investigate cases through time and evolving maps by unveiling a multi-eras linked story. Will you be observant enough to solve the mysteries? Crime waits for no man!
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DISCLAIMER:
This review is entirely for my own sake. You are welcome to read it but it may or may not contain spoilers for the whole game.
NOTE: I took a break from videogames for a couple of months which explaind the gap in my log dates.
I went in expecting a hidden object game a-la Hidden Folks. I got a linear narrative heavy hidden object game, a weird combination that worked surprisingly well.
You play as a seemingly omniscient being capable of working alongside an AI to re-write events in the past in order to fix anomalies in the space-time continuum created by several seemingly malicious entities that turn out to also be AIs. If all of that sounded confusing, is because it is and as the game goes on you will only keep getting more and more information thrown at you with little to no answers and will be expected to retain all past info in order to make sense of the new one, and with no text log it's hard to keep track of everything. (Maybe taking a 2 month long break in the middle of this game wasn't such a good idea.)
But enough narrative, let's get into the gameplay. You will be tasked with finding a crime in a big sprawling city with many things going on at the same time. And you will then need to follow the culprit, victim, suspects, witnesses and sometimes objects forward and backwards through time in order to piece together what happened and what you can change to fix it. You later get access to further tools like x-ray vision to spruce up the gameplay. There will also be minigames sprinkled throughout. They are not super engaging, but they are not too bothersome to deal with.
You might think it's a map too big for a simple crime, but you will be coming back to all 5 eras to solve multiple craimes in a set order. There is also a mode that lets you freely roam the map in order to find easter egg characters and follow them through the timeline.
All the ares are visually distinct and very appealing. It's incredible how much is happening in each screen at the same time.
I do have to mention that some quests require you find some sigils anywhere on the map with minimal guidance on where to look, and they would be an absolute nightmare if not for the existance of hints. I would in fact recommend to being afraid to use them as they have no penalty other than waiting a few seconds for them to unlock.
The narrative, although convoluted and cofusing, is clear on where it's going and satisfying to end. The AI companion is well written and its growth through the campaign can be easily noticed.
It could have used with a few more songs, as spending so much time with the same one becomes very tiring.
Overall, it's a neat twist on the hidden object formula with a heavy enphasis on storytelling, but searching through the same maps with the same song eventually becomes a bit boring, repetitive and dull. I still recommend it as long as you know what you're getting into.
This review is entirely for my own sake. You are welcome to read it but it may or may not contain spoilers for the whole game.
NOTE: I took a break from videogames for a couple of months which explaind the gap in my log dates.
I went in expecting a hidden object game a-la Hidden Folks. I got a linear narrative heavy hidden object game, a weird combination that worked surprisingly well.
You play as a seemingly omniscient being capable of working alongside an AI to re-write events in the past in order to fix anomalies in the space-time continuum created by several seemingly malicious entities that turn out to also be AIs. If all of that sounded confusing, is because it is and as the game goes on you will only keep getting more and more information thrown at you with little to no answers and will be expected to retain all past info in order to make sense of the new one, and with no text log it's hard to keep track of everything. (Maybe taking a 2 month long break in the middle of this game wasn't such a good idea.)
But enough narrative, let's get into the gameplay. You will be tasked with finding a crime in a big sprawling city with many things going on at the same time. And you will then need to follow the culprit, victim, suspects, witnesses and sometimes objects forward and backwards through time in order to piece together what happened and what you can change to fix it. You later get access to further tools like x-ray vision to spruce up the gameplay. There will also be minigames sprinkled throughout. They are not super engaging, but they are not too bothersome to deal with.
You might think it's a map too big for a simple crime, but you will be coming back to all 5 eras to solve multiple craimes in a set order. There is also a mode that lets you freely roam the map in order to find easter egg characters and follow them through the timeline.
All the ares are visually distinct and very appealing. It's incredible how much is happening in each screen at the same time.
I do have to mention that some quests require you find some sigils anywhere on the map with minimal guidance on where to look, and they would be an absolute nightmare if not for the existance of hints. I would in fact recommend to being afraid to use them as they have no penalty other than waiting a few seconds for them to unlock.
The narrative, although convoluted and cofusing, is clear on where it's going and satisfying to end. The AI companion is well written and its growth through the campaign can be easily noticed.
It could have used with a few more songs, as spending so much time with the same one becomes very tiring.
Overall, it's a neat twist on the hidden object formula with a heavy enphasis on storytelling, but searching through the same maps with the same song eventually becomes a bit boring, repetitive and dull. I still recommend it as long as you know what you're getting into.
When the game was first announced on an Indie World, they decided the one letter of the game's name on the logo that needed to be spinning is the L. I couldn't even think about the game, just "Crime WHAT".
This is a hidden picture game where you have to solve crimes by going back in time and doing these little Where's Waldo puzzles. It's alright.
This is a hidden picture game where you have to solve crimes by going back in time and doing these little Where's Waldo puzzles. It's alright.
I love hidden object games but this one really overwhelms you. There are ticks and it doesn't say how much time has passed between each tick. It gives you an objective but you get lost trying to find it and not in a good way that you expect from a hidden object game. Also the most frustrating part that I encountered was all that text. Yeah I understand that this game has a lore but it isn't an excuse to shove several dialogues down my throat at every given opportunity. It really interrupts the gameplay. A solid 3/5 if you like the genre.
I play a lot of hidden object games and while the concept is fun it's executed so so poorly. It'll ask you to find someone and give you no description or you've only seen the person from behind. There is a mechanic where you look at a location at different points in time and there is no consistency in how much time has passed between the different points in time. Decisions were made while making this game that make it difficult to play for no good reason.
I randomly found that game while searching some interesting games. I bought it and I must say that it's a funny little game. Crime O'clock is some sort of 'Where's Waldo" and the story reminds me a lot on the TVA in the Marvel series Loki. I often imagine that I'm just playing as a TVA agent because of that "paradox", "anomalie" and "Crimes that take place even though they shouldn't" stuff. It's not the best game ever, but if you're searching a distraction for a few hours, this might be your game
Take this review with a grain of salt, because I don't play hidden object games and I thought from the trailer that this was more of a mystery puzzle game.
Anyway, a compelling plot buoys an otherwise tedious Where's Waldo-a-like. Also, it's way too long at over forty levels. At the time of this writing, I just finished the 33rd level and finding out how the story ends is maybe the only reason I'm still playing, as I become actively annoyed as I play.
EDIT: I have finished the game and my opinion remains unchanged. The final area of the game has a nice difficulty spike in the sense that it is so dense and cluttered that it pains me to focus on it, which I like, I suppose. The final levels of the game are also clever in practice, albeit in execution they’re very clunky.
Anyway, a compelling plot buoys an otherwise tedious Where's Waldo-a-like. Also, it's way too long at over forty levels. At the time of this writing, I just finished the 33rd level and finding out how the story ends is maybe the only reason I'm still playing, as I become actively annoyed as I play.
EDIT: I have finished the game and my opinion remains unchanged. The final area of the game has a nice difficulty spike in the sense that it is so dense and cluttered that it pains me to focus on it, which I like, I suppose. The final levels of the game are also clever in practice, albeit in execution they’re very clunky.