Murdered: Soul Suspect took me by surprise. It is a game that received mixed reviews when it was released and yet, after fully completing the game, I found that I really enjoyed my time with it.
In the game, you play as Ronin, a detective attempting to solve the Bell Killer case. Unfortunately, Ronin finds himself joining the growing ranks of the serial killer’s victims but is stuck as a ghost until he uncovers the truth and reveals the killer’s identity. Overall, the story is what you would expect from a murder mystery- an unlikely partnership, exploration of various abandoned places and enough plot twists to keep things interesting. I will say the ending did catch me slightly by surprise, in a good way, as I thought I had solved the case but the writers’ decided to add one final plot twist, which was pretty satisfying to see play out.
So, how does a ghost solve a murder? Well, Ronin may not be able to talk to the living, he can talk to other spirits and there are plenty of spirits to talk to. Ronin can manipulate the world through his possession and manipulation abilities. Much of the game consists of you exploring various locations, finding clues and then piecing together the clues to solve the mystery. As far as gameplay goes, it is pretty simplistic. The developers did try to add a little more depth to the game, by including demons- ghosts that have stayed in this world too long and constantly seek out other spirits to sate their hunger. In order to deal with these demons, Ronin must move stealthily behind the demon and perform a quick time event execution. I’ll be honest, I found the demon parts of the game annoying and just served to slow the game’s pacing down. The gameplay, as a whole, is pretty simple and can feel a little repetitive at times however it has been done well, so I guess this is a case of if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
Where Murdered: Soul Suspect does excel is the atmosphere it creates. This is not a horror game but it does a great job of creating an unsettling feeling in many of its locations. Firstly, it is set in the town of Salem, which is an ideal setting for a ghost story and the developers do a good job of incorporating Salem’s history in the story. The game also has a good variety of locations from your standard apartment building to a cemetery. The developers do a great job of balancing out the creepier locations, such as the hospital with a location like the church. This means that even if you don’t enjoy being creeped out, you will have some segments of the game that you can enjoy.
The final aspect of the game that adds to the world are it’s collectibles. There are a lot of collectibles- over one hundred and fifty of them. These collectibles do have a function as they add to Salem’s history, characters’ backstory and add detail to the Bell Killer investigation. My personal favourites were the ghost stories. In each of the locations, there was a location specific collectible. If you collect all of those collectibles in the locations, you will unlock a ghost story tied to the location. I really enjoyed the church’s and the cemetery’s stories but all of them add to the town’s worldbuilding. In fact, all of the collectibles do this which makes hunting them down less of a chore and more an important side activity.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with Murdered: Soul Suspect. It is the perfect game for someone who isn’t a fan of horror games to play in October. It isn’t an overly long game but it is long enough to tell it’s story and do the story justice. The gameplay is the weakest part of the game as it feels repetitive in places and the demons felt like the developers were trying to pad out the game time. However, as a murder mystery game, I would highly recommend people give Murdered: Soul Suspect a go.
In the game, you play as Ronin, a detective attempting to solve the Bell Killer case. Unfortunately, Ronin finds himself joining the growing ranks of the serial killer’s victims but is stuck as a ghost until he uncovers the truth and reveals the killer’s identity. Overall, the story is what you would expect from a murder mystery- an unlikely partnership, exploration of various abandoned places and enough plot twists to keep things interesting. I will say the ending did catch me slightly by surprise, in a good way, as I thought I had solved the case but the writers’ decided to add one final plot twist, which was pretty satisfying to see play out.
So, how does a ghost solve a murder? Well, Ronin may not be able to talk to the living, he can talk to other spirits and there are plenty of spirits to talk to. Ronin can manipulate the world through his possession and manipulation abilities. Much of the game consists of you exploring various locations, finding clues and then piecing together the clues to solve the mystery. As far as gameplay goes, it is pretty simplistic. The developers did try to add a little more depth to the game, by including demons- ghosts that have stayed in this world too long and constantly seek out other spirits to sate their hunger. In order to deal with these demons, Ronin must move stealthily behind the demon and perform a quick time event execution. I’ll be honest, I found the demon parts of the game annoying and just served to slow the game’s pacing down. The gameplay, as a whole, is pretty simple and can feel a little repetitive at times however it has been done well, so I guess this is a case of if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
Where Murdered: Soul Suspect does excel is the atmosphere it creates. This is not a horror game but it does a great job of creating an unsettling feeling in many of its locations. Firstly, it is set in the town of Salem, which is an ideal setting for a ghost story and the developers do a good job of incorporating Salem’s history in the story. The game also has a good variety of locations from your standard apartment building to a cemetery. The developers do a great job of balancing out the creepier locations, such as the hospital with a location like the church. This means that even if you don’t enjoy being creeped out, you will have some segments of the game that you can enjoy.
The final aspect of the game that adds to the world are it’s collectibles. There are a lot of collectibles- over one hundred and fifty of them. These collectibles do have a function as they add to Salem’s history, characters’ backstory and add detail to the Bell Killer investigation. My personal favourites were the ghost stories. In each of the locations, there was a location specific collectible. If you collect all of those collectibles in the locations, you will unlock a ghost story tied to the location. I really enjoyed the church’s and the cemetery’s stories but all of them add to the town’s worldbuilding. In fact, all of the collectibles do this which makes hunting them down less of a chore and more an important side activity.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with Murdered: Soul Suspect. It is the perfect game for someone who isn’t a fan of horror games to play in October. It isn’t an overly long game but it is long enough to tell it’s story and do the story justice. The gameplay is the weakest part of the game as it feels repetitive in places and the demons felt like the developers were trying to pad out the game time. However, as a murder mystery game, I would highly recommend people give Murdered: Soul Suspect a go.