Ray Willmott reviews Murdered: Soul Suspect…
Murdered: Soul Suspect is the most mysterious AAA release this year. With a game like Watch_Dogs, prior to launch, we knew exactly what we were getting into. Same with the likes of South Park, Thief and Wolfenstein, PR set the tone early on and we had a real feel for the game ahead of release. But in more ways than one, Square Enix have definitely surprised with this little gem.
Falling somewhere between Alan Wake, LA Noire and Phoenix Wright, Soul Suspect puts you in the shoes of dead detective, Ronan O’Connor, voiced by veteran actor Jason Brookes, best known as Peter Blake from Days of Our Lives and Sean Monroe from Baywatch. Players witness the detective’s brutal murder at the start of the game during a scuffle with a mass murderer known as the Bell Killer. Ronan is pushed out of a window and left half-dead on the pavement below. Ronan’s soul involuntarily leaves his body due to the abrupt nature of the collision, but just as he tries to reconnect with his body, the Bell Killer picks up Ronan’s gun and finishes the job at point blank range. Ronan’s spirit is now trapped in limbo and he is forced to watch the killer walk away, unscathed.
With your help, Ronan must solve his own murder, using clues and evidence at crime-scenes to support his own private investigation. As a ghost, however, Ronan is capable of a few neat tricks. Among them, Ronan’s transparent form can pass through some walls and surfaces, enabling him to search hard-to-find places that the average private eye would never find. Ronan can also read the minds of witnesses and investigators, and even possess a body, peek through their eyes and pass himself off as a living person.
Unlike Watch_Dogs, there’s no sprawling, over-sized world to explore. Murdered is a mostly linear experience as players move from one scene to another in order to solve the over-arching mystery, but there are plenty of opportunities to deviate from your path, meet with other ghosts and solve side-cases to help other unfortunate souls escape limbo. Along the way, Ronan will also view flashbacks of his own life, capture the thoughts of his beloved dead wife and his family, and gain further insight into the Bell Killer through newspaper clippings and audio recordings.
However, it isn’t a technically perfect game. There are occasional clipping issues where the player can get stuck in the wall or a hard to reach spot. There are also a few continuity errors, such as Ronan seemingly always having a cigarette in his mouth but never taking one out of a packet and some side missions seem to be impossible to ‘hand-in’ even when you’ve solved them. But what we do have is a fairly well-paced tale with a unique hook that translates into some compelling gameplay.
Murdered: Soul Suspect is a solid release that will definitely scratch the itch of any aspiring Hercule Poirot. Ronan is an intriguing lead-character and his supporting cast each have their own quirks. The game will keep you glued to your controller throughout, even if the game is slightly on the short-side. An unforgettable, enjoyable experience that we hope to see more of in this new generation.
Rating – 8/10
Ray Willmott – Follow me on Twitter
Originally published June 3, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
