Murdered: Soul Suspect Reviews
Murdered: Soul Suspect has an interesting plot, an intriguing game world, and a lot of cool game ideas, but a host of little problems drag the experience down. Still, fans of a good detective story might want to check it out, provided they can deal with the game's inconsistencies.
The concept and setting here were ripe for out-of-left-field explosiveness, but due to a lack of direction and capitalisation, and likely a small budget, all we're left with is a lifeless game that fails to live up to its potential.
Murdered: Soul Suspect lingers almost exactly at the quality middle point as a game. It doesn't do anything particularly good, nor does it do anything terribly bad; it's just okay. The ghost stories and premise of the title are what have pushed the needle up into the green but even these serve as a reminder of what could have been.
It's still a great looking game, and the core narrative is a fun, if underdone and derivative one. It's simply disappointing that this game had a reasonably large budget, and in the process it lost some of its identity and seems to be shoehorned into some very unnecessary and destructive mechanics. This game would have been far better off being made for a fraction of the budget by a small team willing to take real risks.
Murdered: Soul Suspect is caught between the uneasy middle ground of a big budget release and what should have been a more economic digital-only, episodic series.
Murdered: Soul Suspect is a game that some could find enjoyable in the span of one afternoon, but with the repetitive and restrictive gameplay, many will deem this supernatural mystery is not worth solving.
Murdered Soul Suspect is a game that is hard to recommend in terms of gameplay and due to a lack of substantial content
Murdered: Soul Suspect has a lot of great ideas, but none of them come together in a satisfying way.
The few moments where Murderd: Soul Suspect actually makes good on its supernatural potential aren't worth slogging through the rest of the game for. It's trying to be a gripping murder mystery, but never really knows how to get there. This is one you should probably just leave for dead.
Square Enix's Gumshoe-cum-ghost adventure had potential to be one of the most interesting games of the year, but ends up an case study in wasted potential.
The story and acting holds up, even if it's monotonous to plod through, so when you inevitably find this in your local bargain bin it's still worth a play through.
Murdered: Soul Suspect is a really great idea for a game. It could have been really high quality all around, but maybe certain things were overlooked while focusing on the story rather than getting feedback about gameplay during development. This title feels like a tween game (to use Dan's term). It's in between console generations, where it could have been a lot more but still had some good points. I feel like I could have bought this game in 2011 just the way it is, But now it's 2014, and I expected a lot more. So, if you are usually interested in the stories that games have to tell more than anything else, go ahead and try this game out (maybe once it goes on sale), but if you don't think you can overlook somewhat boring gameplay just for an intriguing mystery, you might want to move on to the next game and leave Murdered an enigma.
While a welcome break from the tired retreadings that define most games, Murdered: Soul Suspect finds itself in a precarious place where narrative value, above all else, is of chief importance. But while the deadlike denizens of Salem might sound right for this sort of game, the absence of compelling characters keeps what's otherwise an interesting idea from landing any staying power.
There's nothing like a good murder mystery - and Murdered: Soul Suspect is nothing like a good murder mystery. It's a decent enough tale, punctuated by half-baked sleuthing, underused supernatural powers and forced stealth.
There are a few notable characters and story beats in Murdered: Soul Suspect, but they're completely overshadowed by unremarkable gameplay and shoddy production values.
I really wanted to like Murdered: Soul Suspect, but -- like L.A. Noire -- it's a detective game that manages to gets its most essential quality absolutely wrong. The backdrop of Salem lends a lot to its central mystery, but at no point will Soul Suspect ever put your deductive skills to work. That's fine if you're indulging in an episode of CSI, but I like my thinky games to require more than just passive interest.
Murdered: Soul Suspect has some neat concepts, but it is not a success. A few elements of its supernatural murder mystery may hold your interest, but it ultimately feels hollow because it lacks any real challenge or entertainment in solving that mystery.
I really wanted to like Murdered: Soul Suspect more than I did. The graphics are awesome. The voice actors do a fantastic job. The environments are interesting, especially when you see the ghostly versions of old Salem overlapped over the modern day version. The story is genuinely interesting and kept me playing far after the fun had drained out of the game. But in all honesty, I cannot recommend it. With a couple tweaks, this could have been an awesome game, but as it stands Murderer: Soul Suspect is dead on arrival.
While its concept is unique, its execution leaves an incredible amount to be desired. Unfortunately, the mystery of Ronan's murder is not nearly as thought-provoking as the mystery of when Murdered: Soul Suspect will be offered at a discount.
Murdered: Soul Suspect didn't need to have the most original and compelling story out there to succeed. The greatest disappointment lies in how much it underutilized its potential to introduce brand new gameplay elements since it could have been Beyond: Two Souls meets L.A Noire.