Telling Lies Reviews

Telling Lies is ranked in the 79th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8.5 / 10.0
Aug 29, 2019

Telling Lies won’t be for everyone and you get out of the game what you are willing to put into it. Having said that, it may just be the most original game you’ll play this year and the performances alone are worth sticking around for.

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8 / 10
Sep 5, 2019

A good story, told in a way that makes us think we're doing the heavy lifting --when in reality it's designer Sam Barlow who's doing all the work behind the scenes.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Apr 28, 2020

Thankfully, the in-depth and engrossing story, the strong execution of the actors, and the sheer uniqueness outweigh these negatives. It appears that the genre has much more to offer, and Telling Lies exemplifies it greatly.

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7 / 10.0
May 1, 2020

At the end of the day, Telling Lies is good concept that stumbles a bit in its execution. It would have worked better if there was an actual mystery to solve like in Her Story. Instead of piecing together an elaborate puzzle, we’re left sifting through the drama of a few people.

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7 / 10
May 14, 2020

You’re going to want a pen and a pad nearby to keep track of your characters, the threads and the keywords you’ll want to search for, and some questionable design decisions hold the game back from being an all-out classic of the genre – with the shocks and twists of Her Story towering over Telling Lies’ endgame – but it’s still well worth exploring if you’re looking for an interactive mystery to untangle.

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Sep 2, 2020

An excellent follow up to Her Story if a bit flawed. Telling Lies tries to tackle a larger and more intricate story than the predecessor, and accomplishes quite a bit. However a critical missing feature, and a story that feels like a closed loops is a noticeable step back for Sam Barlow.

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70 / 100
Aug 30, 2019

Telling Lies makes great innovative tweaks to its gameplay formula, and offers a high-quality live-action adventure, but it completely fumbles merging these two elements together. A word of advice would be to try your hand at the puzzle and discovery for a while, and then eventually just watch the clips outside the game to enjoy the narrative.

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GameSpew
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Sep 3, 2019

As it is, Telling Lies’ compelling narrative and phenomenal acting will be enough to spur you on. Searching and scrubbing through videos can be a chore, but it’s worth it, if just for that one tiny piece of information you’ve been waiting to find.

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6 / 10.0
Sep 6, 2019

There are two things in Telling Lies encouraging you to continue searching and watching all videos: great performance of actors and finding the truth. However, some weird gameplay mechanisms and story's plot holes keep annoying you from start to finish. And when the game finally ends, you probably start asking some serious questions about the whole story and the logic behind it

Review in Persian | Read full review

8 / 10.0
May 7, 2020

It's a compelling mechanic that leads to easy immersion. Anyone who's used a simple video editor will feel at home scrubbing back and forth through digital videos, and jumping between clips. The Switch's touch screen makes this even more intuitive than it would be using a mouse.

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7 / 10
Jun 16, 2020

Definitely a unique gaming experience, as it takes you in an exciting investigation journey with only a search bar and breath-taking acting skills leaving you on-edge for more evidence.

Review in Arabic | Read full review

8 / 10.0
May 6, 2020

Telling Lies is a brave endeavor at attempting to redefine interactive entertainment and remains a recommended title if you’re looking for something experimental focused on an intriguing narrative.

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9 / 10.0
Aug 21, 2019

Telling Lies is a game defined by the individual's own terms and parameters, rewarding the wide spectrum of curiosity of anyone willing to put the time and thought into its mysteries.

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3 / 5.0
Aug 28, 2019

Her Story is a tough act to follow, and unfortunately, Telling Lies does not hit the same emotional highs that Barlow's previous game did. Opting to use the same barebones video player both does not make sense for this storyline and introduces an annoyance that players are forced to deal with. The story is still intriguing, but not to a binge-worthy degree. Telling Lies is worth playing for Her Story fans, but can't quite hit those same high notes despite its best efforts.

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Spaziogames
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Sep 3, 2019

Quotation Forthcoming

Review in Italian | Read full review

6 / 10.0
Sep 12, 2019

Telling Lies has an interesting story but is let down by a lack of direction and a clunky UI design. Even interesting characters can save the game, and a watered-down epilogue which is supposed to entice repeated playthroughs just leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

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8 / 10
Sep 3, 2019

Telling Lies is a rich drama told in an inventive and fun way, enabling the player to learn what happened in a personal and unique way.

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65%
Apr 28, 2020

Telling Lies is almost the perfect metaphor for real-life: inane bollocks for the most part, with some really interesting things happening every so often to stop you from falling asleep.

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Aug 21, 2019

The Telling Lies video game is engaging yet not without flaws.

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EGM
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Aug 23, 2019

Telling Lies may borrow its core mechanic from Her Story, but shifting from monologues to two-sided conversations brilliantly expands the investigative gameplay, and a pivot from murder mystery to political thriller gives director Sam Barlow a much richer set of ideas to explore. A few storytelling hiccups and awkward edges do little to detract from a thought-provoking look at the modern surveillance state—delivered not through soapbox lecture but by forcing you, unsettlingly, to participate.

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