Telling Lies Reviews
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.
Without a sense of feedback or progress, the rambling, leisurely narrative of Telling Lies comes across as unfocused.
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.
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.
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
Telling Lies is a weak interactive film in screencast format that tries to become relevant at the expense of the left-wing agenda. The keyword search system still looks fresh and together with the player's imagination should have created the magic of immersion, but the lack of convenient rewind system, ability to conduct an investigation and match several videos finished off an interesting concept.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Telling Lies, by contrast, is but a second baby step into uncharted territory: a little wobbly, a little naive. But definitely courageous and exciting.
It's crucial to slow down, take a breath, and watch everything, even when I want to rush through to find another clue. On the other hand, Telling Lies provides subtle reminders of the dangerous reality of rifling through stolen, encrypted files, and the level of secrecy required by that act. That tension helps the game crackle with life and urgency.
The question of whether Telling Lies is voyeuristic or not doesn’t necessarily have a bearing on the quality of the game — I do, in fact, think it’s good and enjoyed it. But the idea that it isn’t voyeuristic is some laugh.