This is an excellent combination of whodunit and adventure game. The developer (EQ Studios) describes it as:
“…a story-rich murder mystery game that quickly evolves from leisurely exploration of an abandoned town into a full-blown crime solving experience. Can you uncover the town's dark secrets and expose the hidden truth to the public?”
If you are a fan of adventure games, the basic format will be familiar to you: examine everything; explore everywhere; find items, clues and messages; and use your findings to gradually progress. If you love murder mysteries (especially of the Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes variety), you’re in for a treat due to the quality of the storytelling – for this is a mystery that twists and turns, is scattered with red herrings, and will have you experiencing the thrills (and stresses) of real investigation. Best of all, the characters are extremely well-developed: their natures, motivations, difficulties, bad decisions and reactions all come across as very real.
I began looking for information regarding a single murder, but soon found other suspicious deaths. After a while, I was wondering whether I was hunting for a serial killer. The motives for the deaths were clouded. Information was revealed in morsels. I grew to know all the characters involved, though my beliefs about some of them would change radically as the narrative progressed.
What about the negative side? Eventually, it can be a bit of a drag going from one location to another for the umpteenth time. I would have loved the option of being able to “quick-move” via a map. However, this issue if offset by the sheer beauty of the game: the buildings, foliage and river are truly gorgeous. The level of detail makes each location close to photo-realistic. By the end of the game, I was thinking that it would be great to live in Painscreek… well, apart from all the murders!
In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed the game and would recommend it to anyone who loves adventure games or murder mysteries. Do have a pen and paper handy for notes, though, as it gets too complex for the average memory. And use the in-game camera to photograph all the relevant evidence for easy recall.
I hope EQ Studios thrives and makes more games of this kind. Also, having read some of the game forums on Steam, I was pleased to see how well EQ interacts with and helps their customers.
10/10.