Murdered: Soul Suspect
Review
Only mostly dead
by William Thompson
reviewed on PC
Is there an afterlife?
In Murdered: Soul Suspect, you take the role of Ronan O'Connor, a former bad boy turned good guy. As a detective, he stumbles on the Bell Killer, a murderous serial killer in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Unfortunately for Ronan, in his attempt to apprehend the killer, he gets thrown out a fourth storey window. He lands hard on the road below, gets up slowly only to find that he cannot open the door leading up to the killer’s location. He looks around and finds himself staring at his almost lifeless body. As he tries to join his soul with his body, the killer rushes out and finishes the job, planting several bullets into Ronan.
It is then that Ronan sees the light and moves towards it, where his former love Julia is waiting for him. She informs him that he cannot yet enter the bridge to the afterlife until he completes his unresolved task. Wanting to reunite with her for eternity, Ronan sets out on a quest to find the identity of the Bell Killer.
The Ghost of Patrick Swayze
Murdered: Soul Suspect plays out like a puzzle game along the lines of L.A. Noire. As a detective Ronan must uncover clues and evidence to track down the Bell Killer. Like Patrick Swayze in the movie Ghost, Ronan can interact with the real world with the use of a medium, in this case a teenage girl he meets up with: Joy. Both Joy and her mother have the gift and Joy’s mother had been helping the local police in solving the Bell Killer murders. It was at her apartment that Ronan was attempting to apprehend the murderer. Joy’s mother has gone missing and in order to find her, Joy teams up with Ronan to help solve the case and hopefully find the whereabouts of her mother in the process.
As a ghost in limbo, Ronan has a number of abilities at his disposal. Although he cannot walk through external doors unless they are opened by someone else, once inside a building Ronan can walk through walls and other obstacles. He can fall great distances and not get hurt and he is able to possess people to read their thoughts, influence their actions and peek at their notes or at their computer screens. He can even possess other creatures such as cats to get to hard to reach areas. As you progress, Ronan will add to his abilities, learning how to transport himself from one place to another, allowing him to reach previously unreachable locations.
Although he can walk through walls and fall from heights without further injuring himself (he is already dead, after all), Ronan is not infallible. Hideous Demons patrol the town like sentries in a prison, following a particular route. If Ronan walks into their field of vision, they will attempt to catch him and suck out his soul and end his time in limbo. If they do spot him, Ronan can hide within the lost souls littering the landscape. Or if he sneaks up behind the demons, Ronan can complete somewhat of a finishing move and banish them from limbo.
8.0
fun score
Pros
Audio and Visuals set the tone perfectly for the eerie story.
Cons
Can be a little slow at times, and some clues can be difficult to find
