Collecting My Thought on Murdered: Soul Suspect—One Last Trial for Salem

Out of all the trials of Salem, Murdered: Soul Suspect has to be the most trying of them all. At least that was what I thought during the early phases of the game. The cutscenes were corny, the effects were glitchy, and the mood was flat. But what was a rocky start gradually improved into a manageable trip through a ghostly revival of Salem's memory lane. Unfortunately, the game's recovery petered into a stubborn plateau, and Airtight Games would have to settle for a lukewarm affair as their ultimate offering.

During one long murderous night in Salem, Massachusetts, Detective Ronan O'Connor walks the streets as a ghost with the mission of uncovering the murderer behind his own uncanny demise. The premise was immediately intriguing. How would a detective approach solving his own murder mystery as a ghost? The answer, sadly, was not. The logic behind investigation techniques was hard to follow, and Ronan's ghostly powers, such as possession and mind-reading, were often inconsequential. Then soon, Ronan learns that being a ghost does not give him unchecked freedom or absolve him of mortal danger, and this allowed for opportunities of solid, engaging gameplay. Hallelujah! Turning Salem into a maze of impenetrable ghost walls and illusion-like human walls was a top-notch decision and the unique design of demon chases made them genuinely heart-thumping. Along with the soft touch provided by the intermittent snippets of backstory given in the point of view of his wife, Julia, these were the brightest highlights in a game beleaguered by UI issues, screenplay mediocrity and flow stiffness.

What Murdered: Soul Suspect reaffirmed to me was that some fun gameplay is not enough for an all-round gratifying experience. Though I can respect the aim to implement novel forms of gameplay, what was ultimately missing was the ambition to push for something that feeds the soul. Because of this, even the most minor flaws were hard to overlook. And for a game that has it in its title, soul evidently seemed to be the last thing on the mind during the development of the game.

#WeirdestSound Every "what made that sound" sequence was weird. The blood splatter, the snapped neck, the magical trinket... you name it, it was weird.

#LearntANewWord Binnacle.

#FavouriteScene Rose and Iris' escape. That was one of the few decent cutscenes.

#FashionablyLateBy Six years.