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by flotsam
I played the first but not the second, and here we are at the third. On
the strength of this I will play the fourth.
The story is the thing and while I can’t reflect on how we got here from
episode 1, where we are now is rather good. Gritty, edgy and barrelling
on, it propels you towards an end that is almost worth the price of
admission itself.
There were some glitches in the graphics, and some mismatched voices and
personas, and it was rather short and rather easy. However I never like
the story getting bogged down, be it in contrived puzzles or pointless
back and forths, and you can’t complain about that here. One puzzle held
me up for a while, but otherwise it was a headlong plummet to a cliff
hanger end. The confined settings (one apartment block) helps keep the
whole thing taut and focussed, and not even the occasional willing
suspension of plot disbelief got in the way of where we were headed.
If you have played either of the other episodes, the game mechanics and
Erica’s cognitive powers will be familiar to you. If not, read any of
the other reviews and then come back.
The strengths in episode one – the look, the feel and the soundtrack
(which you can buy separately) – are all still here. Erica remains
pivotal to the whole thing, and she continues to be voiced admirably by
Ms Holmes.
I particularly liked the cognitive “collisions” between Erica and the
Oracle, and what they revealed about the goings on. It’s a little hard
to get on top of, and a tad heavy on the cognition perhaps, but in
essence what we have is another character who can look forward and see
events that Erica is seeing looking back. Worlds overlapping worlds if
you will, and not in a benign way. These interactions are not only
essential to the plot, but to some puzzling as well, and added another
dimension to the mix.
The serial killings continue, and we kick things off with another grisly
death, and the dark mood continues throughout. It suits me, but perhaps
not everyone.
I did think some of the characters looked a little “blocky”, but that
may have been a product of the excellent backgrounds. The artistic
palette creates just the right amount of grime, and nicely frames the
events unfolding within it.
As I said, I didn’t play episode two but I had played episode one, and I
certainly wouldn’t leap in and play this one cold. If Cognition sounds
appealing, start at the start.
Much is revealed in this episode, but I suspect there is more to come. I
wouldn’t be surprised if whodunit came out different, and I am somewhat
impatient to find out. It’s the bane of episodic adventures, having to
wait for the next bit, particularly when perched on the violent
precipice we have here.
It does give me time however to go back to the start, and play it
through, with episode two where it should be. That will likely be just
before episode 4 comes out, so I can experience the thing as a single
whole. I am rather looking forward to it.
B+
I played on:
OS: Windows 7
Processor: Intel i7-3820 4GHz
RAM: 12GB Ripjaw DDR3 2133 Mhz
Video card: AMD Radeon HD 7800 2048MB
GameBoomers Review Guidelines
June 2013
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