14 DAY TRIAL // Shadows of Doubt is trying to stand out from the myriad of new detective-centric games that have been popping up lately. Fans will learn to appreciate Shadows of Doubt for the way it allows them to make connections between the evidence they find, whereas many similar games are simply serving them the answer without too much thinking.
Make no mistake, Shadows of Doubt does offer you some guidance at the beginning until you get the hang of it, but after you solve the first case, it’s up to you to lead an outstanding investigation and reap the rewards.
Set in an alternative hyper-industrialized 1980s, Shadows of Doubt puts players in the role of a private intelligence investigator who’s trying to make money by solving cases. Where Shadows of Doubt distinguishes itself from other detective games is that it offers players total freedom. Basically, you can explore the entire city without limitations while trying to solve cases.
There’s a main story where you must find a serial killer who has already made a few victims that you know of, but you can take up on side missions for some extra money if you feel up for it. Unlike Sherlock Holmes, you don’t have a “mind palace” where you can string together every piece of evidence to find the culprit.
You must actually work hard and think through every move you plan to do next in order to be successful. Gameplay-wise, Shadows of Doubt is a stealth-based game where you must hack, sneak in, lockpick and climb to find evidence or valuable secrets that certain people would pay a fortune for it.
Speaking of which, the money you make can be used to buy upgrades for your character that will give you more inventory slots or make you better at certain tasks. If you can afford it, you can also upgrade your apartment and home office.
Most of things in Shadows of Doubt is procedurally generated, which means that the city you’re dropped in, the buildings in it, addresses and citizens can be unique to your game experience. More importantly, the game lets you solve cases the way you want instead of forcing you to find the one solution it accepts.
Since you’re not part of a governmental institution, you’ll have to smartly gain access to locations where you’re not supposed to be. Crawling through air vents, disarming security and surveillance systems, as well as hacking/lockpicking computers and doors will often get you the best results.
Every murder case investigation starts with an inspection of the crime scene, which more often than not requires a stealthy approach. After that, the clues can lead to just about anywhere in the city and you’re free to choose how to tackle each case. Perhaps you’ll have to visit the victim’s working place or the last place they ate. The next clues or piece of evidence are always just around the corner, so it’s up to you to make the connections and find the real killer.
Before you close a case, you’ll have to find and catalog the fingerprints from the crime scene, find the murder weapon, identify the murderer, find out where they live, and even arrest them. Some of the information is optional, but you’ll get extra money for every piece of the puzzle you unravel. On the other hand, for every information that you get wrong, you’ll be fine a certain amount of credits.
Conclusion
The voxel-based graphics and the soundtrack masterfully complement the unique playstyle. Although there’s not much narrative in the game, the little secrets that you discover throughout the world make up for it just fine.
I’m more than happy to recommend Shadows of Doubt to anyone even just mildly interested in detective games. I’m confident that this one’s going to be a doozy, so don’t sleep on it.
Preview key was provided by the publisher.
