Art of Murder: FBI Confidential

"Come get your budget thrills here!"

Look me in the eyes... Do you like parsnips? Well, do you? I don't, but I eat them periodically anyway. You can look away now... For me, the point and click adventure genre is like eating parsnips. It is my least favourite gaming genre. I play one of these games once a year for reasons that I find hard to discern. Perhaps I think that playing one of these games is "good for me." Perhaps I believe that one day something will click and I'll start loving this sort of game. Or, perhaps it's because I spot one of these games selling for next-to-nothing, and I can't resist a bargain! Who knows...

Introduction - The point and click adventure genre of games were popular back in the late 80's and early 90's but have not done as well since. Glitzy graphics and twitchy gameplay have overtaken adventure games and they have struggled to keep up. Developers keep trying to re-invent point and click adventure games and have, to a lesser degree, succeeded. Two of my favourites from way back are Syberia (2002) and Still Life (2004.) Syberia was given a sequel (sadly, not released in a box here in the UK) and I think that Still Life is soon to have it's sequel released. I could quote many other games and developers that have tried (and mostly failed) to re-invent adventure gaming, but I don't think they sell that well. One thing against all adventure games is that they have no replay value. Once it's done, it's done! They sell far better as a budget release and this is where City Interactive come in. City Interactive, developers of Act of Murder: FBI Confidential (AoM, from now on) are a Polish budget games development team. They have come under a lot of criticism for developing quite poor games (reviews for their games can be as low as 20%!) but they attempt to fill a small niche in the market place. If you are looking for budget versions of full price games; City Interactive are your people!

Gameplay - 6 out of 10. My comment here is...standard fare. There is not much to criticise and not much to praise either. The puzzles are mostly OK; the difficult ones require a walkthrough (don't they always!) but the deficiency here is that there is no "current objective" shown anywhere. This problem becomes more pertinent when you include the fact that the 8 save slots are almost completely unmarked. If you are visiting the same locations over and over again, it is easy to loose track of which save is your most up-to-date one. It is also easy to forget once you leave the game and come back to it later. I haven't tried their next game in this series but I would like to see it include a marked save system and a current objective panel somewhere.

Story - 7 out of 10. The story is fine. The story is above average for computer games (which often feature poor stories) but par for the course for this genre. As only to be expected, the story hots up just as the game ends, but there is nothing much wrong with that. The box cover reports a "tense plot and surprising turning points." If you have lived your life under a stone for the past 25 years, then this might be the case, but the story would be adequate for any 45 minute detective show on TV.

Graphics/Sound - 6 out of 10. I like the name of the game engine... They used the Wintermute engine, copyright Dead Code. It all sounds a bit mysterious, doesn't it, and the name is funky too! Truth be known, the graphics and sound are behind the times but what do you expect for a game that costs exactly one half what other games cost. The graphics are good, but, more to the point, never get in the way of the gameplay. The sound work (voices) is fine and the background music is appropriate. Nothing bad to report here although some of the scenes would have benefitted from more animation. The game code is completely stable too (no patch found or applied.)

Play Time/Replayability - 6 out of 10. Unless you are a point and click adventure genius, think 15-20 hours and you won't be far wrong. I would say the game was, say, only 65% of the length of either Syberia or Still Life, but they were full price releases and this, a budget release. You won't want to play it again or add it to your collection, but that assessment applies to most games we play anyway. I think that I would pick up the sequel, if I spotted it, so that can't be bad!

Final Recommendation - 6 out of 10. Let me jump on my high horse for a moment. AoM and all other point and click adventure games that I have played before now should come with a basic in-game walkthrough. I hate; truly detest, leaving the game time and time again just to consult a walkthrough (on the internet, in some cases) just to make progress in the game. Adventure games are unique in that you can't make any progress at all unless you can find a clue, solve a puzzle or so on. In other games, you can lower the difficulty or improve your gaming style with practice but this does not apply to point and click adventure games. Developers, listen up! Other than that, AoM is a reasonable budget purchase and is probably one of the better games to come from City Interactive. Stick that on the box of your next game!

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/02/09

Game Release: Art of Murder: FBI Confidential (EU, 07/29/08)