Reivew: Whispers of a Machine

 Goutham Jayaraman

Ravencrow Game Review #24

 

Whispers of a Machine

https://store.steampowered.com/app/631570/Whispers_of_a_Machine/

Genre	Point and Click
Platform	PC
Developer	Clifftop Games, Faravid Interactive
Publisher	Raw Fury
Playtime	8 hours
Date Completed	6/6/2021
Date Reviewed	8/6/2021
Overall Grade	S*

 

I could have sworn this game had something to do with Wadjet Eye games, but whatever.

Whispers of a Machine is an investigative point-and-click game with a light cyberpunk theme. It features a detective (Vera Englund) who has been called to Nordsund, an isolated town raised several hundred meters off the ground for unknown reasons (sadly, this was never explained in the game).

It starts off with a seemingly typical murder case but doesn’t take long to blow up into a plot that deeply connects all the residents of Nordsund.

Besides the obvious investigative nature of the game, I was immediately enamored by the presence of additional cyborg powers Vera had access to in order to aid her investigations. These powers start off with Super Strength, Biometric Analysis and Smart Scanning, but then later evolve based on decisions made throughout the game, which I personally found to be very cool, even if the decisions themselves were overly obvious.

These powers made for rather engaging gameplay where I felt like I had much more control than in other point and clicks, being able to scan scenes for miniscule bits of evidence or interrogate people whilst monitoring their emotional state. Combined with a good story and an appealing Nordic setting, I found Whispers of a Machine to be quite an enjoyable journey, although it ended up being shorter than I would have liked.

What I liked

-          I liked the cyborg powers, which made for unique and engaging gameplay

-          I also liked the fact that the game takes different paths based on which dialog options are chosen. I personally only stuck with the obvious empathy options because those made the most sense to me, but I am certainly curious if the entire personality of Vera would differ if I chose more aggressive dialog options instead.

-          I could appreciate the puzzle design here, and how well integrated it was with the cyborg powers. Choosing different dialog options meant you would get different additional powers, and that means puzzles have multiple ways of going about them.

-          The game was aesthetically pleasing

-          Vera was quite likeable and relatable, clearly displaying a deeper problem many people suffer from.

What I disliked                                                                   

-          Game could not go fullscreen, and this created some annoyances as I would sometimes click outside the window by mistake

-          Lack of hint system or even any kind of simple feedback to nudge me in the right direction. Given all the additional options I had available to me, it was easy to completely overlook something and thus be perpetually stuck somewhere.

-          Some amount of disappointment when using the scanner and biometric analyzer. For example, a person who was clearly tensed or spooked would still register as relaxed on the analyzer. As for the scanner, it would have been nice if it picked up more stuff for fun, seeing as it existed.

-          No save options, so am forced to play the game a second time to view the other endings (I mean, this is one of the most replay friendly point and clicks out there, but still)

Gameplay 22/20	+ Standard Point and Click mechanics, with some fun puzzles and minigames that come to mind   + Innovative implant system that allows for additional powers to come into effect during gameplay. This creates enriching and engaging gameplay as well as allowing player to feel like a detective.   + Being able to choose dialog options allows player to shape Vera the way they want to. These choices also determine the extra impants Vera learns, giving them real meaning with respect to the gameplay.   + Diverse array of topics to talk to people about, although it can get overwhelming at times   + Fairly interactive world
Game Design 16/20	Scanner gives feeling of being a detective and hunting for hidden clues, but only really picks up specific things. Would have been nice if it picked up additional things to provide interesting dialog (for example, scanning plants and displaying their species)   Biometric Analyzer allows player to track the emotional state of whoever they are talking to and detect anomalies. This is a nice way to add puzzles where you have to catch people lying. However, there are many parts where this doesn’t seem realistic (it was obviously optimized for gameplay, but yeah) such as people registering as “relaxed” even when they clearly aren’t. Would have been nice to randomize the heartbeat wave as well, just to up the realism.   Super strength was okay. It got its use here and there and had places where it wasn’t good enough as well.   The other powers are unique to the chosen path, but as far as I could see, they provided for interesting scenarios.   What is truly impressive about this game is how it has tackled the problem of low replayability in point and click games and actually managed to solve it. Its puzzles are very creatively designed whilst taking the many options available to players into account. Even with the same power, there can be multiple ways to solve the puzzle. I will definitely feel happy to play this game again and try out another route to see what happens.   - Admittedly, the dialog options are too obvious which of the three paths they lead to. Not all the options feel socially natural either. This could have been better designed to keep players guessing (maybe have like 5 or 6 similar dialog options, and 3 are randomly offered as choices. You shouldn’t be able to easily tell which option leads to which path)   - Decision to disallow players from creating multiple save files is questionable. It makes it look like the developers are forcing a 2nd playthrough. I mean, the fact that they have created a solid reason to replay the game is already enough. People will replay the game. Why force it?   - With the vast number of options available to players, the chances of getting stuck become high, simply because of overlooking an option   - Very linear, requiring certain actions to be completed before other actions happen (sometimes you would expect something to happen but then wonder why it hasn’t happened yet)   - Lack of hint system which this kind of game certainly needs
Graphics 18/20	+ Good graphics that give a nice Nordic and isolated feel to the town + Character portraits with facial expressions - Unable to go fullscreen
Audio 20/20	+ Similar to the graphics, the music does have a Nordic feel to it and can be quite emotional at times + Solid and expressive voice acting
Story 20/20	The story, as mentioned earlier, follows Vera as she journeys to Nordsund to investigate a murder. Each new day, a new plot development takes place, creating additional suspense and excitement.   Different groups of people come into the story at various points, giving it some depth and tying it to the game’s world, one where sentient AI has long since been banned due to tragic past incidents.   While the story itself is nothing too crazy, it will certainly keep you entertained throughout the game, and has its fair share of plot twists.
Lore 23/20	+ The characters in the game are quite likeable and memorable. Vera in particular can take on a whole new personality depending on which options you choose for her to say (or at least I assume so), and so is a very well designed character. She also has some emotional baggage which comes into play regularly and gives insight into her deep backstory.   + Given all the different topics you can talk to people about, the backstories of other characters are expanded upon well, and you’ll find that everybody has something useful to say about everybody else.   + There is a museum exhibit which pries into the history of the world and explains how it’s interesting anti-AI culture came to be and introduces the pro-AI extremist groups you’ll have to deal with.   Overall, it definitely looks like a detailed charming world with fleshed out characters who all belong to a tightknit community.
Value 20/20	+ Average playtime and average cost + Solid replay value with branching puzzle paths and multiple endings + Quite an unique and enjoyable experience
Overall Grade 20/20	S*
Score	99

 

As one of the most special point and click games out there, I would say there should be no reason not to try this game out. Designed with replayability in mind, you’ll be able to enjoy the charming Nordic atmosphere and have fun solving the puzzles of Nordsund multiple times. It’s just a tad disappointing that the game is as short as it is, as there is SO MUCH latent potential lying around in this game’s unique mechanics.

Cleverer dialog options and more immersive implants that respond to the environment in ways beyond just the immediate gameplay would allow a game like this to reach for the stars with ease.

[NOTES]

Emotional music in town. Becomes more tense and cyberpunk in other areas 

 

Investigative gameplay 

 

Use of scanner allows game to feel more like a detective game, recreating the sensation of hunting for hidden clues 

 

Three different choices for what you want to say and other actions will influence your personality, causing a different power to emerge at the start of each day. While the choices are painfully obvious, this mechanic still gives the game its own special flavor and gives it some genuine replayability. 

 

Special powers create diverging puzzle design. There are different ways to solve each puzzle, and these different ways exists even within one of the pathways 

 

No hint system 

 

Puzzles can be hard to solve because the powers create more options and its easy to overlook one of them. 

 

Deep backstory for the characters in the game. Fair amount of character development 

 

Gripping story with plot developments happening each day 

 

Staggering amount of coversation options for each character, though the game does thankfully block them out once not relevant 

 

Characters have strong personalities and feel alive. Some are humorous as well 

 

Futuristic world where sentient AI is outlawed rather than treasured. A refershing change of pace. 

 

Biometric Scanner didnt come into play that often, but it is an interesting concept that could have been more intimately used (perhaps when interrogating someone) 

 

Game cannot go fullscreen 

 

Biometric scanner only capable of showing a small set of emotions (like even when I spooked the doctor, it still showed relaxed) 

 

Game just autosaved over the file I created to view all the endings. There was no way to duplicate the save file in game or even select save files when saving while playing.

 

Faced a lot of problems with the mouse. Items that I tried to drag would frequently get released prematurely. Also because the window wasn’t fullscreen, there were many instances where I accidentally clicked outside the window and lost focus, which was annoying.