I'd been meaning to try out this game for months, ever since I heard of this game and saw a few screenshots of it, but still was a little unsure of what exactly to expect - gameplay or otherwise.In this game, you're playing the role of Cate West, a young authoress who's recently been receiving much acclaim for the release of her new book. Unbeknowst to she (or anyone else, for that matter), she's been blessed with a gift: she's a psychic. She has vivid dreams of things before they happen. As such, she begins having dreams about crimes that have been happening around the city, and begins to help solve cases by details she sees in her dreams. The plot probably doesn't sound nearly as impressive as it actually is; it's very heavy and downright dark at points. (If you like dramatic storylines, like myself, then you'll love this.)
As far as the actual gameplay itself goes, it's a bit different from how I anticipated it to work out. It plays, more or less, like a glorified I Spy type of game. You'll move from location to location, being given a list of items to find that are scattered and hidden throughout the location, and do so before the time runs out. I also particularly like that most of the locations seem to be named after classic stars...Garland (leave it to me to notice that one first and foremost...), Townshend, Mason, Gillespie, Sullivan, Bennett, etc. Very nice touch! After going through all of these, you'll be presented with a couple of items that are actual clues... but broken into shards and you must find these pieces amongst different locations as well. Once you piece these together as well, you'll discover your suspect's hideout - which will present you with two pictures side by side of the same location, and you point out all the differences in the two pictures. (It's harder than it sounds - some are INCREDIBLY subtle.) You then deduce pieces that will help identify your criminal; you pick them out from a lineup of 8 people based on your clues, and then you recreate the crime scene in a reverse style from the criminal hideout level - you have two screens side by side and have to replace the missing objects where they go. This is how you complete each case. (It makes more sense when you actually play it.)
I was fairly impressed by the graphics of the game. While the characters themselves are drawn in a cartoon style, they're animated beautifully. The actual gameplay is much more realistic looking, which also makes it a little more difficult in finding all the necessary items. (Good thing they give you copious amounts of time to complete each one.) The sound effects are both good an bad. The music gives the game an eerie, almost deja vu feel to it (which I'm sure was the intention), and then during dialogue scenes, often the first word or two is actually spoken by the characters. But during the intro and endings of the game, the entireties of both are fully spoken...so why not do this for the whole game? I'm not entirely sure. A little continuity would've been better, I think. And the controls, well.... While not horrible, they do leave something to be desired. They're not a mile off, but oftentimes you'll find yourself clicking on an item that you KNOW is right there, but it doesn't register (and subsequently docks you points for it), and then you do it again a minute later in the same exact spot and magically, now it decides to work.
I don't want to spoil the plot for anyone, as it's the main focal point of the game (and the entire reason that playing so many levels in a row that are virtually the same exact thing over and over again doesn't get really boring) but I will say that they left things pretty open-ended so that a sequel might someday be made. I personally hope they follow through with this...I do think I'd buy it! Overall, this game is actually surprisingly good. I'm going to rate it an 8 out of 10 case files.
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