Conscience
- December 30, 2024
- Bowker Studios
Get on Steam"Conscience" is a noir detective mystery game where you investigate the apparent suicide of Jack Beckham. Search Jack's apartment for clues, inspect evidence, and piece together the truth behind his death. Use your deductive skills to solve the mystery and uncover any hidden details that may reveal what really happened.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a dark and atmospheric feel that keeps players tense and engaged throughout the experience.
- It offers a unique investigative mechanic where players piece together clues from highlighted words in texts, making it an interesting puzzle game.
- Despite its short length, the game provides a compelling narrative and leaves players wanting more, indicating potential for future expansions.
- The game suffers from significant resource utilization issues, causing high CPU temperatures and performance problems.
- The user interface, particularly the cellphone feature, is often unresponsive, making it difficult to interact with necessary clues.
- Many players found the game too short and the mystery too simple, leading to a lack of challenge and an anticlimactic ending.
- story23 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The story is a straightforward yet engaging detective narrative that emphasizes dialogue and character dilemmas, allowing players to piece together the mystery through text rather than traditional clue collection. While the game is relatively short, it creates an atmospheric experience that leaves players eager for more depth and expansion in future installments. Overall, it successfully captures the essence of a detective story, despite some minor gameplay frustrations.
“The focus stays on the story and characters, letting the dialogue and dilemmas take center stage.”
“Fairly short, but also engaging detective story.”
“Quite atmospheric at times and with a good story that you piece together.”
“Indeed, the story is straightforward to a fault, as simply reading the game’s text will tell you whodunnit and why.”
“I'll be interested to play it if it undergoes some more detailed review and development and perhaps incorporates more than just this one storyline as part of being a detective.”
“It definitely left me wanting to see both the gameplay and the story expanded on.”
- gameplay15 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The gameplay features a unique investigative mechanic where players find highlighted words in text to piece together a mystery, diverging from traditional adventure game formats. While the art style and noir atmosphere are praised, the gameplay suffers from poor optimization and some bugs, though it remains engaging for a brief experience. Overall, players express a desire for further expansion of both gameplay and story elements.
“It definitely left me wanting to see both the gameplay and the story expanded on.”
“The gameplay is a little different, because instead of wandering the environment looking for clues that you stick in your inventory like an adventure game, you find words in various bits of text that tell the story of the mystery.”
“The investigative mechanic is to find highlighted clue words or phrases in documents, letters, messages, etc., and then use a selection of them to produce a conclusion about the man's death; the game finally reports whether the player has successfully solved the mystery or not.”
“It also has a few bugs (both visually and in gameplay) and is a bit finicky, but nothing too major that would ruin the game.”
- atmosphere14 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a dark, tense, and gritty ambiance that enhances the storytelling and puzzle-solving experience. Set against a backdrop of a rainy night, it evokes feelings of unease and anticipation without relying on traditional horror elements like jump scares. Overall, the atmospheric design effectively complements the noir detective theme, making it engaging for players.
“The game's atmospheric design and challenging puzzles make it an excellent choice for fans of noir detective stories.”
“It takes place on a rainy and dark night, which is atmospheric rather than eerie (this is not a horror game in the sense of jump scares or gore, though a hanging rope noose is shown).”
“The presentation and atmosphere were unnerving, which fits the story well.”
“The atmosphere is eerie and makes you feel like you're being watched.”
- graphics13 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are praised for their unique art style and atmospheric qualities, contributing to a gritty yet engaging experience. While some players found the visuals simple, they appreciated the smooth performance and aesthetic appeal, particularly the noir vibes. However, there were issues with overlaying graphics that hindered gameplay, which detracted from the overall experience for some users.
“I loved the art style; the gameplay is a little different, and the noir vibes are great. I'd definitely play more if the devs expand the game!”
“Art style is unique and well made.”
“Love the graphics and would like to see more of the sorts with maybe horror elements?”
“The investigation notes couldn't be completed because the graphics and stuff were overlayed and you couldn't scroll down or do anything else... I wanted to like this a lot.”
“Gameplay and graphics are pretty simple, but they are enough for this experience.”
“I can't say it was challenging, but the aesthetics made up for it 100%.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game features a strong environmental aura and concept, but suffers from poor optimization and gameplay performance.
“Good environment aura and concept, poor optimization and gameplay.”
“Good environment aura and concept, poor optimization and gameplay.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express that the game effectively immerses them in the role of a detective, evoking strong emotional engagement and a sense of connection to the narrative.
- music2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The music in the game received mixed feedback; while some users appreciated the great sound design and found it enjoyable, others experienced issues with the music not playing at all on their devices. Overall, it seems to enhance the gaming experience when functioning properly.
“Smooth FPS, simple but cute graphics, great music and sound design.”
“The music didn't have any sound when I pushed play on my cell phone.”
“It was alright, but the music was lacking and didn't enhance the experience.”
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