Murder

About

"Murder is a single-player Science Fiction Point and Click game with a good story, outstanding visuals, and fantastic music. Set in a cyberpunk Tokyo, you play as Lieutenant Minori investigating a dangerous case, exploring the complex intersection of morality and sentience. The game stands out with its engaging environmental storytelling, detailed world, full voice acting, and dynamic score."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

48%

Audience ScoreBased on 310 reviews

story50 positive mentions

gameplay10 negative mentions

The pixel art and graphics are stunning, creating a beautiful cyberpunk atmosphere.
The soundtrack is engaging and complements the game's aesthetic well.
The voice acting is decent, adding a layer of immersion to the experience.

The game is extremely short, lasting only about 15-30 minutes, leaving players wanting more.
The story feels incomplete and lacks depth, with many players feeling it ends abruptly.
There is minimal interactivity, with no puzzles or meaningful choices, making it feel more like a visual novel than a game.

story
313 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
76%
8%
The story of "Murder" is described as a very short, linear narrative set in a cyberpunk world, often feeling more like an incomplete prologue than a fully developed tale. While the pixel art and music receive praise, many reviewers express disappointment with the lack of depth, resolution, and originality in the plot, which ends abruptly just as it begins to engage the player. Overall, the game is seen as an artistic endeavor rather than a substantial storytelling experience, leaving players wanting more content and a more satisfying narrative arc.
- “The story is quick and effective, and the pixel art is phenomenal.”
- “This is a beginning of a story, not an actual story.”
- “The game was gorgeous, the music helped carry the tone and story through the play, and the ending left me wanting more.”
- “The story suddenly ended right where it felt like the intro should have been ending.”
- “There's no beginning and there's no end to the story, so it is very unsatisfactory in this aspect.”
- “The story is capped with a strange intruder into the scene, a figure spouting clear metatext about the nature of its own storytelling and the hanging confusion in the player’s mind.”
music
117 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
44%
3%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim, with many reviewers praising its atmospheric quality and ability to enhance the overall experience. Composed by kubrixxx, the soundtrack is described as a captivating blend of synth and bass that complements the game's cyberpunk aesthetic, creating an immersive environment. However, some users noted that while the music is excellent, it often overshadows the game's short narrative and gameplay, leading to a feeling of missed potential.
- “The story, the setting, and the music are very good, considering that one person did everything.”
- “The soundtrack by kubrixxx is a real treat, with a nice mix of synth and bass to add texture to the sordid backdrops and ignoble actions which lay ahead.”
- “The music is honestly incredible and I'm going to have to find more like it now.”
- “Music is decent, but it's wasted on a product like this.”
- “Honestly, during my 30 minutes with this title, I have wondered if the 'game' was an addition to the music, not the other way around.”
- “The sound effect of the robot in the corridor was awful, and the soundscape/music made some awful glitching noises.”
graphics
95 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
43%
3%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful pixel art and aesthetic, often likening it to retro styles and cyberpunk themes. While the visuals and sound design are frequently described as top-notch and immersive, some critics argue that the reliance on outdated pixel art detracts from the overall experience, especially given the game's short length and lack of engaging gameplay. Overall, the art style is a highlight, but opinions vary on its effectiveness in enhancing the narrative and gameplay.
- “Great art style.”
- “The pixel art graphics are delicious, the sound, music, and voice acting are superb and create a really good atmosphere and a lot of immersion in this world.”
- “What makes 'murder' truly stand out is its aesthetic brilliance.”
- “They did supply their own assets from what I can tell, but they couldn't do that to any professional level and just used lazy pixel crap 'art' instead of real graphics when filling out the template.”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel 'art' as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “It doesn't render the pixel graphics to nearest neighbor, so in full screen it looks pretty blurred out.”
gameplay
60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
73%
17%
The gameplay of the game has been widely criticized for its extreme brevity, with most players reporting only 10 to 30 minutes of minimal interaction, primarily consisting of point-and-click mechanics. Many reviewers feel that the game lacks meaningful gameplay and a coherent story, often describing it as more of a visual novel or interactive experience rather than a traditional game. While the art and music received praise, the overall consensus is that the gameplay is uninspired and fails to deliver a satisfying experience.
- “The core gameplay is point and click oriented, with the voiced (and written) dialogue being the main focus.”
- “Despite feeling like I should have been able to point-click and walk to a spot in an area like a classical point and click adventure, the point-of-interest mechanic driving the game really does a good job of guiding the player through the narrative the author wishes to tell, but also provides sufficient non-critical interest points that add a nice touch to the overall experience of the game.”
- “The simplicity in gameplay takes a backseat to the gripping narrative.”
- “There is no gameplay, and no coherent story.”
- “The gameplay is uninspired, apparently needing a 3-minute tutorial on how to play a point-and-click game (hint: you point and click on things).”
- “With a weak story and minimal gameplay, this is not worth the time nor money.”
atmosphere
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
36%
8%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its stunning pixel art, immersive sound design, and a strong cyberpunk aesthetic that evokes a moody, futuristic setting. While the visuals and music create a captivating experience, many reviewers note that the lack of a substantial story or gameplay depth detracts from its overall impact. Despite its brevity, the game is recommended for those seeking a visually rich and atmospheric experience, akin to a short cinematic journey.
- “The pixel art graphics are delicious, the sound, music, and voice acting are superb and create a really good atmosphere and a lot of immersion in this world.”
- “Imagine a cyberpunk Tokyo, oozing atmosphere, coupled with a soundtrack that's a journey in itself, blending noisehop, neo-classical, and ambient tunes.”
- “What excels in this game is the gorgeous pixel art graphics, nice soundtrack, and well-used sound effects that create the right cyberpunk atmosphere.”
- “Peter Moorhead, the 'indie' 'dev', wanted to most likely create a certain pace by doing so, maintain an atmosphere, etc. Instead, he created a snail-speed, non-game with no story.”
- “It like the style and the atmosphere, but that doesn't compensate for the lack of story and gameplay.”
- “Only a sketch of a story, but plenty of tone and atmosphere.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is criticized for its lack of replayability, with users noting that it offers a brief experience of only eight minutes, making it feel more like a short film than a traditional video game. Overall, players find the experience bland and unrewarding, leading to little incentive to replay.
- “For the baseline price, you're paying over 10 cents a minute for a pretty bland and unrewarding experience with no replay value.”
- “No replay value.”
- “The game in its entirety is only 8 minutes long from start to finish with little to no replayability. I mean, this is basically more of a short little film than an actual video game.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted as both amusing and engaging, complemented by a funny soundtrack by "kubrixxx." While the visuals and music are praised, the minimal plot is described humorously, adding to the overall comedic experience.
- “The soundtrack is by 'kubrixxx' and it's amazingly funny!”
- “The visuals and music are nice, and the tiny nibble of expository dialogue that can be laughingly called the plot is tasty.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The game's optimization is generally solid, with fully voiced short stories that evoke nostalgia for classic point-and-click noir games. While the voice acting quality varies, it rarely detracts from the experience, except for a notably distracting performance.
- “The optimization is lacking, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering during gameplay.”
- “The game feels unpolished, with many areas suffering from poor optimization that detracts from the overall experience.”
- “Despite the interesting mechanics, the optimization issues make it frustrating to play at times.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect is heavily criticized for its overwhelming presence, with intrusive advertisements for VR experiences and personal robots detracting from the overall experience, leaving users feeling disconnected and confused rather than engaged in a narrative.
- “The night sky splattered with bleeding neon, advertisements of the newest VR experience and personal robots strewn about.”
- “I don't know what the ads are suggesting... I can't even call it a short story, because there's no story here.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players feel that grinding in the game primarily serves to extract money from them, leading to a sense of exploitation rather than enjoyment.
- “We are just used for farming money from us.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Character development in the game is criticized for being overly ambitious yet ultimately failing to deliver, resulting in weak writing and poorly fleshed-out characters.
- “It tries so hard to be smart that it falls on its face when it comes to basic character development and writing.”
- “The characters feel one-dimensional and lack any real growth throughout the story.”
- “I was disappointed by how predictable the character arcs were; they didn't evolve in any meaningful way.”