Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller

In 2025, Cognition still holds up as a very well made point and click adventure game. It has got a great ambience, the plot line is intriguing and the V.A for Erica did a pretty good job IMO. Only two minor complaints I have: 1) Characters suffered from the occasional facial deformation 2) Walking animation is kinda slow I've not experienced any crashes like other reviewers mentioned though I did play the entire game in windowed mode used this in my launch settings [code] -force-gfx-direct [/code]

Despite the interesting game mechanics sometimes, this game has probably the most idiotic plot I have ever seen. =)

It's a good story well written and all, immersive. Nice SFX, music and excellent voice-overs. But it suffers from glitchy, buggy and clunky interface and sequences: sometimes you need to redo sequences many times to catch an item that does not enter the inventory. Sometimes just a small action unlocks a location with no info on what to do. And the cognition phases are sometimes obscure and suffering from the interface. You need perseverance to play this game but it is worth it for the atmosphere.

I like a lot about this game but it's fair to say that it also has its problems. The overall story holds together pretty well and the investigation mechanics are sound especially with the inclusion of Erica's supernatural observations. The graphics haven't aged particularly well and if I'm honest weren't cutting edge at time of initial release but the gameplay and story are enough for you to grind past the visuals and get into the mystery. There are some really janky animations (several sections where Erica starts breakdancing on the spot because her character animations twist her arms and head in weird circle combinations...) but again, nothing game breaking. I think some secondary investigations would have helped fill out the premise, some things that you can put to bed as the main story progresses. Voice acting was great overall and the atmospheric music worked too. It has its flaws but the game has a great premise and is mostly executed well and I enjoyed it nevertheless.

This is a good game with glitchy gameplay. Cognition plays as a classic adventure game splitted into 4 chapters, all accessible through a loader menu. You are FBI agent Erica Reed, you solve murders and other crimes with the help of your coworkers. They generally like you but some of the bosses might not. The game starts on a cemetery, in media res, trying to rescue your brother from a serial killer who likes to setup death traps similar to Jigsaw. There's more, you have psionic powers that let you see past events in some capacity. These powers are a very interesting addition to the game and are a key component of the setting and plot, they are not just a random mechanic. More powers are unlocked as you progress on the story. Voice work is great, the cases are interesting and varied, the characters are for the most part ok. The plot is the strongest point of the game. The first case is probably the most boring one, with a ton of office tasks like searching on a computer, printing evidence forms, and a main case that takes its time to pick up pace. Fortunately, each following chapter is just better than the last one. The second case features a gruesome killer, while the third one adds a new playable character that gives a much needed fresh air to the saga. The last chapter brings everything to its conclusion, there's a couple of last plot details that were highly satisfying. Now, I don't know if the game got broken in an update or what happened, but it's full of bugs. The art style looks good, it's a mesh of 2D painted backgrounds with 3D models for characters and active objects. Everything 3D on this game doesn't work very well. Erica will take ages to move to one place to another, slowly turning around, strafing instead of walking forward, and sometimes just inverse kinectics go wrong and she has epilepsy convulsions. It's a shame really, because the story is engaging and deserves at least one play. None of the glitched animations and characters will crash or softlock the game, but it detracts a lot from the very serious atmosphere when you are having a very tense moment and suddenly the animations break down. The other main issue, is that around half of the dialogues in the first chapter are unskippable. They eventually fixed it in later chapters, but the first one tends to drag a lot because of this. If you are ok with technical issues, take a chance to get into this adventure, otherwise avoid completely.

One of the best pnc games I've played in a while. Terrific storyline and game features. Graphics are a little funky, but everything else more than makes up for it. I really hope this series continues.

This is a very interesting game with novel concepts. As usual for me, I had to play it with a text walkthrough but still I enjoyed the plot with its twist and turns. I recommend it for those with imagination and patience.

Within 30 minutes I had to stop playing. The writing was of a level below that of Tommy Wiseau. The characters, plot, and dialogue may have worked if done as satire but there's nothing witty or amusing about what's presented. The art and mechanical aspects of the game are unimpressive but serviceable. There's certainly worse out there but nothing is interesting, either. There may or may not be a decent set of puzzles under all this but the combination of mediocre visual design, weak mechanical design, and abysmal script make it impossible to engage further. There are better games with better art, better game engines, and better writing for the same price or less. Don't waste your time.

After the first episode I had hoped it would've picked up however the story remains painfully trite. The controls keep changing and are extremely un-intuitive, the puzzles are much the same and are based on logical leaps so high, I couldn't even reach them using a pogostick on a trampoline.

5/10 I can't recommend this game.