Scorch

[h1]Overview:[/h1] '[i]Scorch[/i]' is a fairly short first person detective and walking simulator where you're put into the shoes of Gary Price, a troubled police detective and a semi-alcoholic tasked to investigate an arson case that left a man dead at a cabin seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Gary is on his last set of legs as his last incident didn't leave quite the best impression on his colleague Gonzales, the Chief of Police and ultimately the one his job is in the hands of. Your job is to explore the crime scene, find pieces of relevant evidence and come up with a lead in a single day. It sounds stressful enough but it honestly isn't as bad as you might think as the game often gives off a false sense of urgency. Truthfully, it's rather quite relaxing despite the grim backstory. [h1]Gameplay:[/h1] '[i]Scorch[/i]' is heavy on narrative gameplay and for the most part you'll either be talking to yourself or your colleague who can't seem to stop bothering you while you collect evidence and try and do your job. The overall game is done well despite there not being that much to do since well, all the exciting stuff already happened. Your only job is to figure out why it did. The arson case in question alone is pretty straightforward to solve as there are only a few names thrown around and only one of them really stands out from the rest. To avoid spoilers (if you can really call it that), I won't expose the name of the perpetrator but I'm confident most players will figure it out on their own. As mentioned, you collect evidence and inspect certain points of interest in which all will influence your decision in the end about who you believe was behind the crime. Although you don't necessarily [i]need[/i] all pieces of evidence to close the case, they are definitely useful and I believe you [i]will[/i] in fact need them all if you wish to get the best ending dialogue. At a certain point in the game (after you've collected enough evidence), Gonzales will call informing you that you can call her when you believe you've found out who committed the crime. You can actually continue investigating and finding more pieces of evidence that can further narrow down the culprit but eventually you'll have to call her. After calling you'll have to provide the evidence you have gathered in the right order based on the questions Gonzales asks you as well as who you think was behind the arson event and the murder of the man in question. This is probably the most confusing part of the game even if you know who the culprit is because some pieces of evidence can be relevant to a specific question despite it not actually being part of the answer. The game warns you that you won't be able to turn back once you call Gonzales and that you only have [b]one[/b] chance to answer the questions correctly and present your verdict on the whole ordeal. But don't let this intimidate you as the same ending will play revealing the offender no matter how you answer the questions. The only thing that changes is the dialogue after the ending cutscene which ranges from disappointment to satisfaction. Needless to say, there is [b]very[/b] little difference between getting the answers right and getting them wrong. Nonetheless, the investigation itself is rather nice to play through even if it doesn't really make you [i]feel[/i] like a detective. It's definitely more of a slow paced game about atmospheric immersion good for those who enjoy a nice short walking simulator with a bit of problem solving. [h1]Controls:[/h1] There isn't much to mention here since most of the game is just walking around and collecting things. Movement and interactivity is responsive enough and I haven't experienced any game breaking or wacky bugs or glitches. For a walking simulator, your character moves at an appropriate speed given the size of the map but some players may find Gary walking perhaps a little too slow for their liking. Personally I have no complaints about the controls and the speed of the character as I enjoy these types of games (walking simulators in particular) very much. [h1]Graphics:[/h1] Very pretty and soothing to the eyes. The entire game has an orange tone to it along with it taking place in autumn which I find very clever. Considering the whole game is about a crime scene investigation about fire paired with a warm colour scheme really compliments the game as a whole. The graphics alone remind me of the popular game '[i]Firewatch[/i]', another narrative walking simulator that's coincidentally also about fire. The visuals although not extremely detailed give off a nice smooth look that's easy on the eyes and prove that simplistic art styles can also be beneficial. [h1]Audio:[/h1] Also well done. The thing about narrative games is that the voice acting can sometimes be well, humorous to say the least. The voice acting here however is done relatively well although not amazing. The ambience isn't really noticeable but doesn't feel out of place. The music is also nice, a calm melody from a piano is played pretty much throughout the entire game and gives a relaxed mood even more emphasis. Despite that even [i]I[/i] know it might be a bit too much for some players. [h1]Conclusion/TL;DR:[/h1] '[i]Scorch[/i]' is a first person investigation walking simulator where the goal is to investigate a case about arson and murder by collecting evidence, inspecting certain points of interest and putting together a lead that slightly affects the ending albeit only in dialogue. The entire game has a very calm tone and is not stressful or tense in any way despite how urgent and serious the game makes itself out to be. it's very short and can be completed in less than half an hour. If you're into walking simulators, simple investigation puzzlers and casual problem solving, this small title has a bit of everything.