Shadows of Doubt

It's got a great idea, but it's unrefined.

*DING DING DING* WAITERRR OH WAITERRR MORE CASE TYPES PLEASE *DING DING DING* Also you get to throw your trash and little food wrappers at pedestrians which is simulated with lifelike accuracy. Give it a try, you won't regurgitate it.

Honestamente el juego esta bien, pero sin mas, su loop jugable es poco claro, algo aburrido en algunas ocasiones, y a pesar de lo que pueda parecer, no tan libre ni con tanta cantidad de decisiones, sobre todo me lleve una gran decepcion al enterarme de que NO PUEDES UTILIZAR ARMAS DE FUEGO, solo las puedes usas como armas cuerpo a cuerpo pero ya esta, no es para nada una buena decision, y considero que no merece la pena si ese es el camino tan extraño que quieren seguir, aun asi el apartado visual bastante bueno y original.

это игра про баги или про детектива?

nah its not fun since the game has zero hand holding but also isnt as sandboxy as i thought it was, there are some very strong limitation that just prevent me from actually doing detective work, hard passs

Shadows of Doubt (SoD) is a procedural detective adventure in a cyberpunk-lite setting that will leave you wanting more. (Really, I wish there was more content) You play as a private detective in an isolated floating city where murder and theft are common and people are desperate. Without any support beyond your notebook, fingerprint scanner and real-life intuition; you will need to investigate crime scenes, collect evidence, interview potential witnesses and finally track down and arrest the perpetrator. Cities are procedurally generated from a small asset pool of buildings styled after 1950’s-1980’s American architecture laid out in a square grid. Both the building and street names are also procedurally generated, offering a new city every time you start a new game with a few common elements across the cities. What is even more impressive is the hundreds of NPCs that are generated with each one given a name, address, phone number, occupation, fingerprints, blood type, marital status, friends and daily schedule. (and more!) The setting is a cyberpunk setting, but this is only a light touch that mostly applies only to the technology of the world. (Automated turrets, anachronistic computers, cyberware upgrades in the form of Sync-Discs) The game has just as much in common with Raymond Chandler than William Gibson. Murders happen regularly and the player is only given an address to the crime scene, but beyond that no other information is given. It is on the player to investigate the crime scene, (often having to avoid the police trying to lock the area down) and find clues that lead you to the suspect. This is one of the games’ greatest strengths as the investigations are very open-ended with many routes to find the perpetrator. Look for a murder weapon, scan footprints on the ground, find their address book, check for fingerprints, review security cameras, interview neighbors, go through the victims email and see if someone might want them dead; there’s lots of options to get to the answer, but just as many can end up being dead ends that lead to nowhere. This is brilliant as a game isn’t afraid to let the player fail an investigation, making difficult cases memorable and solving them satisfying. Side quests do exist in the form of contracts which are posted around the city in diners and city hall. They are made up of simple tasks like public humiliation, catching people in affairs and the recovery of stolen items and are meant to fill the time between investigations. Often, they give only giving small vague clues and you will need to use your detective skills to fill in the rest of the case’s details. These are quick and fun and are useful when the player needs a quick bit of cash in a hurry. In addition to the investigation aspects of the game, the game also has survival mechanics that exist to immerse the player in the world. The player will need to tend to hunger, sleep and thirst, but also respond to being cold, wet, injured, sick, drunk, etc. Most of these are easily avoidable and can be cured quickly, but they are nice touches that help the feeling of being a detective in this world. I mean what is a detective story without going over the details of a case with a donut and a cup of coffee? The player will also benefit from purchasing an apartment in the city to have a place to sleep and store things. Almost every room in the city can be rented and on top of that it can be remodeled with different floors, wallpaper and furniture. It is not central to the gameplay, but it’s fun for the kind of player that likes to roleplay. Now for the bad. - The procedural nature of the game does not allow for much flexibility, the cities are created from a small pool of assets and no matter how big/small you make it, it’s going to be the same buildings repeatedly. - There is no shortage of bugs of both the visual and gameplay kind, sometimes this results in cases that are unsolvable due to evidence not appearing. - Combat is pretty…bad; for the most part ambushing people with a melee weapon works well enough, but the blocking/parry system is frustrating at best and feels broken at its worst and it’s mostly advised to skip it all together. - The biggest problem is that the longer the game goes on, the more information you accumulate about the city and its residents, which can occasionally make the late game a complete cake walk. For example, if you previously gathered info about a victim’s co-workers in a previous case you now have all that information on file. Now if any of them are involved in a later case as a murderer, you will find evidence that points you to them immediately, almost completely removing the investigative part of the game. Although this is natural and makes sense, it is an inherited flaw that unfortunately cannot be avoided without stripping away the simulation aspect of the game which allows for the player to use accumulated knowledge of the city. - It appears the games production is mostly over. There have not been large updates for a while and there isn’t much communication from the developer(s). Recently there was a “modifiers update” which added a few gameplay options, but they are small (but welcomed) additions to the game. We can hope that ColePowered Games has more planned for the title, but do not buy the game expecting there to be significantly more content added. -Performance is poor despite not being graphically intensive, what's up with that? Overall Shadows of Doubt is an excellent detective game because instead of giving the illusion of investigating crimes, it puts the task in the players’ hands to be as good (or bad) of a P.I they can be. Throw in the moody retro-cyberpunk setting and a dynamic city that requires real world thinking and you have an indie title which people will be recommending for decades.

Shadows of Doubt — это игра, которая погружает в мрачный мир кибер-нуарного детектива с ног до головы. Каждый раз расследование уникально, потому что город и его жители генерируются случайно. Атмосфера дождливого мегаполиса и неоновых вывесок — супер. Но самое главное — тебя никто не ведет за ручку, и ты сам решаешь, с какой стороны подойти к делу. Взломать дверь или просто расспросить свидетелей? Можно пройтись до местного бара, но лучше не забывать про счета. За это её и люблю. Бывают баги, но они почти не мешают наслаждаться игрой.

Full of bugs that don't allow the completion of any cases. Not being able to pin any info to the case board, not being able to retrieve a case resolution form, addresses that don't exist or navigation that points you to the wrong address then being sent on a goose chase just for where to start. Also runs like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ for a such a low quality game.