I honestly don't know what compelled me to buy this game, but seeing that this was probably the last game I would get for a while due to not very much games coming out for the Xbox one and PS4 this summer I figured I would give this game a chance and see if it was any good.
Story: So the main plot for this game is that you are a guy by the name of Ronan O Connor trying to arrest the notorious murder known as the bell killer, this guy is a huge threat and has not only killed a lot of people in Salem but also a lot of cops, Ronan who has been reckless with his life ever since his wife died, goes after him alone which is not a very smart idea. they end up in the second floor of a house, and the bell killer ends up throwing Ronan out of a window when Ronan hits the ground he is not injured, and doesn't believe how he could be just fine, until he notices his body is still on the ground the bell killer goes over too him and finishes the job by shooting him multiple times in the chest, which basically completely turns Ronan into a ghost, he is then met by his wife who says that they cannot be together until Ronan finds out who killed him and who is the actual bell killer, in other words the mystery surrounding his death. So basically this is a sort of purgatory and if Ronan does not find this stuff out soon enough he will be stuck here forever(a little bit F%*ed up huh?).
Presentation: The presentation isn't the best i have ever played but it's not to bad either. The graphics look decent for next gen, not as good as they could be but just alright, their isn't much of a soundtrack which is a bit disappointing, but I will say that they matched the tone of the game really well, their our all sorts of creepy areas that you explore theirs all sorts of creepy apparitions, and it's honestly done pretty well Murdered Soul Suspect at the least knows what type of game it is. The voice acting isn't to bad either the characters are believable and some are even a little bit memorable. Ronan isn't the best protagonist you could ask for but he isn't bad, he doesn't speak a whole to the point where you get to know him a lot but he's not a bad main character. The presentation is pretty good, nothing too special but pretty good.
Gameplay:This is another segment of the game where it isn't terrible but it isn't too great either. Basically the main part of the gameplay is to gather clues in certain area's to find out who the Bell Killer is, getting the clues forced you to explore the area but their really isn't a whole lot to say about some of these areas. sure they can be a bit creepy but I think most of them start to feel all the same. After collecting all the clues you come to some sort of conclusion in the area to help you move onto the other area which helps you get closer to the answers of this case, you can also possess people and make them help you with the case, by influencing them for you to get a clue, to reading their thoughts, to eavesdropping on their conversation, this seems like it would be really cool since you are able to possess any person in the game, but their is no kind of depth to this and everything else besides mind reading only works on certain people which is a bit disappointing. Their is a sort of combat to this game but lets be honest this was only to fill this game out, their our certain part of the game where all of a sudden you will hear this ear numbing scream from a reaper, this is basically the only way you can die in this game, you have to hide in a sort of ectoplasm and sneak up behind these things and press a specific button combination, it can be a bit thorny, but their isn't too much of a consequence for messing up so you really don't have to worry that much on these parts, but the combat really isn't very good. Their our certain parts in the gameplay where you may get stuck and you have to figure out how to move on so in a sense some of this game has puzzle solving but again it's nothing special, and not even really worth going into, just take my word for it, its ok. The gameplay isn't terrible it's just alright.
(Spoiler Alert)So I got to say they completely got me on who truly was the killer, well if you thought it was Baxter, you were right if you thought it was Ronan's brother you were right, in fact their were many other killers, so technically you could be right about those killers, but the reason they were the killers is because they were possessed by the little girl you first meet when you die in the game it turns out that she was born when the witch trials were going on in Salem, and she ended up dying because she was accused of being a witch, in order to exact her revenge she posses people controls them as the bell killer and then kills that person she possessed to keep the cycle going, so how come Ronan isn't able to actually possess people to the point where he can control them? whatever I guess, at least it made for a pretty good ending, the story itself is actually pretty good and definitely a shining moment for this game.
Overall the sixty dollar price tag for this game is just not honestly worth it, it's only six hours long and it's just to simple of a game to justify sixty dollars for. If you are interested in this game I would recommend at least till the price drops to thirty. I would definitely say while this game is not the best game it's still worth your time.