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Channel your inner detective, or get frustrated trying | Review - CaseCracker

2K View2023-04-17

CaseCracker is an investigative crime-deduction game where players are put in a highly immersive experience of solving crimes via an experimental test system. It is currently available for PC and mobile devices.

CaseCracker’s test system functions similarly to an operating system where you are free to read about the details of the crime, follow any leads or clues, search databases, and perform actions such as DNA tests and warranted searches to eventually uncover the perpetrator.

This setup is highly reminiscent of the game series Orwell where you are also put as an operation of an operating system to solve crimes. The only difference is that, CaseCracker doesn’t hold your hands at the slightest bit and is truly leaving deduction at the hands of the players. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It depends, it can either compel you to play and channel your inner detective, or get you frustrated due to investigative dead ends and mental blocks.

CaseCracker opens up with our very first case, a very gruesome murder and discovery of an unidentified body. The description is highly morbid and doesn’t really hold back, so a bit of caution there for those looking for a lighthearted detective experience. Immediately I was put to the test, religiously reading out the first few bits of initial information I was given in the hopes of landing one clue after the other.

How you discover clues involves just typing out the words in the search box, hoping that something comes up. See a name mentioned? Try to type that in. See a mentioned related incident that happened long ago? Try to search that too, and maybe take note of the date. The resulting experience is highly immersive, perhaps a little bit too much that it may become frustrating… but detectives do get frustrated all the time too? So it’s not really a bad thing here.

However, this system isn’t exactly perfect. The text search isn’t exactly forgiving and requires an exact phrase (down to the plural) in order to be recognized and it adds a lot to the frustration. The small UI isn’t exactly well designed for touchscreen use especially with all the landscape typing it requires. As far as the system and storytelling, it soon shows its glaring weaknesses as well.

While CaseCracker also boasts an intertwined story between the characters involved: suspects, witnesses, and the victim. And it is true, the characters are affecting each other. But perhaps, they are a bit too intertwined to the point that its immersion is breaking and unbelievable. Cases will fully revolve around a small selection of characters only and it feels like they’re the only citizens living in the city. A bestfriend that happens to be the victim's wife that happens to have history with the killer 10 years ago, who also delivered pizza to the suspect’s brother a few weeks ago (not an actual in-game example)…. That’s literally how CaseCracker navigates around its characters

It is also in dire need of "filler" content and red herring to be able to effectively turn this into an intriguing investigation, instead of just blindly following any clue because any clue you found is going to have some use. You’ll often find yourself looking at other potential leads, typing something only to find no recognition because it isn’t the way the developers intended it to happen.

Using a vague example, a witness specifically claims that a suspect owns an object of interest, and mentions being friends with a group of people. Naturally, you would want to follow both leads, this object and this group of people. However, only the object can become a clue, while this mentioned group of people is totally ignored and cannot be followed. Making it feel very scripted to me.

Case in point, CaseCracker pushes the limits of video game storytelling and crime-deduction elements, that it can result in a polarizing outcome of either being highly immersive, or downright frustrating. It is now currently available on android as a Taptap exclusive, or you can get it on Steam for PC.

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