OVERVIEW: 4.5/5.0
Developer: EQ Studios
Genre: Mystery/Walking Simulator
Release Date: September 27, 2017
Platform: PC
Price: $19.99
The Painscreek Killings is a walking-simulator mystery game where you play as a journalist investigating a murder in a small, now abandoned town. You’ve been instructed to come back with information about the killer, the motive, and the murder weapon, as well as a photo to accompany your article.
Review
This game has been recommended to me several times as a game that closely simulates the experience of a real murder investigation. The game intro itself says as much. The game does this by limiting the in-game assistance as much as possible. There’s no running task list and you must rely on the in-game camera or your own notes to keep track of what you’ve learned. (There are some exceptions - letter, diaries, and news articles are automatically catalogued as you find them.) This system does work in the sense that you must be much more attentive as you gather clues. You have to figure out where to search next without help from the game. There aren’t even suspects to interrogate - everyone’s long since moved away. Still, I was hoping for even more of a challenge. (Maybe my expectations were too high.) In many cases, figuring out a plotline only required finding and reading documents. Once you read them, you know what happened.
I did enjoy reading excerpts of the town’s history from so many different perspectives, from printed news articles to personal diaries. There were so many stories to uncover. You got to see the decline of the town over decades from a number of sources. There are more than a few murders to solve. All of the characters were distinct and vibrant against the backdrop of this abandoned town plagued by tragedy. Besides reading (and maybe thinking… is thinking a game mechanic?), the other primary mechanic is walking. And walking was just as delightful as reading. The town is filled with gently moving leaves and stone buildings, and the music is perfectly scored as you wander the streets puzzling over gruesome murders.
I just really wanted to use everything I’d learned by the end of the game. I took copious notes, I’d identified my prime suspect long before reaching the end of the game. I kept searching to resolve the secondary stories before I was ready to leave Painscreek. I wanted to be quizzed on more than just the most recent murder. I would have loved to see an article come to life as I answered a series of questions. I’m sure some would say that this does stay true to the experience of investigating a murder - things aren’t always tied up in a neat bow etc etc. But in this game, they kind of are. Most of the mysteries’ solutions are explicitly spelled out in diary entries by witnesses or culprits. So, with all of this evidence, why not give the player the satisfaction of seeing the final story take shape? Presumably that would be the contents of the article we glimpse anyway. And what a great way to really test the comprehension of the player at the end of the game. With a mechanic like this, you could ease back on the more explicit clues and see if the player can infer the missing pieces to understand what really happened.
Speaking of the ending, there are several ways for the game to end. Spoilers ahead, obviously. The game’s ending can be triggered by one of two actions: either, the player decides that they have collected what they need and they choose to leave Painscreek, or the player finds the confession of Vivian’s killer and is confronted by an axe-wielding murderer, resulting in a chase sequence where the player is helped by the ghost of another murder victim. This end sequence is wildly different than the previous hours of gameplay spent leisurely walking around and reading various documents. All of the sudden, the player must run, hopefully recalling the details of how to navigate Painscreek, with enough dexterity to dodge attacks and double-back at a wrong turn. It’s abrupt and terrifying, but it also makes sense within the context of the story. I wanted to dislike it, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve accepted that it was the inevitable narrative conclusion. There were even clues throughout the game that kept me looking over my shoulder, so I suppose it didn’t come from completely out of nowhere.
Summary
Overall, I really enjoyed The Painscreek Killings. The process of exploring the town, collecting clues, taking pictures, and organizing my personal notes was very satisfying, even if I didn’t get to use everything in the game’s ending. I did not “win” on my first try. Failing the end sequence is especially disappointing (and effective) after spending so much time on out-of-game notes. Having figured out so many things, only to leave those secrets buried in Painscreek, was heartbreaking. I look forward to redeeming myself in the next game by EQ Studios, due in 2023.
