Murder in Prague (Whodunnit) // Review

Murder in Prague is an interactive murder mystery from Prague-based Whodunnit. Its focus on cinematic storytelling sets it apart from other games, offering a unique detective experience. But is it any good? Read my spoiler-free review to find out what I thought!

Players: 1+ // Age: 18+ // Playtime: 3 hours+

Requirements: An internet-connected device. I’d recommend a laptop, tablet or desktop computer. If you can cast the videos on your TV, that would be ideal. For one part of the game, you’ll also need access to a mobile phone.

This game carries an 18+ rating based on language, graphic content and adult themes.

Synopsis

Doctor Sarah Mandl has been brutally murdered. The discovery of her mutilated body inside the notorious Faust House, a place with a dark history, leads to you being assigned to the case. With a menacing cult leader, a disgruntled detective and a former lover among the suspects, can you extract the truth from the lies? Examine the evidence, interrogate the suspects and track down the killer.

First impressions

The striking film-noir box art and promise of cinema-quality visuals were what first drew my attention to Murder in Prague. Nothing, other than the title, screams murder mystery more than a smoky cityscape, ritualistic imagery and the silhouette of a detective. I’ve played my fair share of detective games now, and it’s always refreshing to come across a new approach to the genre. Whodunnit has gone all-in on a cinematic experience that plays like an interactive movie with some observation and deductive elements woven in.

Before I get into further specifics, I wanted to flag that there is a free demo available. This is the perfect way to try before you buy and it perfectly showcases some of the cinematics.

Gameplay

Getting started

I want to be clear up front that we felt like this was a fairly passive gameplay experience. That isn’t a criticism per se, although we would love the next game to be a bit more ‘active’. If you go in expecting to do lots of online research, hacking into accounts and puzzle solving – hallmarks of many detective games – you may be a little disappointed. Between each cinematic, you’ll be asked to look through a new set of documents, before pressing next. You don’t have to work anything out or find the answer to a question to progress. Don’t get me wrong, there is work to be done, but this primarily takes place towards the end of the game when you must decide who the killer is.

The gameplay is broken up into twenty chapters that you can revisit at any point once you’ve played them. This structure allows you to stop the game at the end of a chapter and pick it up at a later point. I will say that we were unable to drag ourselves away from the gripping storyline and found ourselves playing it all in one sitting.

You’ll be pleased to know there are no lengthy instructions. An insert in the box asks you not to peek at any of the box contents until you are instructed to. Other than that, you just need to log on to the Murder in Prague website to begin the experience.

Online Portal

An account is required to play the game, but only a couple of details are needed to register. Handily, if you have one, you can log in using your Facebook or Google account. Once you are set up, you can begin.

The website is well-designed and functioned perfectly for us, except for a couple of very minor glitches. It isn’t bogged down with lots of distracting buttons and it was always clear what we had to do next. As you progress, a record of the chapters that you have completed updates. From here you can replay previous video content and also see how far through the game you are as a percentage.

A large portion of the experience involves rich audio/visual content that is best displayed on as big a screen as possible. It is recommended that, where possible, you connect/cast your laptop or computer to a TV screen for the optimum experience. We were unable to do this, so played on a laptop which was still a perfectly enjoyable experience.

Presentation

Physical components

I cannot fault the presentation of this game in any way; it is exceptional across the board. The boxed components include realistic-looking suspect folders containing documents to investigate. A photograph of each suspect is paperclipped to the front (as seen below), which helps to keep track of who is who.

All components within the box are paper-based, except for one, which is a plastic evidence bag. A variety of different paper stock is used, which I normally associate with a quality product. A page from a newspaper is included and is probably the most realistic-looking newspaper I’ve seen in a game to date, printed on newsprint. We spotted a couple of small typos, but I think were actually intentional to simulate stuck keys on a typewriter.

If there was one criticism, it would be that I’d have liked to have seen a little more variety between the suspect folders. Many of them contained the same types of documents and it would have been nice to have some more surprises as we progressed.

Cinematics

Moving on to the real stand-out, which is the exquisitely shot video content. The direction is wonderful and married perfectly with cinematography that far surpasses anything I’ve seen in one of these games before. The game is full of stunning shots, including some charming exterior scenes featuring Prague as a backdrop.

The cast was impressive, offering up believable and moving performances that lingered after we finished the game. We were particularly impressed with the performances by Karel Ruppert and Tonya Graves. Karel plays the grumpy yet humourous Detective Svab, while Tonya portrays the victim’s spouse, an Associate Professor battling addiction. I often feel that detective games fail to offer up memorable characters with stories that resonate. Here, the rich cinematics allow you to gain deeper insight into the characters, while setting the bar for how polished this type of content can be.

Hints & Difficulty

We found this game fairly easy, although it did require a little deduction to unmask the killer. Hopefully, future games will increase the level of challenge and complexity of the story.

There is no hint system in the game. This is primarily because you don’t need to solve anything until the end.

Verdict

Disclaimer: Whodunnit kindly sent me a copy of this game in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influences the content of my review, which accurately depicts my experience.