The Detail Ep. 1: Where the Dead Lie
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Critic Reviews for The Detail Ep. 1: Where the Dead Lie
'The Detail' game is a point-and-click mystery, recently released by Rival Games. It channels The Wire and film noir in its intriguing first episode: 'Where the Dead Lie'.
The unofficial NYPD Blue adventure game that Telltale never made. Aside from some pretty clear budgetary constraints, The Detail's hard edged cop narrative has a compelling opening.
Like any good episodic series, the first outing for The Detail has a pretty good hook. The obvious cliffhanger is a bit predictable but leaves one curious about where things can go, and the escalation of events for other characters can open up some intriguing things later on. The gameplay might be a little short, and the choices don't make too much of a difference yet, but it's too early to tell if that will always be the case. Aside from the short play time, it's rather engaging, and while it is way too early to say whether The Detail ends up being a great adventure, the first episode will certainly whet the appetites of those who love a good police procedural.
In a game about big-picture, important ideas of societal problems, a lot of the choices feel not-so-important, and this isn't so much admonition as it is a warning: the following planned episodes must come to term with the choices set forward in the first, must tackle those ripples in a genuine, authentic manner or else we're basically playing a comic book and imagining different actions between panels.
