Murder at the Aero Club
Author: Penny Wyatt
Language: z-code
Score: 6
My first thought, upon reading the intro, was that murder mysteries
are notoriously difficult to pull off. The author has to pay very close
attention to detail or else the illusion is shattered. In the case of
this game, there are some nice ideas, but the overall effect does not
entirely succeed.
Though tone of the intro is slightly more informal and chummy than I
prefer, the rest of the game is written in a rather standard voice. The
story, on the other hand, may be one of the biggest problems. Maybe my
perspective is skewed culturally, but is it really normal for a police
officer in Australia to journey deep into the outback -- alone and 8
hours from the nearest town -- to investigate a homicide with absolutely
no information, including who the victim is, who found the body, or who
even reported the crime to begin with? Sorry, this seems rather
far-fetched. And then once I arrive, I come across an NPC who "seems so
busy, it'd be a shame to bother him." Are homicide detectives in
Australia really that polite? None of the NPCs seem to care at all that
there's a dead body lying on the lawn in front of their club. Even
after you discover that none of the would mourn his death, their lack of
interest still feels out of place.
The game introduces a notebook in which clues are automatically
recorded as you come across them. I actually have an almost identical
object planned for one of my works-in-progress. Does it work? The
truth is, I never even looked at it. The clues are so basic and linear
that after collecting most of them, the inevitable conclusion was quite
clear.
IF mysteries are hard to do well. This one started out well, with a
good amount of information being revealed inside the office. However,
the first NPC interactions (Haagen and Cecil) felt like a slap in the
face. This is a murder investigation, but I don't want to interrupt
some guy doing paperwork in a lounge? Most minor room decorations
weren't implemented, and yet I got stuck because I didn't examine and
search one that was (the bushes).
The office search revealed so much potentially useful info: the sim
card, the poster that revealed that light aircraft fuel is pale blue,
Brad's role as fire safety officer.
The only evidence I had pointed to Cecil (the only failing logbook
entry matched his plane and he refused to bribe). And yet I couldn't
accuse or even talk to him about it. At this point I was also stuck
without an idea as to what to do next. (I resorted to the walkthrough
and discovered a scenery object I'd failed to search.)
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