by Miss T. Fide

Created on: June 03, 2008   Last Updated: June 08, 2008

Death in Scarlet; As a crime show buff, I was excited to be a part of the action in Woman's Murder Club by Oberon Media. The 60 minute trial version was a quick and easy download and there was no annoying, painstaking setup involved. Once the game was installed I was able jump right into the world of crime scene investigation.

I found the graphics impressive, simply laid out without a lot of extras to distract from the general idea of the game, making learning to play overwhelming. Everything I needed to know was right there in front of me. Words are read, not spoken by characters, leaving the sound as not much more then a loop inspired by the crime scene; well implemented sounds that are relevant to the location. With the tips menu on, game play is easily understood without any time consuming tutorials or guess work.

In this game I played one of three characters, depending on where I was in my investigation. I was a crime scene investigator, a reporter, and lab technician. Each had their own tasks relevant to their profession and each had puzzles to solve ranging in difficulty.

My first assignment was as a CSI and came in the form of a phone call in the middle of the night. When arriving at the crime scene I was too locate a list of items from the mess of clutter surrounding the body, an I-spy sort of task in search of evidence. I examined the body and used the items I found too solve a simple puzzle.

As the lab tech I returned to gather fingerprints and clues to a cause of death. At my lab I was greeted by another list of items, which I then used to solve a puzzle and determine the cause of death. I entered information into an intriguingly real looking database in search of a fingerprint match, missing persons match or victim ID. In the end I had a cause of death, no ID and no suspect.

As a CSI I was privy to another phone call and another body to investigate. After visiting the crime scene and repeating the steps in my first investigation I was able to determine that I had a serial killer on my hands. My lab tech retrieved a blood sample from the victims clothes then recruited the help of my reporter hoping for a lead.

Unfortunately that is where my 60 minute trial expired. If it had not ended I may still be playing. I could have did without all the I-spy searches, there were just too many. However, I did enjoy the puzzles and gathering suspense. The game followed anything I'd perceive to be standard procedure in a real investigation without becoming misleading or over exaggerated. At $19.99 with an optional backup CD for $7.99 I will buy this game. After all, I have a serial killer on the loose.
I rate this game 4/5

Learn more about this author, Miss T. Fide.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.