2017 FMV murder mystery video game
The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker is an FMV murder mystery adventure video game developed by D'avekki Studios, written by Tim Cowles and Lynda Cowles, and released in 2017. You play as a psychiatrist, trying to solve a murder whilst treating the patients of the recently deceased Doctor Dekker. The game was initially released for Microsoft Windows and macOS via Steam before being published on consoles by British game publishing studio, Wales Interactive.
Another game by the same studio titled "The Shapeshifting Detective" was released the following year.
Gameplay.
The player sees full-motion videos of characters who were patients of Doctor Dekker. The goal is to find out the details surrounding the death of Doctor Dekker. You play as a replacement psychiatrist and must ask the patients questions. You are free to switch between characters to find out more about them. In sessions with each patient, you interact by typing questions or comments into a text box. The game interprets your input and responds by spitting out a full-motion video reply from the subject. You have a list of responses in the log that will sometimes have asterisks beside them. One asterisk means there's still a question to ask, but two means you should follow up with this character. Questions can take plenty of forms, but you are generally free to type what you please. Hints are available, but have a cooldown before you can use them again.
Story.
The full identity of the playable character is not known except for the fact they are a replacement psychiatrist. They have been brought in to find out why the previous Doctor Dekker was murdered and they're tasked with interviewing Doctor Dekker's many previous patients. One patient is a woman who blacks out and finds herself at the beach when she wakes up and another patient seems to relive the same day over and over again. One patient also believes that he gains an extra hour at the end of the day, during that hour time freezes and he is free to do whatever he likes without anyone knowing. The player's questions influence the events of the game and can lead to a variety of different responses ultimately resulting in different endings.
Reception.
On Metacritic, the PC and Nintendo Switch versions received positive reviews, and the PS4 version received mixed reviews.
"Adventure Gamers" and "Rock Paper Shotgun" both compared the game to "Her Story". "Adventure Gamers" said it adds a few new twists and includes more dialogue, and "Rock Paper Shotgun" wrote that it does not always elegantly succeed as meeting its goals. For example, reviewer John Walker said that the game's parser misunderstands some obvious questions, though he felt that game remains "often very interesting" despite its limitations. "Adventure Gamers" concluded, ""The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker" is engrossing, disturbing and erudite, and though it's a little lacking in plot it's full of welcome ideas." Digitally Downloaded's reviewer said she was inspired to read H. P. Lovecraft's fiction because of the game's references to them; she considered these references to be its "shining point". "Nintendo Life" criticized the game's continuity errors.
The game was nominated for TIGA awards for diversity and heritage.
References.
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