Murder Mystery, Crime Scene Investigator and the Apple iPad. This is a formula that should spell great success, but the reality is far from that. Deadly Association is a title that places strict focus on “Seek and Find gameplay so much that sadly feels like a missed opportunity. Is it possible that I am just not a fan of this game type? Sure. Is it possible that I went into playing Deadly Association thinking that the gameplay would be entirely different? Unfortunately Yes. Can I write a fair review considering my dislike for the genre? I hope so, I will do my best. Presentation: B Graphics /Animation / Sound Deadly Association presents itself very well. The backgrounds are rendered with HD quality and create a perfect atmosphere for the game. My love for the CSI genre kicked in once I started the game, however that didn’t last long once I discovered I wouldn’t actually be solving any cases. We will discuss the game mechanic a little later, but I mention this to showcase how effective these scenes are.
The one complaint I have with the visuals are the objects that you will spend majority of the game searching for. Some of these are pretty obvious, but there were quite a few times that I just went after indistinguishable blobs until I found which one represented the correct item. More detail would have been greatly appreciated and would have increased the fun factor significantly.
The narrative is told through scenes that consist of characters carrying on conversations through word bubbles. I didn’t really find this to be disappointing, but I would have liked to hear some voice acting in there.
Next up, we have the soundtrack. This is done extremely well. The dramatic segments of music in this game are well constructed and fit the content perfectly. It appeared that the score actually served to create a sense of urgency that otherwise would not have been present. I would have liked to hear some good solid voice acting, but all of the character dialogue is text-based.
Single Player: D
Game Mechanics / Length / Difficulty
Deadly Association manages to set things up nicely, but can it deliver? This is the area that I have an issue with. I know there is a market for this kind of game, but I have a hard time staying engaged with the story line simply due to gameplay (or lack thereof).
Things are setup pretty quickly once a woman’s body has been discovered and you are called on the scene to investigate. One obstacle stands in your way and that being the need to gather your equipment from the crime lab. I went in thinking that this is a simple intro that would escalate into some really great crime solving fun, only to find out the main game is exactly like this mediocre introduction.
You are presented with a static background that always appears to be overpopulated with what seems like an overabundant amount of objects. Along the bottom of the screen will appear a group of about 5 to 6 names of objects that need to be found. You simply search the screen for what object is required, give it a tap and it disappears. Once that object is found, the listing below is replaced by a new object. This continues until all the objects included in that level are found. Yep, that’s it. I suppose this would have been slightly better if all of the objects looked like what they are supposed to be. But often times I found myself just clicking around the screen tapping multiple indistinguishable objects until I guessed the correct item. Not only did I find this frustrating, but it managed to slow down the flow of the game dramatically as it was easy to spend 5 or more minutes looking for tweezers, or crumbled up magazines.
Deadly Association does manage to mix things up from time to time with occasional puzzle like sequences. Some of these are entertaining like rearranging the pieces of a torn up picture, while some seem like a complete waste of time. On occasion you will get the opportunity to use one of the tools in your investigator toolbox to search for clues, but this just means you tap the tool followed by where you want to use it. I would have liked to have seen a greater level of interaction with these segments in an effort to give the impression that you are actually making a difference in the investigation.
I honestly felt like the gameplay was the main drawback to this title. I wouldn’t have minded some of these elements if the game managed to include actual crime solving mechanics that you felt involved in. Instead I spent 15 minutes finding objects located in a trashed living room and was told that I did a great job discovering the evidence needed to solve the crime. This just didn’t feel like rewarding gameplay to me.
Multiplayer: F
Game Mechanics / Features / Online Features
No Multiplayer Mode in this DLC.
Replay Value: D
Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLC
I can’t see any reason to replay this one other than having the irresistible urge to find objects. The immense amount of objects located in each stage will probably go a long with forgetting the location of each required item. Replaying each stage a few times might be somewhat rewarding if you are able to forget the exact locations of things. If you take the time to read all of the dialog bubbles the first play through, you will most likely skip over them the second time around.
Deadly Association is obviously not my cup of tea. After doing some research on the marketplace I did manage to find quite a few titles that fit this format. I am sure there is an audience for this type of game and my complaints with the gameplay will having no bearing on this group. If I completely set aside my dislike for the genre, this is a title with great presentation and a semi-interesting story. Setting you back $2.99 for the whole package, it could serve as a pretty good way to waste some time. If you are a fan of the “Seek and Find” format, rest easy this is a solid entry.
Overall: C
