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(This Shadows of Doubt review was submitted by a writer who has chosen to remain anonymous)

Shadows of Doubt is, without question, one of the best indie releases I’ve played in a long time. I’ve been actively playing and watching the development of this game since the demo released quite some time ago. Every big update, I’ve hopped back on to check things out, and I’ve never once been unimpressed. There is no game out there that does what this game does. What the small team from ColePowered Games have been able to accomplish is nothing short of outstanding. However, whilst I do genuinely love this game, that doesn’t mean it’s without its flaws. So read on to hear all my thoughts on this indie gem, in our Shadows of Doubt review.

What Is Shadows of Doubt Anyway?

The elevator pitch for Shadows of Doubt sounds pretty simple. It’s an open world detective game. But, here’s the thing. If you were to have one world, with one set of citizens, it’d be pretty easy to just solve everything and never touch the game again, right?

Well, that’s why Shadows of Doubt is an open world detective game set in procedurally generated worlds, with procedurally generated citizens. That means every new city you generate has completely different people, businesses, and building layouts. And then, there are the cases.

Every case in Shadows of Doubt is procedurally generated, too. Every murder, every outsourced arrest, every ‘humiliation’. Anyone you run across in the street could be the next killer, or the next victim. Each of them could be cheating on their spouses, or trying to steal classified documents from a business.

And even then, Shadows of Doubt is not only a procedurally generated detective game. It’s also something of a life sim. Now, to be clear, it doesn’t sell itself as such. Your time spent in this world will be interlaced with taking care of your fleshy mortal body. That means eating, drinking, sleeping and showering. It also means applying splints to broken legs, and heat packs to cold hands.

In short, Shadows of Doubt is a whole lot of game in a very indie priced and sized package. I bought the game back when it launched into early access, after playing the demo alone for some 10+ hours. I have since sunk well over 80 hours in, playing different cities, and taking on cases in different ways.

Story – Playing in the Retro-Future

The case loop is somewhat overwhelming at first glance, but quickly becomes familiar. This is mostly in part due to intuitive mechanics and a well-made tutorial case.

You’ll start in a city, either one of the few pre-generated ones, or one of your own making. There are heaps of gameplay and difficulty settings to tweak before you ever step foot anywhere. Deciding whether you have a starter apartment or not, and the amount of individual lock picks you begin with, for example. There’s more than you could ever ask for, or expect. Whatever you decide, you’ll be unceremoniously dropped in, and just sort of… let go.

From there, you’ve got a few choices. You can wait for a main case to trigger, or you can tackle one of the many side cases available. Now, obviously, murders are the meat and potatoes of Shadows of Doubt. They’re what gain you the most Crows (currency used in Shadows of Doubt), and they’re what gain you the most ‘Social Credit’.

So, how does a murder investigation typically go? You’ll receive word that a murder has taken place, and you’ll collect a resolution file from City Hall. Then, it’s off to the scene of the crime. It’s here you’ll learn something interesting about Shadows of Doubt. You might be a Detective, but that doesn’t mean you’re recognised as such. You don’t get free access to crime scenes, at least at first. That means any cops on the scene are there to keep you out, and that makes them an obstacle.

Cases & Obstacles

So, how do you get access to the crime scene? Well, how about you beat the living daylights out of the Fed, and let yourself in? How about you slink through some vents, and slip in whilst their backs are turned? You could, of course, wait it out. The cops will have other things to do, like sleep, and they’ll leave the crime scene alone. But what about when it’s a kidnapping case, and time is very much of the essence? It’s here that Shadows of Doubt shines, as it presents you with challenges, but equally many solutions to overcome them.

Eventually, though, you’ll get in. Your victim lays dead, and there are strange red markings surrounding the body. A coded message hints to the killer’s name, and you’ve found a hammer with suspicious fingerprints on it. This is a ‘Red Gums’ killer, someone who worships the departed ‘Eden Kruger’, previous CEO of the Kola corporation. Identifying your murder type should be your first step on any case. Knowing what you’re up against dictates what kind of evidence you should be looking out for. Red Gums killers leave coded messages and cult-ish scrawl, whereas Snipers leave nought but bullet holes.

So, you’ve got the coded message, a fingerprint, and a frantic note written by the victim. In this note, they describe a stalker, with vague physical descriptions. Well then, with all of that, it’s off to the races.

This investigation process is the core of Shadows of Doubt, and it’s a gameplay loop unlike any other. Searching for matching fingerprints, investigating jaded co-workers, checking the CCTV footage of diners the victim recently visited. The amount of threads you can chase is near infinite, and the ways you can reach your suspect are too.

Following the Threads

Investigating is so much fun, it should be criminal. You really get to fully immerse yourself in the world as you stomp from place to place, checking leads. Sitting in a diner, waiting for a good moment to slip into the backrooms to check the camera footage. Breaking into an apartment in the dead of night, thinking you’ve finally found your mark.

Following up on evidence can really take you anywhere. If your victim was shot, you could end up checking one of the Black Market gun traders. They keep sales logs, same as any other business. But that means either finding the password to be allowed in, or risking a fight with the (very armed) owner.

With the procedural nature of this game, I simply cannot express every possible permutation of where you’ll end up. And that’s just it, isn’t it? A game so fun, a simulation so complex, that I cannot begin to guess at where you’ll end up in your own run.

I’ve solved cases with next to no information, and I’ve failed cases with heaps. I’ve knocked out people with police truncheons just to get a fingerprint, only to find I’ve got the wrong apartment. This game is complete madness at times, and I genuinely love it.

Gameplay – Social Credit & Stolen Diamonds

Shadows of Doubt has more to offer than just the murders, mind you. Side cases are just as, if not more, fun than the murders at times. Investigating stolen business documents, finding out who a spouse is cheating on their partner with. But, aside from the cases, there’s even more to do.

Shadows of Doubt has something called the ‘Social Credit’ system. This is effectively your ‘XP’ in a run, and each level grants you a perk. Level 2 allows you to purchase an apartment, which you can, of course, fully customise. That means wallpaper, furniture, flooring. Stock it full of stolen diamonds, or make something genuinely inspired. Did this game need an entire home decoration system? No. Am I glad it’s here? Yeah, absolutely.

Of course, there’s also other ways to play. You know, like being a bit of a criminal yourself. Breaking and entering is, frankly, some of the most fun you’ll have. Picking open doors, turning off CCTV cameras, hiding under beds. You’ll look around an apartment, taking all the loose Crows and lock picks you can find, only to discover a safe packed with Sync Disks. But whoopsie, it appears you’ve woken the owners. Best knock them out with a fire extinguisher before they pull the alarm.

Every time I start a new run I say to myself, ‘this time I’ll play by the rules’. I never do, because mashing people up for 23 Crows and a teapot for my apartment is just too much fun. There’s no handholding here, which means if you wanna do it, chances are you can.

Audio & Visuals – Put Some Life Into It

Visually, Shadows of Doubt is pretty spectacular. A clean voxel art style, combined with exceptional atmospheric lighting makes for a truly noir experience. Neon flashes in the streets, and TVs emit a dull glow when left on in a dark empty apartment. I truly have no negatives to put out in regards to the visuals. Shadows of Doubt captures the retro-futuristic vibe it’s chasing perfectly.

The same can be said for the general atmosphere. Everything feels very intentional, and it all sells the vibe. Cockroaches scuttle in dingy apartments, fridges hum, clocks tick. You can hear TVs behind doors, and listen in on the arguments of citizens you may or may not be peeping on. Advertisements for Kola products play in the streets, and I’ll never be able to unhear the sharp ‘PUT SOME LIFE INTO IT’ screeching over the Tannoy. You feel like you’re in a miserable, near-apocalyptic 1979. Just a 1979 with highly advanced CCTV, and genetic modification.

Shadows of Doubt scores highly in this department, and my lack of anything notable to say isn’t a negative. This game simply looks, and feels, brilliant.

Nothing is Perfect, not even Shadows of Doubt

For as much love as I have for Shadows of Doubt, it isn’t a perfect game. My primary issue with the game is that after a while, nothing really shocks you any more. Now, to be fair, no game can forever. However, even the procedural nature of the game starts to become predictable after a while. Before 1.0, murders didn’t really have… ‘twists’. The suspects are typically hard to establish a motive for, outside the murder type.

In 1.0, suspects in a murder case now have a chance of calling you. They’ll offer you a large cash reward in exchange for you hiding the body of the victim. Now yes, this is a fun twist, but sadly, after just two of these… they’re already pretty old. Kidnapping cases were the really great addition from 1.0. They genuinely offer up a new way to go about cases. Evidence is typically far more lacking in these cases, and they even have hard time limits. Well, they do if you care about getting the victim back alive at least.

Investigating them is harder, and you can even elect to simply pay the ransom if it proves too tricky. But, what Shadows of Doubt really needs is some more modifiers, like the random calls in murder cases. Have the killer taunt you, send people after you, hide their motives better. Hell, have them go full serial on you and kill more than once if you fail to stop them quickly.

There are a million ways the murders could be spiced up. But for now, we’ll have to wait and see what comes with later updates. However, with 1.0, ColePowered are moving their focus to fixes, and minor additions. This is fine, and as you’ll see, fixes are still required. But this also means that major content additions are going to be lacking. Steam Workshop support is on the docket though, which is promising.

Generational Woes

Another issue stems from the procedural nature of the cities you generate. They can be… off. And sadly, it’s actually quite common. 1.0 has fixed a great many generation issues, but issues remain. Apartments with rooms that don’t make sense, doors that lead to nowhere. Visually, it’s a bit of a non-issue. The problems begin when evidence in cases is a victim of these bugs in generation.

I’ve had multiple cases become flat out impossible, simply because a piece of key evidence hadn’t generated correctly. Even in 1.0, these issues can still come up, but are thankfully reduced.

Whilst this issue is common enough to be a minor negative, it’s never game breaking. I’ve never once had to abandon a save because of some game breaking bug. Not to mention, had I reviewed this game in early access, performance would’ve been right here. But, with 1.0, the performance increases to Shadows of Doubt have been exceptional. ColePowered have clearly put great effort into optimisation, and it shows.

Verdict

I really, really love Shadows of Doubt. I believe in my heart that this is indie gaming at it’s finest. A concept nobody but a small team of big dreamers could accomplish.

The core gameplay loop is incredibly unique, and immensely satisfying. Investigations can be as easy or hard as you make them. They present you with challenges which you have heaps of ways to overcome, which lend themselves well to a game this replayable.

All cases are interesting, and side cases really bump up the challenge. There’s enough variety to keep you satisfied for a long time, even if it’s not quite forever.

The extra life sim game mechanics are a great addition, and give you something to live towards. They also give you some measure of stakes. Dying with 12,000 Crows worth of stolen goods is going to leave you very, very broke. Apartments offer a nice activity to do in your downtime, in addition to being helpful to have.

It’s marred somewhat by a lack of real twists in murder cases, even in 1.0. Whilst all current offerings are strong, once you’ve solved one case, the steps are the same for any future cases of that type. In addition to this, some generation issues with cities and evidence can make the game frustrating at times, but thankfully not enough to reduce its value too much.

With all that said however, there are few games I can recommend more. I have played this game for a great many hours, and I will continue to do so for a great many more. An indie gem, well worth your time and money.

Enjoying Shadows of Doubt? Let us know in our Facebook Community, or tweet to us on Twitter! And if you’re in the market for something a little sweeter than this gritty noir fantasy, check out our REKA Review!