Whispers of a Machine

1. Yeniczek

   Jan 31, 2020

   9

   Absolute blast and wonderful reminder of good old times without those stupid item combinations. Story is pretty interesting and keepsAbsolute blast and wonderful reminder of good old times without those stupid item combinations. Story is pretty interesting and keeps surprising you till the end. 9/10… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
2. Illosk_metacrit

   Apr 18, 2020

   9

   Simply one of the best adventure games I’ve played in 20 years.
   Compelling story with moral decisions
   Well conceived puzzles A credibleSimply one of the best adventure games I’ve played in 20 years.
   Compelling story with moral decisions
   Well conceived puzzles
   A credible background world
   Memorable characters with a marvelous voice acting
   A must play… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
4. joschimitsu

   May 27, 2020

   9

   I loved the music, the atmosphere, the voice-actors and the world. Really really good point & click adventure. Would love to play more gamesI loved the music, the atmosphere, the voice-actors and the world. Really really good point & click adventure. Would love to play more games like this one.
   Only negative point would be that the ending seemed a bit rushed all of a sudden. Still - greatly recommended for every adventure fan out there!… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
5. TwoEars

   Feb 23, 2020

   8

   A solid sci-fi detective-mystery adventure game set in what must be coastal Norway after society collapsed from an over-reliance on AI. What IA solid sci-fi detective-mystery adventure game set in what must be coastal Norway after society collapsed from an over-reliance on AI. What I like about the setting is that although it's "post collapse" it's not just doom and gloom, small societies seem to be thriving and getting by just fine. The world seems very believable, with interesting characters, and it's not just a "mad max" or "fallout" setting. The story is pretty fast-paced, engaging, relatively original and with a few nice twists and turns along the way.
   
   The game also has some interesting game-play mechanics where you can pick different dialogue options along the lines of "assertive", "analytical" and "empathetic". And depending on your choices your character will then develop in different ways, and different problem solving options will open up. So it's actually a bit of an RPG and not just a point-and-click game.
   
   This is very similar to Unavowed which also has quite a few RPG elements in it. Which makes sense since the developers of Whispers of a Machine are the the same who also made Kathy Rain, which was published by Wadjet Eye Games. And I also believe Dave Gilbert of WEG was involved in the voice work for Whispers of a Machine. So although Whispers of a Machine is published by Raw Fury, a Swedish publisher, there is definitely some heavy inspiration here from games such as the Blackwell Series and Unavowed. Fans of Wadjet Eye Games should feel right at home I believe, at least I did.
   
   All in all I had a great time with Whispers of a Machine and it's definitely one of the best adventure games from 2019. For the developers it's a huge leap up in quality from Kathy Rain, but I would still like to see even higher resolution art for the in-world characters and a slightly more fleshed out universe.
   
   Some examples of things which could be improved: There is a school in the village, but I only saw two children and no class. There is a café which we are led to believe we can go to, but we never do. There is a scene in which bringing along the local police to arrest someone would have made a lot of sense, but instead we go at it solo and get ourselves and someone else into trouble. The motivations, and actions, of the main antagonist towards the end are highly dubious and unfocused, they feel like they are placed there just to oppose the player and create drama. Then you can also drink a max of one cup of coffee a day, this is highly unrealistic for the Nordic population and even more so for police officers.. So maybe the last 10-15% of world building and play-testing is missing.
   
   But like I said, this is a huge step up in quality from Kathy Rain and if they continue like this I'd wager their next game will be something spectacular. I'm also quite happy with the recent trend of the inclusion of light RPG elements in adventure games, I think this is quite genius and really adds to the genre. Especially when it comes to detective games such as this one. The score is a "very solid 8 but not quite a 9". If you like adventure games, and you're a fan of the Wadjet Eye style of games, you should definitely play it.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. bancandrei

   May 12, 2020

   7

   Short and focused, it does incorporate an interesting RPG mechanic of unlocking skills. I went the empathy route and feel it was probably easyShort and focused, it does incorporate an interesting RPG mechanic of unlocking skills. I went the empathy route and feel it was probably easy mode. It does not feel like it has replay value though. It is humourless and the story disappoints a bit by the end, but I do wholeheartedly recommend it.… Expand

   • 2 of 2 users found this helpful
7. Fyxhcl

   Nov 9, 2021

   7

   Classical point-and-click adventure, interesting plot and setting with some nice idea in it, althought it doesn't do anything particularlyClassical point-and-click adventure, interesting plot and setting with some nice idea in it, althought it doesn't do anything particularly original or brilliant..
   
   You're Vera, a detective investigating on some murders that happened in Nordsund, a city in a post-apocalyptic world. Progressing with the investigation is fun, but the ending is not entirely satisfying and feels a bit trite. The city could feel a bit more lively, since there isn't much people to talk or to see.
   
   The core of the game is that of a classic point-and-click but you'll also have special abilities that you can use, a nice difference from the majority of similar games where you can only interact with the environment in a single way. There are 6 abilities, and while some of them are fixed, you'll develop the others depending on your playstyle. This could give some replay value to the title, but it's actually a really shallow mechanic that won't change much in your game: the "different playstyles" are just different answers that you can give in the dialogues and the different skills are just slightly different ways to complete the same puzzles.
   
   Puzzles are generally simple, but a few of them made me resort to a walkthrough since the game didn't really give any hint about how to solve them.
   
   WOAM is a good but short and classic game, don't expect a masterpiece, but if know you like this kind of games, you'll find a valid title to spend a few days on.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
8. Fuz

   May 16, 2019

   4

   Cannot stand the autosave system. Such a stupid decision from the devs. Let me decide when to save and keep my save points like I always didCannot stand the autosave system. Such a stupid decision from the devs. Let me decide when to save and keep my save points like I always did since the '90s. Also, this has been aggravated by the fact that I played about one hour then logged off. When I returned to the game there was no autosave file to load and I had to start from zero.
   
   At that point I was just too infuriated and stopped playing altogether. Not sure I will touch the game ever again.… Expand

   • 6 of 19 users found this helpful

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