DETECTIVE DI: THE SILK ROAD MURDERS.

DEVELOPER NUPIXO GAMES • PRICE $15.50 • RELEASE OUT NOW http://detectivedi.com/

I was complaining to my husband, over the holidays, that our kids will never experience the anticipation created by a colourfully wrapped game box appearing under the Christmas tree. An adventure would be inside, if it were for me. Didn’t matter which adventure, it was whichever The Games Wizards had in, in December. It could have been the next Space Quest. Or a weird surprise, like Eternam. I wasn’t a game reviewer as a child. I was entirely uncritical. Whatever was in the box was something to be savoured, the next thing to be solved, usually with my dad.

Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders is not innovative or exemplary. It’s firmly “more of the same”, in the most positive sense. I may be nostalgic, but I know others understand this simple desire for more. Even my kids look forward to the next adventure, in their somewhat less intense way. Adventuring together is still fun. I recently saw a game developer tweet that game reviewers ask “Where are the adventures?” but then never review them. It’s rare that I knock them back when they come through the PC Powerplay form. This is why.

With the exception of the Laura Bow series, I actually don’t recall a lot of detective adventures under my tree. Sam and Max was (almost) after my time. There seem to be proportionally more now, like The Darkside Detective and Lamplight City. Solving crime works extremely well with adventure game mechanics; meeting new people, asking lots of questions, examining items, puzzling and so on. I wasn’t sure if I liked the pixel hunting in Detective Di, until I reflected that ‘looking carefully’ is probably what real detectives do at crime scenes most of the time.

There’s no way to highlight hotspots, so you have to observe the scene and find an object that is drawn to look disturbed, or out of place. Sometimes, markings or hidden clues peek out from behind a logical thing. Deductions are recorded on an investigation board, as you progress. There are several moments when you reenact crimes (through dialogue) after all the clues are collected but, disappointingly, I tried choosing the wrong responses and simply had to try again. There are no consequences for failure other than to feel a bit stupid.

Probably the most compelling aspect of the game is that you’re solving a series of murders that are loosely based on history. You play as Di Renjie, Empress Wu Zetian’s chancellor in the 7th Century. He’s apparently quite famous, appearing as a character in numerous books and TV series. I’d never heard of him, but I’ve become quite enamoured with Chinese history after a trip to China. Every story is a soap opera with a diabolical twist, involving lovers, murders and intrigue. Detective Di weaves four of these (related) stories together masterfully.

Overall, it’s a little wordy (and there’s no voice acting) but if you love adventures, it’s likely not a problem. My younger son isn’t much of a reader, yet he enjoyed reading this aloud. (Have I told you the story of how my Year 1 teacher, Ms Watling, set Sierra’s The Black Cauldron as my reading homework, instead of those annoying, tiny readers?) So, I haven’t reviewed Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders very thoroughly and I do apologise. Simply, adventures are more than the sum of their parts for me. If they are similar for you, this gift has your name on it.

Solving crime works extremely well with adventure game mechanics; meeting new people, asking lots of questions, examining items, puzzling and so on.