Written by: Mark

 

 

 

It would be fair to say that there have not been too many console based murder mystery games and in fact from memory I can only recall several titles in the genre being released on the Nintendo DS with the Professor Layton games in particular standing out.

 

Recently the creators of the popular Buzz! series of games, Relentless Software have entered the fray with a Playstation Network title called "Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mysteries of Little Riddle".

 

In this review we take a look around Little Riddle and solve any unanswered clues to decided whether this is a worthy title to become part of a PS3 owners collection.

 

 

The most evident thing regarding the Blue Toad games are that they are released in episodes each containing different chapters to the story and containing different cases to be solved.

 

The complete game features a total of six chapters and upon release each chapter was made available for a price of £6.29 which could equate to a costly title for any gamer wishing to experience the whole experience.

 

As this review is being written there have been three chapters released which have been made available as a bundle for a more sensible price of £9.99. This to me is much better as I had sat on the fence at the initial cost of each chapter, however £9.99 for three (or half of the complete game) proves that little more tempting.

 

 

Chapter one starts with the player (or players in multiplayer) choosing one of four detectives whom work for the Blue Toad Detective Agency and find themselves arriving by train at a very nice small English country village. Almost instantly you are then on a murder trail to track down the killer of the local mayor by visiting numerous local people and buildings in the village which is essential to completing each case.

 

It also proves vital to listen to all information and take note of even the smallest details of the story otherwise you may miss a number of vital clues.

 

 

As each chapter is completed it ends on a cliff hanger which tempts the player into playing the next chapter and what has been done well is that the storyline flows pretty well through each chapter and this never really gives the feeling that you could be playing a few different games which is always the danger in any game released in chapters.

 

 

It would be fair to say that the village is presented superbly and looks absolutely stunning with the cut scenes setting the story well particularly through the interactions with various local residents. In fact the overall graphical presentation really does have the wow factor and compares well to a vast number of full retail titles.

 

If I am being honest the overall impressive graphical style outweighs what is a slightly weak storyline although having said this the game is one of those that becomes slightly addictive and sees you wanting to progress that little further before saving your progress.

 

The in game sound fits the animated style well with suspense style music used well although the voice acting seems to be done on a budget by one man whom is used to voice each character, both male and female and also to narrate the experience. I am not saying that this is a bad thing however but I am sure that the sound would have benefited with some of the graphical budget spent on it in order for it to compare to the games stunning look.