LifeIsXbox’s Vaudeville Preview| In the fictional European city known as Vaudeville, you are a private detective, Detective Martini, trying to solve the case of 3 individual murders, each with their own method of death but each equally as violent and disturbing. By speaking to coroners, key witnesses and speaking to those that knew the victims most, you have to work out whom did these murders, in a whodunnit driven by a very unique feature. Vaudeville is developed by Bumblebee Studios and Published by BBS Games.
ℹ️ Previewed on PC (Steam)| Preview code provided by PR/publisher, this preview is the personal opinion from the writer and is based on an unfinished game.
AI Characters
The largest selling point of the game is the fact that all the characters you speak to are AI driven and programmed to act in specific ways and respond to specific questions to provide clues to shape the story and lead you closer to the culprit. There was an accuse option on the menu but the preview was not built with the option active so I was unable to try it out and what would happen from there.
I think it’s a good option that they have included a voice option through your microphone and a typing option. This game did need both as the voice option does not translate well, like if you had been putting a command into your sat nav in your car.
It’s clear that this AI interactivity is the focus but it does leave the characters sounding and feeling rather lifeless and robotic. If narrative and solving the case are more important than character building, then this game might be more your speed but it just left me feeling a bit short.
Setting
The setting is very film noir from the black and white vibe with the opening video to the accompanying in game music which is very jazzy and feel lifted straight out of the 1930s and the character costuming and locations. This I feel sets the tone of Vaudeville up extremely well and gets you in the mood of a very old school film noir thriller. This is perfect and exactly the vibe I was expecting and wanting with a game titled as Vaudeville.
Missed Opportunity
I am not sure whether other parts of this title were hidden from the final release but the whole game stems from talking to these AI ‘characters’ and not the other parts of an investigation such as hunting for clues at crime scenes or performing a search on the victim to find vital clues to work out motive or whereabouts before a crime. Other games, games much smaller in nature have managed to do this very successfully so why didn’t the developers behind Vaudeville manage to do this. They put their eggs into one basket so to speak and it detracts from the overall product rather than adds to the overall nature.
Conclusion
Vaudeville is a very novel concept and may be part of a future trend of game developers where AI is used to generate character dialogue but this game feels very raw and unpolished (buggy at times). The AI characters feel very lifeless and do repeat themselves multiple times during a conversation. With it being on early access there’s a chance that the development team could iron out all the kinks but I have to review what I can play with in the preview. Those that enjoy a murder mystery will like this and will possibly forgive Vaudeville its shortcoming, more casual players may not forgive it as much, such as myself.
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