The story takes place in a 19th century inspired city, very reminiscent of stories about Sherlock Holmes. While a departure in setting from the previous game in the series, it keeps pretty much the same tone. You play as Owen, a retired policeman that was very well respected on the force back in the day, and wants nothing more than to enjoy his retirement with his daughter, Olivia. Yet the world is full of dangers, and one night Olivia simply disappears, no one truly sure of her whereabouts.
This could be a woman simply wanting to be left alone, specially since she recently went through a difficult breakup, yet that is what makes her situation quite dire; a killer is on the loose, nicknamed the Lonely Hearts Killer, and he targets maidens on her lonesome whose feelings are fragile, taking advantage of this to lure them to unsuspecting places and commit his gruesome act. Now you must team up with your old friend Logan and scour the city in search for you daughter, the truth, and possibly payback.
The presentation and art style of this game is stellar. The detailed backgrounds and fully fledged characters really pull you into the story, with constant little snippets of animation showing how the story moves forward. In its style it is reminiscent of old Noir films with a modern touch. Besides the visual department, something that also stands out is the sound design. Not only on its good use of background music to set the mood, but also because the game is fully voice acted. Since the biggest point of the game is its narrative, having the characters actually speak makes it much easier to follow.
This is all without mentioning the 3D animations all over the game, from characters moving outside of cutscenes to objects that react to your mouse movement even when they aren’t used for any puzzles. The game is aware of its level of presentation, with certain objects having only a zoom style interaction; they aren’t required for gameplay, yet are a grim reminder of who you are dealing with. You’ll know them when you see them.
In terms of gameplay, the game starts off with plenty of difficulty settings to choose from, including the ability to deeply customize said settings, like the timer for the hints or the like. One important setting among them is the “relaxed” mode, meant for people looking for something more akin to a TV show than a game. This is a great option that makes a really good story accessible to a more broad audience.
Yet playing the game is incredibly fulfilling, and certainly not impossible to figure out. You are given plenty of clues before ever needing to use the “hint” button, and the games themselves are quite fun. You will spend the main bulk of Brink of Consciousness playing Hidden Object style gameplay, where you are prompted to find different items in a cluttered space. Between and among these sections are different puzzles, some of which may require logic, others memory, and others simply an item that has to be found in a different scenario. The journalist keeps track of every clue he has found in his notebook, so whenever you need to refresh your memory on a certain code you can always count on your notes to be at hand.
The main puzzle for you to solve is the List. You are shown a scene with plenty of cluttered items, and you have to find and click on the ones shown on a list. Sometimes the list is made of words, and other times of objects that you need to place on the scene. These List puzzles are found all throughout the game and sometimes you need to do the same one twice in order to get multiple useful objects.
Brink of Consciousness: The Lonely Hearts Murders is an intriguing detective story that will keep you on your toes at every turn, not sure who or what to trust. It is a ride well worth getting into. So, what are you waiting for? Download and play the game for free from Gametop right now!
If you enjoy these free games, you will love this list of our 10 Best Hidden Object Games!
