A new trailer for Airtight Games’ upcoming adventure game Murdered: Soul Suspect has been released. The trailer is narrated by a young woman as she speaks ominously of “something out there, something that won’t stay hidden forever,” and depicts the central protagonist, Detective Ronan O’Connor, getting into all manner of ghostly shenanigans with a fellow investigator.
Although not directly announced, Murdered: Soul Suspect was teased through posts on Twitter as far back as early 2013. The game takes place in the city of Salem, and the player, Detective Ronan O’Connor, is a ghost who must solve his own murder. The official website reads: “Shocked to find himself in the afterlife, his only escape from the limbo world of the ‘Dusk’ is to uncover the truth behind his killer, track him down and bring him to justice using new-found supernatural abilities.” An open-world design is also hinted at in the game description, with the player having “the freedom to explore the town of Salem; its wooden houses, narrow streets, gothic churches and mental asylum for clues.”
Although the trailer does not depict any actual gameplay, a hands-off E3 demo of the game is available on Youtube, depicting Ronan’s ability to, among other things, pass through walls and possess people in order to garner further clues for his investigation, much like last year’s PS3-exclusive Beyond: Two Souls. The game is said to mix investigative gameplay elements with more action-oriented ones, in which the player must fend off evil spirits during his search for his murderer.
Murdered: Soul Suspect was conceived by its publisher Square Enix’s creative director Yosuke Shiokawa, whose credits include Dissidia Final Fantasy and Death By Cube. The idea of the game, according to this Polygon article, came from Shiokawa wondering what would happen if Die Hard protagonist John McClane died in the middle of the movie and came back as a ghost to try and stop the terrorists.
Murdered: Soul Suspect is being developed for the PC, PlayStation 3 and 4, and Xbox 360 and One. It is scheduled to be released this June 3 in North America and June 6 in Europe.