The Last Case Of John Morley Xbox Series X Review 5.5/10 “An interesting mystery that stumbles in the darkness” 🕯️🫆🕵️

The Last Case of John Morley Review – Atmosphere, Intrigue, and a Faltering Middle Act

When Atmosphere Shines but Gameplay Falters

You play as John Morley, a private detective who has recently woken up in hospital. Remembering only a few things, you awake to find you've spent days in the hospital but are now healthy and free to leave. You head back to your office, where almost instantly you have a new client, an older woman who wants you to investigate the murder of her daughter. Decades have passed since the murder occurred – it was originally attributed to a pair of thieves, but she isn't satisfied with this conclusion and offers you an obscene amount of money to investigate the cold case. Liking both money and a good mystery, Mr Morley takes the case and heads to the Manor to begin his investigation.

It is a simple set-up but an intriguing start; why has she waited so long to look into the murder further? Why did the police just pin it on thieves? Engaging questions that I genuinely wanted answers to, and this is really the title’s biggest strength: the mystery and the atmosphere - these are two main pillars holding it up. The story moves at a good pace and, for once, has a very conclusive ending, no interpretation or leaving it up to your own imagination; it wraps up with a real focus, and I admire that it has a mystery and lays out how it happened and why. The atmosphere is also great; it’s dark and moody, and the game is set during the 1940s, so it has a wonderful look and style. 

The manor is a particular highlight, dark, brooding and oppressive from years of neglect and abandonment. Sadly, half way through you move to an asylum an although it’s not bad I didn’t think it was as immersive as the previous location, I also think the story becomes a bit less engaging until the very end of the asylum section, there are lots of collectible notes scattered around but I didn’t find them that engaging, and in a game that takes only 2-4 hours to complete having a lull is a bit egregious.

The real problem comes with… well, the fact that it is a game, I have played many a walking simulator and this is up there in the most walking simulator of walking simulators, I thought before playing there would be some in-game detective work, piecing things together, solving puzzles etc. but it really is bare bones and there is never anything really worth doing, if you come across an object that you could realistically use multiple times, it just seems to break. 

You break both a crowbar and your lantern; it feels all hollow, and I know that this is a small development team – believe it is comprised of two people - I do have sympathy, but the gameplay does need a bit of excitement. Sound-wise, I must be numb from years of horror voice acting, but I think it’s ok, nothing to write home about - but it seemed fine. 

The actress voicing the elderly woman did sound about twenty, though, and what did shock me in the voice acting department was a guideline still being left in; the voice of Mr Morley completely changes for a line. The music in the manor is solid. I liked the piano music a lot, and it suited the creepy locale. The Manor has all the best stuff, really - music, atmosphere, design - it is shocking how different the two locations are in terms of quality and excitement.

SUMMARY

It is a shame that the gameplay lets this down so much as the story did hold my interest and I did enjoy how it all wrapped up, but the complete lack of detective work and a really dull middle section drags this title into the darkness.

5.5/10
🫠MELTING🫠