Again: Interactive Crime Novel

This game has a clever premise with gameplay to support it, and even though the story falls way short of its promise, players who go into it with the right expectations will find a lot to like here.

Cing's latest blend of game and novel could've been an intriguing "whodunit" if streamlined into a more digestible package. Instead, the glacial pace of weak plot development and the few poke-around puzzles in between left much to be desired.

Again is a combination of various things, from crime shows to adventure games, but it seemingly takes the bad parts of all of them.

Again is a mediocre game that provides nothing. Its story is nowhere near good enough to justify the interactive novel approach, the "spot the difference" psychic gimmick is miserable and sleep-inducing, and the characters themselves look like they've all escaped from a mental hospital and are playing around in the costume department of a community theater. Hotel Dusk this isn't.

Again is a staggering disappointment in most accounts due to its crawling pace and uninteresting concept.

You're better off reading a book than playing this flawed interactive crime novel.

For all of its criminal procedural trappings, Again is about as exciting as watching Matlock re-runs in a seniors' assisted living facility.