- Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
- Release Date: Aug 23, 2019
- Also On: iPhone/iPad, PlayStation 4, Switch, Xbox One
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Oct 23, 2019Telling Lies is a desktop thriller that takes a bit too much to be in gear and suffers from avoidable technical intricacy, but if taken with the right amount of patience,it gifts us with a story of love and violence, fear and lies, with credible and admirably interpreted characters.
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Sep 3, 2019Telling Lies makes great innovative tweaks to its gameplay formula, and offers a high-quality live-action adventure, but it completely fumbles merging these two elements together. A word of advice would be to try your hand at the puzzle and discovery for a while, and then eventually just watch the clips outside the game to enjoy the narrative.
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Aug 23, 2019A grander take on Her Story‘s FMV database search idea, Telling Lies proves Sam Barlow is still the master of the carefully crafted reveal, even if at times this particular web of deceit unravels a little too slowly.
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Aug 21, 2019Telling Lies expands on the concept Sam Barlow created with Her Story, with a web of intriguing characters and mysteries, but the more overblown aspects of its plot detract from the personal drama.
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Aug 21, 2019As a further expansion of Barlow's ideas about what games can be, Telling Lies is a success. It's unfortunate that, in the end, it doesn't further embrace its interactive possibilities.
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Sep 7, 2019Without a sense of feedback or progress, the rambling, leisurely narrative of Telling Lies comes across as unfocused.
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Aug 28, 2019Her Story is a tough act to follow, and unfortunately, Telling Lies does not hit the same emotional highs that Barlow’s previous game did. Opting to use the same barebones video player both does not make sense for this storyline and introduces an annoyance that players are forced to deal with. The story is still intriguing, but not to a binge-worthy degree. Telling Lies is worth playing for Her Story fans, but can’t quite hit those same high notes despite its best efforts.
| This publication does not provide a score for their reviews. | |
| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
| These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation. | |
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Aug 23, 2019A well-presented story told in a fresh way. Buy it if you have any interest in new storytelling forms.
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Aug 21, 2019The creator of Her Story explores its ideas further in a broader, deeper, more unruly video mystery. [Eurogamer Recommended]
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Aug 21, 2019If Her Story was a proof of concept, Telling Lies is the next evolution of what Sam Barlow can do with this new — and thus far not imitated — genre of full-motion video mysteries. Even after seeing the conclusion, I was back to searching for a few more clips, digging for just a little bit more information until I’m satisfied that I’ve seen everything. [Polygon Recommends]
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Aug 21, 2019Telling Lies feels very much like Her Story 2, in the sense that a sequel is like the previous entry in a series but more: bigger, better, faster, stronger.
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Aug 23, 2019I love Telling Lies for the same reason I loved Her Story: everything you find is earned. Your success in uncovering the full story is based on your intuition and ability to pick up on detail. How you view things or what experiences you bring into the game will likely shape your interpretation of everything you see. There is not one simple truth because everyone has their own.
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Aug 23, 2019An uncomfortable and fascinating exploration of confession and forged intimacy.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 29 out of 71
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Mixed: 18 out of 71
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Negative: 24 out of 71
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Aug 23, 2019
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Jul 31, 2020
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Oct 19, 2019