Whispers of a Machine

 PC
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 57 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 57
  3. Negative: 6 out of 57

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  1. bancandrei
    May 12, 2020
    7
    Short and focused, it does incorporate an interesting RPG mechanic of unlocking skills. I went the empathy route and feel it was probably easy mode. It does not feel like it has replay value though. It is humourless and the story disappoints a bit by the end, but I do wholeheartedly recommend it.
  2. Sjalka
    Apr 18, 2019
    8
    A very nice, retro style point-and-cilck adventure. A charming cast, good voice acting and spectacular backgrounds add to the feeling.

    I like the story . but have played more engaging ones in the past. (but also much worse ones) What i did not quite like was the .. sprites? (are those sprites?) the objects that move vs. the static backgrounds. The backgrounds are smoothed with very    A very nice, retro style point-and-cilck adventure. A charming cast, good voice acting and spectacular backgrounds add to the feeling.

    I like the story . but have played more engaging ones in the past. (but also much worse ones)

    What i did not quite like was the .. sprites? (are those sprites?) the objects that move vs. the static backgrounds. The backgrounds are smoothed with very noticable AA (well, noticable because of the very low resolution) - while the characters and mobile objects are very, VERY jagged and pixalated. While they still look VERY good and well drawn - they stand out a bit much from the background.

    I am not finished with the game, so i cannot comment further on the conclusion - but all in all .. this is a game that is certainly well above the average - but also well in the more casual player range (similar puzzle difficulty like the Blackwell series)    … Expand
  3. Fuz
    May 16, 2019
    4
    Cannot stand the autosave system. Such a stupid decision from the devs. Let me decide when to save and keep my save points like I always did since the '90s. Also, this has been aggravated by the fact that I played about one hour then logged off. When I returned to the game there was no autosave file to load and I had to start from zero.

    At that point I was just too infuriated and    Cannot stand the autosave system. Such a stupid decision from the devs. Let me decide when to save and keep my save points like I always did since the '90s. Also, this has been aggravated by the fact that I played about one hour then logged off. When I returned to the game there was no autosave file to load and I had to start from zero.

    At that point I was just too infuriated and stopped playing altogether. Not sure I will touch the game ever again.    … Expand
  4. TwoEars
    Feb 23, 2020
    8
    A solid sci-fi detective-mystery adventure game set in what must be coastal Norway after society collapsed from an over-reliance on AI. What I like about the setting is that although it's "post collapse" it's not just doom and gloom, small societies seem to be thriving and getting by just fine. The world seems very believable, with interesting characters, and it's not just a "mad max" orA solid sci-fi detective-mystery adventure game set in what must be coastal Norway after society collapsed from an over-reliance on AI. What I like about the setting is that although it's "post collapse" it's not just doom and gloom, small societies seem to be thriving and getting by just fine. The world seems very believable, with interesting characters, and it's not just a "mad max" or "fallout" setting. The story is pretty fast-paced, engaging, relatively original and with a few nice twists and turns along the way.

    The game also has some interesting game-play mechanics where you can pick different dialogue options along the lines of "assertive", "analytical" and "empathetic". And depending on your choices your character will then develop in different ways, and different problem solving options will open up. So it's actually a bit of an RPG and not just a point-and-click game.

    This is very similar to Unavowed which also has quite a few RPG elements in it. Which makes sense since the developers of Whispers of a Machine are the the same who also made Kathy Rain, which was published by Wadjet Eye Games. And I also believe Dave Gilbert of WEG was involved in the voice work for Whispers of a Machine. So although Whispers of a Machine is published by Raw Fury, a Swedish publisher, there is definitely some heavy inspiration here from games such as the Blackwell Series and Unavowed. Fans of Wadjet Eye Games should feel right at home I believe, at least I did.

    All in all I had a great time with Whispers of a Machine and it's definitely one of the best adventure games from 2019. For the developers it's a huge leap up in quality from Kathy Rain, but I would still like to see even higher resolution art for the in-world characters and a slightly more fleshed out universe.

    Some examples of things which could be improved: There is a school in the village, but I only saw two children and no class. There is a café which we are led to believe we can go to, but we never do. There is a scene in which bringing along the local police to arrest someone would have made a lot of sense, but instead we go at it solo and get ourselves and someone else into trouble. The motivations, and actions, of the main antagonist towards the end are highly dubious and unfocused, they feel like they are placed there just to oppose the player and create drama. Then you can also drink a max of one cup of coffee a day, this is highly unrealistic for the Nordic population and even more so for police officers.. So maybe the last 10-15% of world building and play-testing is missing.

    But like I said, this is a huge step up in quality from Kathy Rain and if they continue like this I'd wager their next game will be something spectacular. I'm also quite happy with the recent trend of the inclusion of light RPG elements in adventure games, I think this is quite genius and really adds to the genre. Especially when it comes to detective games such as this one. The score is a "very solid 8 but not quite a 9". If you like adventure games, and you're a fan of the Wadjet Eye style of games, you should definitely play it.    … Expand
  5. Mytzenka
    Jan 18, 2021
    8
    I liked this game a lot, even though I don't really care for post-apocalyptic or futuristic settings. But the story was good, voice acting was great and the puzzles were not brain-dead easy or silly cat-mustache moon logic. They all made sense, were not just clicking on things until something works and some really made me pause and think for a while. I am not a fan of pixel art games andI liked this game a lot, even though I don't really care for post-apocalyptic or futuristic settings. But the story was good, voice acting was great and the puzzles were not brain-dead easy or silly cat-mustache moon logic. They all made sense, were not just clicking on things until something works and some really made me pause and think for a while. I am not a fan of pixel art games and especially the character faces were very hard to make out on screen. But at least you got detailed face views during conversation, albeit without moving lips.
    The ending was a bit rushed and it was overall too short (took me about 10 hours), but that just means I really didn't want the game to end.    … Expand
  6. Aloof
    Sep 19, 2020
    7
    A nice graphic adventure, little to say. I liked the plot, and also the gameplay, quite different from others of the same genre, due to the powers and choices that lead to different ways of dealing with the puzzles. Great music and voice acting. Too bad for the duration, very short game, just over 6 hours. Quite simple puzzles, except 2-3 a little weird. Recommended for all point and click lovers.
  7. joschimitsu
    May 27, 2020
    9
    I loved the music, the atmosphere, the voice-actors and the world. Really really good point & click adventure. Would love to play more games like this one.
    Only negative point would be that the ending seemed a bit rushed all of a sudden. Still - greatly recommended for every adventure fan out there!
  8. gold
    Oct 23, 2022
    8
    У игры есть минус: она сохраняется только в одну ячейку и только при выходе в меню. из-за этого я не смог посмотреть вторую концовку. Да в игре две концовки, но из-за выбора в конце, а так игра полностью линейна. Да есть РПГ элементы которые делают большое разнообразие, но только в конкретных локациях, не влияющих на сюжет.
    Я тот человек, который не понимает популярности эстетики    У игры есть минус: она сохраняется только в одну ячейку и только при выходе в меню. из-за этого я не смог посмотреть вторую концовку. Да в игре две концовки, но из-за выбора в конце, а так игра полностью линейна. Да есть РПГ элементы которые делают большое разнообразие, но только в конкретных локациях, не влияющих на сюжет.
    Я тот человек, который не понимает популярности эстетики pixelart, но привык и не обращал внимания в игре.
    Сюжет: простой лёгкий sy-fy детектив. Ассоциации с каналом "sy-fy" и, почему-то, "cw", извините. Может ещё "fx" - я, прям, вижу экранизацию от этих студий.
    Я получил удовольствие.
    Итог: 8.566/10    … Expand
  9. Babutto
    Aug 9, 2021
    8
    I'm quite surprised to see the game the way it is.

    Pros.: - Nice old-school point and click gameplay. - The history of the world. Even if it's brief it still looks solid. - The story is divided into arcs. And it fits perfectly. - The difficulty is reasonable. - Choices. It kind of reminds me of the Red Strings Club and Neo Cab. Empathy system AND the main story about the AI.    I'm quite surprised to see the game the way it is.

    Pros.:
    - Nice old-school point and click gameplay.
    - The history of the world. Even if it's brief it still looks solid.
    - The story is divided into arcs. And it fits perfectly.
    - The difficulty is reasonable.
    - Choices. It kind of reminds me of the Red Strings Club and Neo Cab. Empathy system AND the main story about the AI.

    Cons.:
    - With saves it would be possible to have two endings at the end without playing the entire game.
    - Some locations seem... Kind of empty. Could fill more with the items, especially items that you may operate or interact with and not necessarily helping to advance the story.    … Expand
  10. Yeniczek
    Jan 31, 2020
    9
    Absolute blast and wonderful reminder of good old times without those stupid item combinations. Story is pretty interesting and keeps surprising you till the end. 9/10
  11. honest_rev7
    Sep 29, 2020
    6
    YAWN

    kind of a sterile game init. voice acting is adequate but it's nothing to write home about. i have no idea why i'd be spending time in that sterile world. i mean, it's fine but we use sci-fi to shock and suprise us with its dystopian worlds, or somehow bring a new vision (though this rarely happens) with utopia. it's not a soul-destroying game, just a boring one where you    YAWN

    kind of a sterile game init. voice acting is adequate but it's nothing to write home about. i have no idea why i'd be spending time in that sterile world.

    i mean, it's fine but we use sci-fi to shock and suprise us with its dystopian worlds, or somehow bring a new vision (though this rarely happens) with utopia.

    it's not a soul-destroying game, just a boring one where you don't give a toss bout its characters.    … Expand
  12. Illosk_metacrit
    Apr 18, 2020
    9
    Simply one of the best adventure games I’ve played in 20 years.
    Compelling story with moral decisions
    Well conceived puzzles
    A credible background world
    Memorable characters with a marvelous voice acting
    A must play
  13. Fyxhcl
    Nov 9, 2021
    7
    Classical point-and-click adventure, interesting plot and setting with some nice idea in it, althought it doesn't do anything particularly original or brilliant..

    You're Vera, a detective investigating on some murders that happened in Nordsund, a city in a post-apocalyptic world. Progressing with the investigation is fun, but the ending is not entirely satisfying and feels a bit trite.    Classical point-and-click adventure, interesting plot and setting with some nice idea in it, althought it doesn't do anything particularly original or brilliant..

    You're Vera, a detective investigating on some murders that happened in Nordsund, a city in a post-apocalyptic world. Progressing with the investigation is fun, but the ending is not entirely satisfying and feels a bit trite. The city could feel a bit more lively, since there isn't much people to talk or to see.

    The core of the game is that of a classic point-and-click but you'll also have special abilities that you can use, a nice difference from the majority of similar games where you can only interact with the environment in a single way. There are 6 abilities, and while some of them are fixed, you'll develop the others depending on your playstyle. This could give some replay value to the title, but it's actually a really shallow mechanic that won't change much in your game: the "different playstyles" are just different answers that you can give in the dialogues and the different skills are just slightly different ways to complete the same puzzles.

    Puzzles are generally simple, but a few of them made me resort to a walkthrough since the game didn't really give any hint about how to solve them.

    WOAM is a good but short and classic game, don't expect a masterpiece, but if know you like this kind of games, you'll find a valid title to spend a few days on.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Jeuxvideo.com
    Dec 12, 2020
    75
    In and of itself, there is nothing revolutionary about Whispers of a Machine… but what it does, it does well.
    Read full review
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 28, 2020
    80
    This unfairly overlooked adventure game may not look great, but the graphics are more than made up for with the story, atmosphere and interesting gaming mechanics. [Issue#300]
  3. RPG Fan
    Oct 10, 2019
    77
    An enjoyable and short-ish adventure game, Whispers of a Machine is well worth a thoughtful playthrough.
    Read full review
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