Knee Deep

Knee Deep's swampy noir mystery play is one of the most interesting and entertaining ways to frame a game you'll ever see. Just a shame the final act doesn't rise to the humid, neo-gothic heights of the rest.

Highly original, but lacking in interactivity, Knee Deep is nevertheless a story worth exploring at least once.

Knee Deep has some interesting and fun mechanics and delivers a reasonable mystery. It is just a shame that the quality shown at the beginning doesn’t last until the end.

Despite its basic visuals and limited gameplay, Knee Deep’s interesting, well-written story is worth the investment. This game’s strength is in its writing – the snappy dialogue and quirky characters will make you forget its flaws – most of the time.

Knee Deep is a good investigation adventure but, although the story is quite good, the player doesn't have to do anything but choosing among different dialogue options. In this game there is more to read than to play.

Dont be confused by the odd design choices and the lack of interaction. Knee Deep is a narrative driven game aiming to mimic a play, and despite some clunky animation and pacing issues it just about manages to bring the theatre to the PlayStation 4.

While not as genre-bending as perhaps one might expect a video game portrayed as a interactive theatre show to be, Knee Deep does provide an entertaining, if rather silly, distraction while it lasts.

Knee Deep isn’t a terrible game, nor is it as ground-breaking as it wants to be. It definitely gives a unique spin on the interactive drama genre, and it does tell a somewhat dark, noir inspired tale. Folks who approach this as anything other than a slightly more interactive Visual Novel are going to be disappointed, though, and given that it was more pitched towards adventure game fans, I think there might be a few people that are disappointed with their purchase here.

The only portion of Knee Deep that works as intended is its presentation as a stage play. Sequences meant to be shocking or surprising are met with audible gasps from the audience. Intermissions come complete with player selection options of how to handle a minute or two of free time. Applause is delivered at the conclusion of every act. Like Puppeteer, it really feels like you’re watching a show.

Is Knee Deep worth it? Is Knee Deep, with so many alternatives available whether you are looking for an adventure game or a deep, thought provoking indie game, really worth it. If you're looking for a good adventure game with choice driven dialogue that impacts the overall story, I would suggest you check out a Telltale game that has been relesed in the last 3-4 years, or maybe Grim Fandango, I know that it's a bit old school but come on it's good.

If you ever wondered what an episode of Scooby Doo written by Tommy Wiseau would be like, Knee Deep gives you the chance to play it. Besides the bad writing though, a theatrical visual novel sounds like a good idea for a videogame.

Knee Deep is a game that certainly tries to bring its world to life, but overall, doesn't make it past the first hurdle. A narrative focused title that isn't gripping nor riveting, Knee Deep shows us the negative side of storytelling.

Knee Deep isn’t an adventure title worth playing, lacking any real hallmarks of the genre. The few puzzles essentially solve themselves, there is very little player participation outside of dialogue choices, and the plot is so bloated with forgettable characters that you lose track of who is who. It seems like the best ideas were poured into the design of Knee Deep, creating a well made digital stage show with voice actors who put in a decent performance. Unfortunately if Knee Deep was a real theatre show I would assume that the final curtain would fall quickly.