Murders in Venice 1989 detective game

Murders in Venice (1989, France)

Murders in Venice starts after news has broke that someone plans to blow up the city using a bomb. Also there was a murder committed somewhere in Venice, but so far no body of the victim was found. You, as a detective, arrive to investigate the mystery and find who is behind that plot. Local police chief is not thrilled by the perspective of amateur getting in the way, so you have to count on yourself. You start in the central spot of Venice, Piazza San Marco, and from that point everything is up to you, even finding the locations you need to find and people you need to speak to.

Published by Infogrames in 1989 Murders in Venice was last in the series of detective games. This title mixes some unusual elements, at least for that era. You are investigating a case, you have your notebook, where you can write down all the clues you have found, you can take photos of the suspects, you can write down the details you have learned about them and their timelines. You get no assistance, no options to make your job easier - it is up to you to spot important information and write it down.

Quite unusual was also the interface - you see panorama of Venice and you can travel between locations by scrolling the image and clicking on right spot in right building. How can you tell that you are in right spot? There is no way of knowing because of one more interesting factor - the time. You have limited time before the bomb will explode, so you have to act fast, but also the events that take place in the game are not fully liked to you activity. This means that you could meet the right person to learn something important if you are in the right time and right place. All of the suspects just get on with their lives, so you need patience and sometimes luck to find the missing piece of the puzzle.