Dead Reckoning: Death Between the Lines Collector's Edition

The job of a writer might look somewhat easy from the outside, given the fact that you only have to write one bestseller to make your name known and never worry about money again. However, it’s obviously not that simple to write, and it’s that much more difficult to write something good. Even then, a good book is not necessarily a bestseller, so a bit of luck is needed as well.

Dead Reckoning: Death Between the Lines is an interesting hidden object adventure game that puts you in the role of a famous writer. Despite the intriguing story, the game is not very original when it comes to gameplay mechanics, since it’s the same recycled formula as in every other HOPA out there. Thankfully, at least everything works as it should, and you can have a lot of fun pursuing the case.

Speaking of which, it all starts at a book signing session where the main character is meeting with his fans. One of these fans happens to be a wealthy man who makes you a proposal: write the biography of a famous billionaire. However, you must compete with four other top writers in order to get the job. As if that weren’t interesting enough, one of the writers is murdered as soon as everyone meets.

Most of your time is spent examining each scene in order to spot useful items, which can then be stored in your inventory until they come in handy. Some can be combined to obtain something even more useful, while others are just part of some kind of lock you must open. Every now and again you have to tackle actual puzzles as well, but don’t expect anything too challenging in this regard.

As it’s always the case in the genre, the graphics are gorgeous, especially since most of the environments are hand-drawn and very detailed. There’s a layer of post-processing effects on top as well, although it’s a bit of a bummer that you cannot move in 3D. The soundtrack works its magic as well, as does the decent voice acting that brings the characters to life.

All things being equal, whether you like Dead Reckoning: Death Between the Lines or not depends on your experience with the genre. As such, it should be perfect for long time fans of the genre, while newcomers might find it a bit shallow. NOTE: This is a downloader for the game. Once run, the application will automatically download and install the game on your computer.

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