14 DAY TRIAL // 
The Lost Age is a pretty weird place. It is populated by animals, but it’s a thriving civilization that has portals to move around a city. Regardless, they are still using classic cranes to construct a pyramid, which featured heavily in one of the cases I solved here. It’s a big world, crammed with interesting small details, and I will discover more of it as I try to solve a case involving two rodent gladiators.
E.V.E., the trusty partner A.I., first asks me to analyze one of their weapons, which involves a quick mini-game, before moving us through time to track who and when handled this particular gladiator tool. I find a surprising fact about alligators but also discover that a powerful entity is trying to create a paradox.
I track the spear through the time ticks without using any of the hints the game provides and then execute an energy analysis that reveals more about its nature. The good news is that this is a relic from an even greater lost civilization. The bad news is that we might blow up a perfectly good city as we try to make the weapon safe for timeline-appropriate gladiator action.
Crime O'Clock is developed by Bad Seed and published by Just For Games. The game is available on the Nintendo Switch and will also launch on the PC. The title puts a unique spin on pixel-hunting mechanics, leading players through delightful worlds as they do investigative work.
Players become a time detective, who is paired with an Artificial Intelligence named E.V.E. to protect the real timeline. Initially, it seems that simple accidents and coincidences are creating paradoxes that require creative solutions. But it soon emerges that other entities are interacting with the time stream, looking to change events for their own nefarious aims.
The player’s detective is silent, focused on solving cases, but E.V.E. is a very talkative piece of technology. She quickly explains the concepts underpinning their actions and lays out the stakes of each case. But she is also ready to comment on smaller details and even attempt jokes. The game’s writing is good, with plenty of references to real-world personalities and an oddball approach to humor that fits the universe.
The gameplay in Crime O'Clock might appear simple and boring at first sight, as players are asked to look for characters and other clues inside a big tableau (each will be used for more than one case). This type of pixel-hunting point-and-click mechanic usually indicates low-quality experiences produced on the cheap. But the team at Bad Seed has taken this disgraced concept and turned it into something much more exciting by adding time travel, mini-games, a solid tip line, and more.
Each of the game’s worlds features a number of ticks, snapshots of how they look at certain moments in time. To solve a case, players will move through them, guided by E.V.E., following characters, looking for items, trying to understand the wider situation, and wondering who is messing with the timeline.
To add variety, Crime O'Clock uses a range of mini-games. Players will have to match symbols to decrypt devices or languages, connect face parts to identify suspects, trace over already existing symbols, and more. Some rhythm elements are introduced later in the campaign. There’s not a lot of depth to any of them, but they break up the pace and keep players on their detective toes.
The game offers five impressively detailed ages to explore: Information Age, based on Milan; Aeon Age, a future with powerful corps and underground organizations; Steam Age, featuring automata and a gothic look; Lost Age, featuring portals and pyramids; Atlantean Age, utopia powered by crystals and magic.
It’s a pleasure to engage with them all. All cases are intriguing and take at least one unexpected turn (avoid the screenshot gallery to be fully surprised by their setup and time jumps). The worlds are intricate enough to make gamers discover a lot of details and even spot elements of cases that have not yet been revealed.
The detective has a journal that makes it easy to keep track of how a case is proceeding. If it’s hard to find a character or to deduce how certain clues are connected, the game also slowly reveals hints. I felt no shame clicking on them when I started to feel a little frustrated. They don’t fully spoil a solution at the first level but ensure that there’s constant progress and players get to see more of the game’s worlds.
Crime O'Clock is a delightful video game. Its mysteries are engaging, and its atmosphere is centered around fun, not challenge. E.V.E. is a great companion, and my only big issue with it is that its mini-game choice isn’t very interesting.
Crime O'Clock isn’t a graphical powerhouse. It is still one of the most immersive video games I have recently played from a graphical design perspective. Each of the big tableaus in which cases take place is carefully crafted, in black and white, and filled with a ton of small details and surprises. The addition of color to show off clues that gamers have uncovered only increases their beauty. I sometimes took a break from pursuing my objective to simply scroll around, look at all the small characters, and wonder how they move from one time snapshot to another.
The game is not voice acted but has a spectacular soundtrack. Each of the ages gets its own motifs, and the songs underline the atmosphere of mystery. They become an encouraging background as players move through ages, saving the timeline.
The Good
- Detailed worlds
- Solid detective work
- Good writing
The Bad
- Limited mini-games
- Needs a little more variety
- No voice work
Conclusion
The point-and-click gameplay is simple to understand, and there’s a solid hint system that will ensure fans never get frustrated when they simply cannot locate someone or something. Some of the mini-games do get repetitive. Crime O'Clock is an excellent game, relaxing, respectful of the player’s time, and stunning in its attention to detail.
A review key was provided by the publisher
