Contemporary crime-thriller My Eyes On You looks great but sounds stilted
Dirty rotten scoundlers
Modern-day thrillers are a rare pick as source-material for games, and it's a terrible shame. There's so much interesting stuff that we've had little chance to experience first-hand. Tales of dogged investigators, unnerving murderers and the mundane, familiar world they weave their way through.
New Ukrainian studio Storymind Entertainment might be onto something, if the slick-looking trailer for their upcoming crime-busting action-adventure My Eyes On You is any indication, although they might want to hire a better translator first. And a new voice cast.
Maybe I'm just not hip enough to be following cutting-edge lingo, but I'm fairly sure that 'scoundlers' is not a real word. In fact, half of the script in the trailer above seems unintelligible when written and even moreso when delivered in that woozy, mumbling tone. It's a pity, as it undermines what would otherwise be a very exciting trailer. Despite the number of guns shown, not a single bullet is fired either, and the brawling combat animations looked very Hollywood, right down to the 'two seconds and you're out' choke hold.
The concept is interesting stuff, too. The story of an FBI agent returning to Chicago to re-open a case gone cold, and resume his hunt for a serial killer known as Carnival Man. Apparently the protagonist will have to deal with anxiety and hallucinations on top of a gang of masked villains, and - perhaps showing their hand a little early - the official site goes as far as spoiling a twist that presumably happens some ways in.
Most oddly though, they mention that depending on what evidence you choose to process in the game, the story may take a more grounded or mystical tone. A strange thing to leave in the player's hands, and it'll be interesting to see how they manage to make this work in the context of gameplay. I can't help but be reminded of the Condemned series, and their rapid descent into incomprehensibility as the games layered more and more supernatural elements onto what seemed initially like a pseudo-realistic detective adventure punctuated with bouts of hobo-bashing ultraviolence.
No release date or price has been announced yet for My Eyes On You, but we do know that the game is coming to PC, and that's what really matters.