Mobile Gaming: I Am Innocent
Genre: Adventure puzzle
Developer: Glaznev rec.
Platform: Android, iOS
A review by Amelia Wellman
I Am Innocent is an original detective game with puzzle elements. Use realistic in-game phone calls, a messenger, computer hacking, photographs, and documents to investigate a series of murders with teenage victims. The killings are somehow connected to the disappearance of your sister many years ago. The game’s many characters, with their complex personalities and skeletons in the closet, plus its ethical dilemmas and emotional scenes, create a realistic atmosphere and weave an involved, mysterious story that’ll keep you engrossed to the very end.
After playing about half a dozen colour matching games, I have to say that I Am Innocent is such a breath of fresh air! The game plays in real time with a Facebook-esque messanger, phone calls, and the ability to choose what you say to what characters to either improve or worsen your relationship with them. There are multiple endings and the interactive story gameplay is incredibly compelling.
Regrettably the whole game isn’t just an interactive story. It also features hacking mini-games that are repetitive and super frustrating. The spike in difficulty with the hacking interrupts the story and is clearly a bid to extend gameplay. Which is a shame because I would prefer a short game that’s great than one that’s padded with filler because developers seem to think we’re demanding long, mediocre games to fill our time with!
I Am Innocent is completely free to download but does feature in-game micro-transactions. The developers claim the currency is “optional” but the spike in difficulty with the mini-games will require you to shell out sooner or later if you want to continue on with the story. The currency is coins which will run you from $0.99 for 10 and up to $99.99 for 1250 coins. The coins are then used to buy more turns in the hacking mini-games or to speed up the process by bypassing those mini-games entirely.
This is by far the worst part of the game! You’ll want to speed through the story because it’s so compelling but then you’ll be slowed down, sometimes completely ground to a halt because of these mini-games! I don’t know if it’s intentional to squeeze actual money out of their players, or if the developers honestly thought it was fair, but it’s frustrating as hell!
The Verdict
I want so badly to say absolutely Play this game. I Am Innocent has a really compelling, interesting, unique storyline. Having it be so immersive with the use of the phone’s functions is brilliant! When the game placed a call to me it was chilling and made me want to finish the game all in one sitting! Unfortunately the compulsorily mini-games and the unfair spike in difficulty stop I Am Innocent from being a perfect recommendation. So Check it out, the story is interesting and the gameplay unique, but keep in mind the frustration to fun balance may lean into frustrating more often than not.
