Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet (iPhone) Review

Costas Stephanides’s Review

Solve by numbers

We have had plenty of games based on movies but now we have a game based on a book (the cynic in me thinks it's probably a push to get a movie deal signed). The game is based on James Patterson's series of the Women's Murder Club. The series is all about a group of women that work together to solve murders. This isn't some kind of Jessica Fletcher/Miss Marple union - all the women here are professionals investigators from police detectives to forensic scientists.

So, how do you package this into a game to appeal to the casual female gamer? Easy, make it a hidden objects game wrapped around a murder plot. The mechanics of the game are extremely similar to those seen in Day Dream Wedding.

There is a lot more depth to Death in Scarlet than the wedding game. There are plenty of levels and loads of items to hunt for. On top of that, the game has an intricate plot following the death of a news reporter. After finding all the hidden objects in a level, several clues are revealed and there is even the occasional mini game/puzzle to solve.

The graphics are pretty good and some of the objects are very well merged into the background. Unlike Day Dream Wedding, you are not subjected to searching just for wedding related items. However, figuring out some of the items is tricky. Hints are available if you get stuck and a little but of memory helps for next time you revisit a scene.

The plot does meander through San Francisco but you have very little say in how the story develops. The game is extremely linear and it can only be completed in one way. There's no guesswork and no options for you, just solve by numbers and let the game take over.

Although the game is pretty restrictive, it is definitely worth a look if you are a fan of hidden object games.