HIDDEN AGENDA (PS4)
A brief recap of Supermassive Games’ previous work reveals an impressive aptitude for utilising unusual play mechanics and peripherals. Cutting their teeth on PlayStation Move titles such as Start the Party!, they would make use of the additional Wonderbook augmented reality device for Walking with Dinosaurs, before developing The Inpatient for PlayStation VR. 2017’s Hidden Agenda introduced PlayLink, a social-friendly feature that allows a group of players to control gameplay via a smartphone app.
Hidden Agenda is an interactive whodunnit, and a heck of a good one too. Convicted serial killer Jonathan Finn is two days from execution. But having admitted previously to a series of gruesome murders, he’s now claiming the real ‘Trapper’ killer is still at large. This acts as the catalyst for a gripping story that exposes holes in the original investigation and trouble within the police force. The case opens old wounds; a series of grudges and vendettas lying just beneath the surface. The perspective switches between that of Becky Marney, the detective who apprehended Finn, and Felicity Graves, a district attorney tasked with revisiting the case. Combing crime scenes, piecing together evidence and making snap judgement calls is the name of the game as the action and the intrigue builds.
Is the Trapper killer still out there? You'll need to go over the previous murders to piece the story together
The app connects to the PS4 via WiFi, allowing players to use their mobile device's touchscreen to make a number of either-or choices, dictating the flow of the story and the nature of characters’ interactions. Against the clock, you’ll need a quick eye for identifying evidence during crime scene investigations, as well as some exciting cinematic sequences, which spring quick-time events out of the blue, keeping players on their toes.
HA shares similarities with Supermassive’s excellent horror title Until Dawn, most notably in its ‘Ripple Effect’ concept, which enjoys an even more nuanced run out here. Choices of great consequence, as well as seemingly innocuous ones, come to shape the direction of events. An off-the-cuff comment might come back to bite a character, which lends the game a tremendous sense of tension, like everything’s on a knife-edge. Hidden Agenda dispenses with any light adventuring pretensions, instead placing full impetus on its fast-moving narrative. This pays off in fine style, with Hidden Agenda serving as an accessible but thoroughly engrossing murder mystery.
HA shares similarities with Supermassive’s excellent horror title Until Dawn, most notably in its ‘Ripple Effect’ concept, which enjoys an even more nuanced run out here. Choices of great consequence, as well as seemingly innocuous ones, come to shape the direction of events. An off-the-cuff comment might come back to bite a character, which lends the game a tremendous sense of tension, like everything’s on a knife-edge. Hidden Agenda dispenses with any light adventuring pretensions, instead placing full impetus on its fast-moving narrative. This pays off in fine style, with Hidden Agenda serving as an accessible but thoroughly engrossing murder mystery.
Two key aspects define the game’s success: its story and the unexpectedly effective social multiplayer aspect. A superbly-scripted narrative lends considerable depth to the scenario and its characters, without ever feeling verbose. It’s been edited for a lean, fast-paced experience that doesn’t outstay its welcome. An excellent cast of characters is voiced superbly across the board, whilst the fluctuating states of trust between Becky, her detective partner, and Felicity mean events remain exciting and unpredictable. It is called Hidden Agenda, after all. The lines are blurred, whilst a considerable range of outcomes indicates choices have some degree of impact on the morals of those involved. Learning where you made mistakes and returning to shed more light on the case is a cerebral, satisfying endeavour. There’s far more depth to its multi-branch narrative than you ever would have imagined from a social-targetted, interactive movie.
It makes for a thoroughly enjoyable, local multiplayer experience. Bouncing ideas and theories off one another is great fun and an ideal fit for the story mode setup. There’s also a competitive mode where, at different junctures, players are given their own aim, their own hidden agenda if you will, to work towards a particular outcome. This is generally less conducive to solving the case, but decent fun nevertheless.
It makes for a thoroughly enjoyable, local multiplayer experience. Bouncing ideas and theories off one another is great fun and an ideal fit for the story mode setup. There’s also a competitive mode where, at different junctures, players are given their own aim, their own hidden agenda if you will, to work towards a particular outcome. This is generally less conducive to solving the case, but decent fun nevertheless.
Created in Unreal Engine 4, settings capture the essence of a crime drama perfectly. Harshly lit police stations juxtapose with dingy squats that thrum with danger. Characters exhibit realistic body language and a good, if not completely perfect, range of facial expressions. Particularly worthy of mention are their eyes, which convey a realistic mode of tracking that betrays their owners’ emotions. Elsewhere, Supermassive briefly make use of a cool rain effect, leaving an impressive, glistening coat of droplets on those in the scene.
There’s only a couple of question marks hanging over Hidden Agenda. One is the lack of a chapter select. In order to influence the most pivotal aspects of the story, including the endings, you want to be able to start at Part 3. The only way to do so is to create a cloud save at the beginning of the chapter and download it once your run has finished, to avoid it being overwritten automatically by the epilogue. Whilst it’s true the game is intended to be played over the course of a couple of hours, this is a poor oversight. The remaining concerns lie with the PlayLink. A new idea that was always likely to have teething issues, it is nevertheless frustrating that some phones will drop in and out with irritating frequency, bringing cinematics to an abrupt halt. Worse still, with quick-time events requiring that all players must select an action to make it happen, the game sometimes waits until after you’ve failed before pausing and delivering the disconnection message, which when combined with the save problem above, can spoil a run.
There’s only a couple of question marks hanging over Hidden Agenda. One is the lack of a chapter select. In order to influence the most pivotal aspects of the story, including the endings, you want to be able to start at Part 3. The only way to do so is to create a cloud save at the beginning of the chapter and download it once your run has finished, to avoid it being overwritten automatically by the epilogue. Whilst it’s true the game is intended to be played over the course of a couple of hours, this is a poor oversight. The remaining concerns lie with the PlayLink. A new idea that was always likely to have teething issues, it is nevertheless frustrating that some phones will drop in and out with irritating frequency, bringing cinematics to an abrupt halt. Worse still, with quick-time events requiring that all players must select an action to make it happen, the game sometimes waits until after you’ve failed before pausing and delivering the disconnection message, which when combined with the save problem above, can spoil a run.
The Ripple Effect, relating to cause-and-effect decisions, makes a welcome return
This inevitably brings into question the necessity of using an app over a pad. The developer has explained the lack of controller support, saying the experience isn’t the same. This is true to an extent, certainly from the perspective of drawing in family, friends and non-gamers. That said, case files aside, there’s little a phone brings to the experience that a PS4 pad couldn’t, particularly in the story mode. Covert choices could have utilised the face buttons. Cursor-based decisions could have made use of the analogue sticks. It’s often overlooked, but the controller has a touchpad of its own that might have worked on QTEs. The unusual method of control means a decent WiFi connection is a necessity, so just be aware of this if you’re planning on taking the plunge.
Nevertheless, Hidden Agenda is great. The social element is a considerable and unexpected success, whilst the game’s strong storyline and a significant number of outcomes generates a remarkable degree of replay value that surpasses that of Until Dawn. It’s incredibly edifying to see early decisions paying dividends later on down the line, and there’s a host of very different endings to discover. Don’t be fooled by the casual tag you sometimes see attached to it: Hidden Agenda is one of the most enjoyable narrative-led games around. If you’re happy with your WiFi, then make playing it high on the agenda.
Nevertheless, Hidden Agenda is great. The social element is a considerable and unexpected success, whilst the game’s strong storyline and a significant number of outcomes generates a remarkable degree of replay value that surpasses that of Until Dawn. It’s incredibly edifying to see early decisions paying dividends later on down the line, and there’s a host of very different endings to discover. Don’t be fooled by the casual tag you sometimes see attached to it: Hidden Agenda is one of the most enjoyable narrative-led games around. If you’re happy with your WiFi, then make playing it high on the agenda.