Murder on Space Station 52 has a solid command on the weird. It might wear its inspirations on its sleeve – what with the film noir quotes, overwrought literary narration, and art deco flourishes – but it’s the insectoid characters and the vaguely aquatic sci-fi vibe that leave a lasting impact. It’s a world that feels as original as it does alien, all without alienating the player.
Our helmet-bound hero Edward Locke arrives on Space Station 52 as a mechanic, and the locals waste no time in putting him to work on fixing things. On his very second job, however, he comes across a murder victim (gasp!). With seemingly nothing better to do, he sets out to find out who caused… the Murder on Space Station 52 (dun dun dun).
Locke is a point-and-click hero in line with all the classics. He has a pleasant voice for describing his environment and dropping suitable hints, even if his origins and motivations are inscrutable. That’s alright, I told myself – this is a mystery yarn after all – we’ll figure things out eventually.
Unfortunately, no, we do not figure things out eventually. In fact, the game’s carefully unraveling mystery ends with the equivalent of narrative defenestration as the game knots a series of bizarre ending twists and calls it a day.
I would call it insulting to the player if I wasn’t satisfied with the point-and-click puzzling already (more on that in a bit), but more than anything, it feels me with disappointment. This game deserved to end properly, and it’s a shame that you end the game with the feeling that the storyteller simply got bored, stood up, and left the room.
The abrupt and out-of-place ending colored my opinion on this game so much that I have to remind myself that I actually did enjoy this game for the most part! The puzzles are intuitive to solve and you’re limited to a handful of areas per chapter, so that I was never overwhelmed. A very helpful highlights system differentiates between visual-only objects and interactive objects, serving as a gentle clue system for what you can use and what you can’t.
I rarely had much trouble solving puzzles in Murder on Space Station 52 as a result. Even if the game adheres to point-and-click puzzle logic, I found the deductions and associations I made to be quite satisfying and even rhythmic. Made From Strings has a solid handle on how to make a point-and-click adventure game, which is what makes the narrative sabotage that much sadder.
Murder on Space Station 52 is an odd game that I would have recommended for 90% of its playtime. After finishing it, however, I can’t imagine recommending it to fans of point-and-click game – a genre that values and cherishes storytelling above most other game genres. In this saturated market, there’s plenty of adventure games for you to peruse, with stories that enthrall and intrigue, and recommending Murder on Space Station 52 out of those feels like a vote of pity.
Developer: Made From Strings
Country of Origin: United States
Publisher: Dionous Games
Release Date: September 25, 2024 (PC)
This review is based on a copy of the game provided by the publisher. The PC version of Murder on Space Station 52 was played for this review.
Thank you for reading our review of Murder on Space Station 52.
Playing the game already? Check out our walkthrough of the game!
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