Suicide is never a good thing but what makes the Suicide of Rachel Foster particularly noteworthy?
The Suicide of Rachel Foster by Daedelic Entertainment is a video game that focuses on investigating not only her final moments but how it affected Nicole and her family. Immediately upon starting the game you learn that Rachel Foster was you father’s mistress and soon after the breakup between them she had committed suicide. Nicole, our protagonist in this story, reads about this briefly in a letter sent to her by her dying mother, asking her to close the story and sell the family hotel.
If investigating a suicide from years ago while trying to sell a hotel wasn’t enough you arrive during one of the worst storms hitting Montana in decades. When I heard about this game I was told it would be an investigation based narrative and based on that description sounded like it would be quite dull. Playing through the first few minutes after arriving at the hotel it feels suspiciously like it was hiding a horror game under it’s mundane dressing. The music and effects add a bit of tension (or perhaps that’s my lack of sleep after working the graveyard shift) but is offset by the slow movements and bored dialogue- Nicole sounds dreadfully bored.
The visuals of the game are quite detailed but many of the more interesting sites cannot be interacted with in any way. Gameplay is maddeningly dull and tedious. Movements slow without any options to speed them up (it seriously needed a jog option while navigating the hall of the hotel. Playing over an hour I am no closer to unraveling the secret of the suicide and wonder if perhaps she played her own game. I expected much better from Daedelic and unless it is a free title I would avoid this one, of course if you need help going to sleep at night playing this before bed just might help.