Game review: Twin Mirror

The great thing about video games in general is that some of them give you a wide range of choices. Unlike in movies or books, some games allow you to make your own decisions in order to go through the entire story.

This non-linear approach to choice-based games allows you to play them multiple times to see different events or different endings. A few of my favourite games of this particular genre includes the legendary Heavy Rain on PS3 as well as Until Dawn which came out for PS4 in 2015.

When I got the chance to review Twin Mirror, I was intrigued at first because I love playing games with multiple endings. Not to mention the story grabbed me once the introduction was passed.

There's only one playable character in this game as you assume the role of a journalist named Sam Higgs. Higgs left his hometown of Basswood two years ago, but now he's back to attend the funeral of his best friend named Nick.

Higgs doesn't get a homecoming welcome from his friends or colleagues because a lot of folks in the town hate him. This is because he wrote an article about how dangerous the local mine was, therefore making many in the town unemployed thanks to its closure.

Higgs' unpopularity in the town isn't the main story of the game, although I did it funny that a person like him already has a lot of enemies. The only people that he can truly trust in the town include Nick's daughter named Joan and his ex-girlfriend called Anna.

That being said, the main story revolves around the death of Nick. The official police report claims Nick died in an accident due to a car crash, but his daughter Joan thinks her father's death was planned. Joan asks the help of Sam to look into the matter.

Sam doesn't believe Joan at first, but he is curious. He, however, gets more spooked about another possible murder when he wakes up one night with his shirt covered up in blood. Sam got drunk the night before and he has no memory of seeing blood. This revelation gives him more reasons to chase whoever is killing people in this spooky town.

What I like most about Twin Mirror are the investigation scenes. When Sam enters a room that's of interest, you control him to inspect all of the evidence. You usually have to search every nook and cranny to find what you need, although investigation scenes never got too overwhelming or boring to me.

Sam also has access to his own personal, "Mind Palace" where he can patch together events and how they are linked with one another. One of the more interesting Mind Palace segments was him trying to find out exactly how and where Nick's truck crashed on the side of the road.

There are several other incidents where Sam has to find out what has or will happen and it's very interesting. Sam also has access to his own conscious named 'Him'. 'Him' is like a split personality that gives him advice on what he should or should not do. It reminds me of the movie 'Fight Club' where the main character can be seen talking to himself.

Although several parts of this game can be entertaining, there are other Mind Palace segments that aren't fun and ruin the pace of the story. There's a huge Mind Palace section near the end of the game where Sam is about to lose his mind, but you have to guide him back to the real world. It's a long section and it was hard to navigate through his dream-like maze inside his head.

Another thing some people may not like about the game is that it's very short. I remember Heavy Rainand Detroit: Become Human being over 10 hours long during your first playthrough. Twin Mirror only lasts six hours the first time you play the game.

Sure you can play the game more than once to get multiple endings, although the different scenarios aren't as fun to watch like other games in this same genre. Not to mention some people can be lazy and watch the other playthroughs via YouTube instead.

Graphically, Twin Mirror looks okay for a late generation PS4 and Xbox One video game. The character models look inconsistent, but the backgrounds thankfully look more realistic. It's worth mentioning this game isn't enhanced for PS5 and Xbox Series X, so don't expect to see next-gen visuals.

Overall, Twin Mirroris an average decision-based game that features some good parts and some bad parts. It's not an entirely terrible video game by any means, but it's not as fun or entertaining as games like Until Dawn or Heavy Rain. If you're interested in this type of genre, it's best to wait until Twin Mirror is on sale to play it.

Verdict: 7.0/10