The Fan

If I put a blue thumb, do I recommend this game without reserve? That is what I am going to explain in this assessment. "The fan" is based on a good idea realized by a self-taught who realizes here his first game: a dot & click with photos in which one embodies a serial-killer who spies on young women, removes them and sequesters them and finally murders them. The sex and violence Association is a recipe already well known and regularly applied in the television series where the psychopath is a figure often inescapable in some of them. We must not fear to find here more violent images and in any case not as bloody as the slightest film Gore. The visual aspect is nevertheless the most successful element of the game which allows to maintain a convincing atmosphere during the whole duration of the game. Photorealistic environments are well chosen and make us pass from creepy or messy cellars to cozy apartments. You can click in many places to observe objects in close-up and it is full of details to give real authenticity to the places and reveal an extended background. The actors are well staged and the choice of a girl next door (Claire Hoffmann) rather than a Lolita to interpret the captive young woman is also an effective way of reinforcing realism rather than falling into the clichés of the bombass in distress. And then the music fully fulfils its role to maintain the atmosphere while knowing to remain discreet. I also appreciated the way in which the game parachutes directly into the criminal universe and encourages us to focus on its own obsessions. There is no need to understand the logic of this disturbed brain but to feel its irresistible impulses. In addition, the game offers the possibilities to make some crucial choices that lead to variants of the scenario and several alternative endings depending on the combination chosen. Unfortunately, there are several flats to bring that make "the fan" not the great game he could have been. First, the interractive zones are really too visible because they appear before the mouse is even passed on. Moreover, the icons are not always well chosen or ideally placed and the actions become confusing. Secondly, there is a great frustration that the opportunities for action and exploration remain too limited. If one can zoom in on a number of details of the environment, I would have liked to be able to manipulate more objects, to be confronted with real puzzles and to conduct a deeper exploration. Then the fact of not necessarily understanding the approach of the killer and having to search for objects without knowing why we place in the skin of this individual lost in his perversion but it necessarily affects also the motivation of the player. Especially, the game is too easy and really too short. If we except the time we take to click on all the areas hoping in vain to be able to access something interesting, the game comes down to a hidden object game that can end in less than 5 minutes per variant of scenario when we content the actions in dispensable. Especially that there are only a large dozen objects to be found in everything, of which almost half of are not even hidden but placed prominently. And I don't know if I can actually call it a riddle to have to find a key to open a door or read an email to have a clue to enter another place, especially when the suggested way is not necessary. However, I want to salute the work of the developer because for having once thought of creating a game of the same genre, I know the limitations and constraints of this particular approach. It remains that this attempt is not accomplished and that one remains with the impression of having played the demo of the game or, as it is fashionable, the first episode of a much longer series. For the same price, even at-20% when I bought it, you still have to say that you can get more satisfying games. In short, a modest atmosphere game that offers an original but terribly frustrating experience. To everyone to see if he wants to try or not to be "the fan".