Third Eye Crime : Act 1 Review – Distraction and Speed!

Our rating:

By: Gameblyr, LLC

Version #: 1.0

Date Released:

Developer: Third Eye Crime: Act 1 Support

Price: $2.99

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As if the title wasn’t mysterious enough, the intriguing trumpet sound past the loading screen gives the best possible invitation to the noir gameplay packed within Third Eye Crime. You’re quick to assume a Sherlock and Watson scenario as you come across the silhouetted, hatted intro guy and the spotlighted title but as soon as you’re done with the tutorial, things start turning out to be a bit more complicated than that.

Actually, you’re on the other side of the law unlike Downey and more specifically, your job is taking contracts for heists – couldn’t be classier for a man in a suit! The name is Rothko and how he gets through heavily guarded levels and steals diamonds is what Third Eye Crime is all about.

The overall look of the game kinda reminds of the classic Commandos game or Stealth Assassin in terms of the scenario and eagle-eye camera. But quite contrarily and shockingly for many, Third Eye Crime is not a Stealth game and there is not much of sneaking past villains. Your cover is blown a couple of seconds into the game and the CPU-powered guard is behind your tail. The rest of the level demands more of quick thinking and swift movements than patience and timing of moves.

The name ‘Third Eye Crime‘ comes from the sixth-sense power of Rothko, by which he can predict where the guards will come looking for him. This becomes the key element of the game as he knows where the guards think he is.  Such areas are marked in gradients of Red, similar to trail paths shown in Splinter Cell: Conviction or Hitman: Absolution. The armed men are sure to visit these areas soon and you need to plan your moves accordingly.  Faster guards, gun men, locked doors and tracers tightens things later while beepers can be used to distract guards.  Just draw paths for Rothko around pillars, blocks and doors to avoid the guards’ sight – get the loot and exit.

The game is divided into different chapters, and then into levels. In addition to the primary aim of reaching the bright illuminated door on another end of the map, you’ll have optional secondary objectives like gems or paintings to be picked up in case you think you’re the best and I know you do! These levels are just about half a minute long but are more realistic and harder than a lot of other detective genre games out there. Don’t expect to win them at the first try. Play levels many times to learn the behaviour of different guards and once you figure that out, 30 seconds would be extravagant.

Graphics are one of the major highlights of the game. The levels and cut scenes are animated in a comic-themed style with sharp edges, irregular polygons and text boxes. The game also follows a strong story-line and the scrollable interactive sheet for storytelling, reminds us a little of Device 6. And finally, minimal and relevant-only sound effects – check!

Third Eye Crime however is not without caveats. The first and most complained one is the poor Artificial Intelligence that controls the guards. Though they work great for most part, once you find a way to cheat them, it can be used in almost all levels and things become a little gloomy and monotonous. Another thing is that the game gets really hard at certain levels. That in no way is a bad thing, but it just seems to be directed more towards promoting in-app purchases than enhancing the gamer experience.

In the end, Third Eye Crime is a harder-than-average quick-paced puzzler than a stealth game and if you think you’d be a fit in this category, it is surely worth your investment.