Voyeur II

The Good
I liked the idea behind this game, it's not about solving a murder it's about preventing one.

The premise is that as the voyeur the player is able to see what is happening in the house across the canyon (this is one of the many reasons why this could only be a US game). Following the death of a professor there's a battle for control of his company. Elizabeth, the professor's partner, is the person at risk here someone prepared to kill for control of the company.

The idea is that by eavesdropping on conversations the player can spot the baddie and, by anticipating where they will strike, prevent the murder. It's a good idea but its the implementation that I found hard to like.

The final thing I thought was a nice touch is that there are two games here. I only found this out by looking at a walk-through but when the game starts it loads one of two sets of scenarios each with a different villain and a different solution.

The acting is pretty decent and there's really nothing scandalous about the video sequences, I've seen one lady in her under things and the back of one undressed man.

The Bad
The game is built around full motion video and, in it's day it was probably pretty good. Now it looks dated.

However my main problem is with the game play. When played with a walk-through this can be seen to be a very short game with a couple of puzzles and just four or five relevant video sequences to watch. When played properly the player must start by eavesdropping on the correct window, I think there's around nine or ten to choose from. Then they must locate the next relevant window and watch what happens there and so on. Get the sequence wrong and Elizabeth dies.
I like a game where I can make progress. Here, and I've played the game several times now, game play consists of trying to guess a sequence with no real clue or feedback to gauge whether any progress has been made.

The Bottom Line
Probably very good in its day. Worth playing to show how much gaming has advanced.