Review

Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller – Episode Three: The Oracle

Who is the Oracle? Why does this person seem to know more about Erica than she knows about herself? How is the Oracle tied to the Cain Killer, and for that matter, who is the Cain Killer and is he still alive? These are all question that should have been racking your brain as you played through the previous episodes of Phoenix Online Studios’ Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller. Well friends, Episode 3 not only answered each of these questions but also brought several more to keep your minds occupied until the fourth and final installment is released!

Ok, for those of you who are coming in mid-story, Cognition is a four part game series that tells the story of a gifted young FBI Agent, Erica Reed and her struggle to get past her self-perceived failure to save her younger brother from the very same serial killer she was currently investigating, the Cain Killer. Three years have passed since her brother’s death and the Cane Killer’s disappearance. Presently, Erica has encountered a series of new cases that all seem to be tied to her personally. These cases have multiple victims too; either serial killers themselves or personal friends and colleagues of Erica. More disturbingly, these crimes seem to be orchestrated by a mysterious puppeteer of an adversary, the Oracle. Who not only seems to know about Erica and her special gifts, but actually designs the crime scenes in a way that require her to utilize those gifts to investigate.

You see, Erica is not considered “gifted” because of her high intelligence or her investigative prowess, but rather due to the fact that she has the power of retrocognition; she can physically connect to people, things, or past events just by coming into contact with certain items. Since the beginning of the series her powers have grown from simply touching an object to get a vision of its most immediate past (cognition), to being able to manifest new items by collecting (or touching) three other related items (projection), creeping into minds of those she touches to organize and draw out specific memories (regression), and finally to combine items in her inventory to clarify an incomplete vision (synergy).

Phoenix Online studies did a masterful job of developing these powers in Episode 2: The Wise Monkey by creating unique and intuitive instances in which to use them. In fact, I found the use of Erica’s special skills to be the most exciting part of the last two episodes followed by increasingly intriguing story. But when it comes to Episode 3, all those powers take a far back seat to the overall plot. As I mentioned before two of the most pertinent questions of this series, the identities of the Oracle and the Cane Killer are answered in this installment. One of which you have answered before the opening credits! I was completely blown away by the twists and turns of the story as I progressed through the game.

Episode 3: The Oracle starts off exactly where the previous episode ended, at Enthon Towers. This location is a mystery in and of itself considering that a certain someone from Erica’s last case was thrown from the top of this luxury high rise. Additionally, this is the residence of Cordelia, a new acquaintance of Erica’s who also lost her brother to a killer and seems to have similar gifts as Erica. They become friends after an interesting encounter while visiting their bothers’ graves – it’s here that Cordelia shares that she had seen a man lurking near her building who may fit the description of the Cain Killer! The Oracle not only lured Erica to Enthon Towers but also seemed to have pointed her towards the one perp she has vengefully sought after for the past three years!

If that isn’t intense enough for the premise of the story there is also the haunted house feeling of this whole episode. You’ll spend the entire episode in at Enthon Towers; Erica will split her time between the present and the past in order to fully investigate at the Towers. Also keep in mind that Erica has had some premonitions about her own death in the past. These premonitions seem to become stronger the longer she is at Enthon Towers. Being that the setting does not change and that there is a threat of eminent danger, there is a retro kind of haunted house feel to this episode that wasn’t present in the past. It can get pretty intense when you are trapped in an unknown environment and have to navigate through it all while interacting with suspects and avoiding your potential murder. These elements are all present in The Oracle and make for some creative problem-solving.

The puzzles are very intuitive and do not require some obscure or specific sequence in order to progress the game. That would be my main complaint for most mystery point-and-click games and one of the problems I had with the first episode of Cognition. There was only one instance in this episode that I got too far ahead of myself, but it was such a minimal set back that it did not hurt the gameplay. Instead the puzzles were complex and engaging enough that I actually got stuck a few times and had to carefully go back and look for clues I may have missed in order to progress. Perhaps because the story drives this episode so much, one could argue that the replay value is limited. But I would say instead that the puzzles were still complex enough that after being away from the game for an extended time, you’ll have fun figuring out just exactly how you solved these puzzles the first time.

Overall, I give Phoenix Online Studies two super thumbs up on a job well done; a mystery point-and-click/haunted house thriller with a most intriguing plot. As I have come to expect the with the Cognition series, the voice acting and visuals are still very good and work well with the game’s mechanics and story to deliver an awesome mystery-solving experience. There is still no upgrade to the auto save feature, but as cumbersome as it can be to pick and choose your own save points, the lack of this feature did not decrease the quality of the gameplay as it had done in the past. Truly The Oracle and the other episodes are worth the very reasonable price whether purchased separately or with the discounted season pass offers. If you are not already drooling for Episode 4: The Cain Killer, go back and play through the first three episodes and I guarantee that will start up your salivary glands!