Whispers of a Machine

Clifftop Games and Raw Fury already gave us Kathy Rain several years ago (it even has a Director's Cut I have yet to play). I knew I had to put my hands on WoaM when reading the synopsis mentioning this was a sci-fi nordic noir game. I made the purchase some time ago but put the playing on hold as the game ended up in my then massive list of backlog titles.
A dystopian future
While the story revolves around investigating murders with Vera - our cyber-augmented detective - it is interesting to find out that in this future we are after a catastrophe that had something to do with advanced A.I. Do read everything when you get to the museum as it tells you a lot. Vera is one of the few with her augmentations that affect gameplay and gives us the possibility to solve a situation in different ways.
Attitude / personalities & augmentations
Picking a dialogue option doesn't just serve to advance the story but it affects later chapters (or days as the game refers to them). Generally, many times we have the opportunity to pick from 3 different answers. In a way they mean the same but determine how Vera approaches a problem. She's straightforward which means she can hurt the feelings of others or empathetic towards the victim or enemy and she can also act professionally in her responses. The points we get for these determine what additional augmentation we unlock later.
Augmentations help with investigation and initially we rely on various scanning methods to find a trail. Vera analyses dead bodies and bootprints or even blood samples can be saved and looked for when looking for our next clue. She can also boost her muscles to become stronger - get that coin from the soda machine with the boost OR ask for a screwdriver. Both can be used to open the ventilation shaft for a special item.
There are 3 slots locked in the lower-right corner of the screen as depending on our attitude when responding different augmentations will unlock. We can use Mimicry to infiltrate a church or in case Mind Control is available instead we can take control of somebody else to enter the building. You need an electrician's help to progress but she's busy working on a power box. Use Amnesia on her so that she'll forget what to do and decides to help you instead or apply Energise on the box itself and by doing so you complete her task in a jiff. Each tier has 3 different skills which means you need 3 walkthroughs to experience everything and also to get the corresponding achievements.
Summary
WoaM gives us an interesting story with at least 2 different endings. The approach to problem solving in line with our dialogue options and skills increases the replayability. For me this is uncommon in this genre which is why I can only praise this game. Vera constantly updates her notes as we progress with the story and during conversations we can ask other characters about each entry. Do that even if it makes no sense as people respond anyway and the voice acting is great in this game. This is a very satisfying adventure game that point-and-click fans must have in their library of games.

Hugely enjoyable adventure game with great characters, writing and voice acting. I love that you can take your character down different paths and make use of skills that give multiple ways to solve the puzzles. Choices are always appreciated in this genre and make the character feel more like your own.

A competent point n click game, if a bit too average in most of its aspects: setting, writing, puzzles, characters. All the elements are there but none stands out too much.
The way the player choices affect the main character and some puzzles is intriguing, but you'll have to go through a couple of playthroughs to really notice the differences.
The game is fairly short (you can finish it in a few hours), it makes you wish that some of the mechanics were utilised more, but the story has a good flow and all of the puzzles feel logical enough.
Overall it's a nice solid little adventure, especially recommended if it's on sale.

An immensely short adventure game. The typical "classic point and click" game. The length of the game is hidden behind it's variations. The gamer is developing a different set of the skills, based on dialogues, and solving the puzzles in a different way as in result. But more or less the story is the same, except of a fork with the ending selection.
The game is not allowing to you to do a savegame, bur it makes auto one. Hence, if you are in need to see the other option and to get all the holy achievements, then you will need to pass it about 4 times (something about 20 hours). However it is hard to force yourself with a "new game", as there is no new variables in it. As for example, it was interesting to push "New Game" in the Blade Runner game immediately, because of many variables on who is who. Here it all the same. Maybe you will reply it again, one day, in a year or so. Hence, author wasted a potential here, and game's continuity could be better without all these unnecessary replays. Which is important when there are only 2 people making the game.
The game itself is a detective story set in the post-apocalypse. The story is fine, but no real twist is happening, as you can predict the whole chain reaction, because it cyberpunk-ish after all.
The controller officially is not supported for this one ("Kathy Rain DC" has a very good one btw), but there are only few buttons in use, so you can make a steam-controller profile and no issues with the action events. The only problem are terminals. The built-in steam's software keyboard's "Enter" button doesn't register as the real "Enter" press. You are able to enter the commands but not their execution. Therefore keep a keyboard handy.

Short and VERY worth a play.

I'm three hours into this game and i gotta say i love it! It really catches the awesome vibes from 90's point and click games. The story is captivating and everything really well done so far!
The makers doesn't have a huge budget so don't expect any over the top voice acting or fancy graphics like they had in classics like The Dig and Beneath a Steel Sky. However what the do with the means they have is truly awesome and amazing!

7/10