Case Files: The Death of Paulette Williams (PS4)

Television and movies have created an idea of police interrogations that is filled with tough cops pressuring belligerent criminals in tense exchanges, but the reality of such interrogations is they’re often rather subdued and the people being interviewed are guarded but often fairly calm. While this change to how they unfold in fiction is good for drama, a game where you’re solving a crime through watching realistic interrogations is an idea with some merit. Unfortunately, while Case Files: The Death of Paulette Williams is able to provide a fairly authentic reproduction of such interrogations with its live action full-motion videos, it also doesn’t feel like it knows how to integrate the detective side of things very well.

 

Paulette Williams was a woman of 62 when she was found dead in her home due to a prescription overdose. Since a medical condition rendered her unable to do much on her own, her daughter Samantha and her son-in-law Elliot live with her to take care of her, and based on the time of the death, the only two people who could seemingly be responsible for Paulette’s premature death are these two individuals… although the game brings up a caregiver who is brushed over despite being rather suspicious in their absence as a suspect or possible source of information. Instead, the game has officer Martin Ruiz interrogating Samantha and Elliot about the course of the events leading up to Paulette’s death in order to try and figure out who is responsible as well as where 5 missing pills of the pain medication OxyContin went. There are some suspicious elements in place from the start like Samantha having a plane ticket to Costa Rica set for a few months down the line and Elliot would be the one who should be overseeing her care at night when Paulette’s death happens, so there is at least reasonable cause to suspect both of the interviewees whose interrogations you’ll be watching on your computer monitors.

Case Files: The Death of Paulette Williams unfolds by having Martin Ruiz seeking your help in the investigation, the player first watching the live feeds of an interrogation with Samantha and Elliot separately and then getting a call from Martin on which angle to pursue in some follow up interviews. The actual interrogations are rather low energy for the most part and a focus on proper procedure can lead to some slow or dull moments, but there is a realistic air to it all where no one is acting over the top or being obviously suspicious. These interviews are presented through uninterrupted and fairly lengthy live action footage shot from two angles you can freely swap between at any time, all three actors portraying their characters fairly well and able to hit some stronger emotions believably despite them breaking away from the more subdued discussions that make up much of the time spent discussing the crime. While the interrogations unfold a bit differently based on how you choose for Martin to approach them, the information is consistent across all routes and is either revealed or suppressed differently, the overall case information able to carryover between playthroughs since the short story being told can have multiple endings based on who you choose to accuse and how you got to that conclusion. You are able to enable a Skip Video option to make such repeat playthroughs easier to attempt and get to scenes you haven’t seen before, although there aren’t that many truly unique paths to take to these often short endings.

 

There are a few little moments of increased intrigue when you do get a significant answer out of someone that changes your perspective on the case, but these are not only rare, but also not really something you’ll gain through much action or detective work of your own. After the initial two interviews you are asked how to pursue a follow-up interview with Samantha from two options, and subsequently the follow-up interview with Elliot also only gives you two choices on how to press him. After that, it’s time to point the finger at who you think is the responsible party or just let everyone go, but the distribution of substantial clues is actually fairly weak and doesn’t feel like it influences your actions as much as it should. You’re given a set of paperwork with information like bank account activity and Samantha’s plane ticket details but there are no contradictions to draw attention to or any unique findings in these papers that influence how you view the case. Similarly, you can view each interrogation on a second monitor and freely fast-forward or rewind it to hear parts again, but since Martin Ruiz is just asking you for a general approach on how to do the next interrogation, it’s not like there’s any specific information to glean or suspicious behavior to hone in on. Martin will bring up what he’s got hunches on during the interrogation but also won’t always tell you about those thoughts when it is time to make your decision on where to go next. He does at least try to give you an idea of what he thinks each decision could lead to, but information sharing with your partner is pretty non-existent and even in the true ending it’s more about Martin taking initiative than your actions.

This does lead to the unfortunate truth about Case Files: The Death of Paulette Williams, and it’s that mostly you’re just watching interrogation feeds and you can’t really impact the course of events much. A run really does involve just three choices and there’s not enough to what you’re watching for intrigue to carry the day. The crime itself feels rather low stakes so it lacks the kind of drastic twists or turns that could make the story captivating on its own, the mystery not even having enough variables in play that unraveling it feels like a thought-provoking process. Here the realism does let it down; had it been more interactive it could have stood on its merits as a problem-solving challenge but since you’re mostly just viewing the few scenes available it isn’t providing too much of interest to watch or engage with. Even when you reach the split path element and receive some different information, there are still small information retreads that make it drag a bit more. Sometimes it can seem like crucial details just arise unprompted as well, an admission or new details provided not because the actions of you or Martin Ruiz. It’s difficult to get invested in an investigation that is so loose in how information is acquired and where you’re depending on another character to pursue the right information channels without much influence over him.

THE VERDICT: A detective game that provides very little detective work to do, Case Files: The Death of Paulette Williams is both realistic to a fault and exists too far outside the player’s control to be interesting. Picking the general vibe of the next interrogation is a poor approach to interactivity and having very little behavioral clues or factual inconsistencies to latch onto makes the investigation feel shallow. The performers do a good job of portraying the interrogations in a realistic manner although that also ensures it can be rather dry and slow, and with the tale not having too many major developments to add intrigue to the plot, it feels like you’re not only witnessing a very mundane crime being solved, but you barely have any impact on how that process unfolds.

 

And so, I give Case Files: The Death of Paulette Williams for PlayStation 4…

A TERRIBLE rating. The PlayStation release of Case Files: The Death of Paulette Williams omits a note-taking feature found in the PC version, and it was actually quite wise for reasons beyond usability. Taking notes makes it easy to notice how little there is of interest to press in your loosely handled investigation, the game depending too much on Martin Ruiz deciding how to approach things himself in the next segment. Your choices do influence it some of course, but the two interviewees will sometimes adjust their story because they just remembered something rather than there being a compelling connection between clues and contradictions. The realistic presentation is well-acted even if the actors can’t manage to produce any actual tears for the moments of heightened emotion, but this approach also means it can’t really stand as essentially a movie you have light influence over. Clearly there should have been a greater degree of interactivity, even just having the potential conversation routes Martin pursues actually give you the breadth of what he aims to cover rather than just a general tone would do so much to make your choices feel meaningful since the vagueness can make those decisions feel like you’re running on hunches rather than able to press areas you’re suspicious about. The long live action footage is filmed from two angles and features no cuts so perhaps there was the fear that it would be too much work to make many varied routes, but shorter clips and more immediate ways to contact Ruiz would help the interrogations feel more personal and allow for you to actually investigate the mystery more.

 

The scope of Case Files: The Death of Paulette Williams is humble, a small story in a short game, so the detective work really needed to carry it and unfortunately it’s where the game fails the most. Guiding the investigation feels too hands-off, but the format isn’t necessarily doomed as is, the performers doing solid work and if there were more clues to latch onto and a way to more often press important subjects, then this simple murder story could have at least given you the sensation of working like a real police investigator. Instead it’s a dull movie with a few branching points that aren’t always clear in how they’ll unfold based on what you pick. FMV games can be hard to make interactive unless you’re willing to record a lot of footage, but with a second entry in this fledgling series announced as being in development, there is potential to better mold the footage around the investigation rather than taking the more rigid branching approach seen here. Unless you’re content with realism substituting in for intrigue or detective work, it’s best to find your mystery solving fix elsewhere.