CSM Writes:
"Thankfully, the game is broken up by a fairly taut murder mystery that slowly unravels, and by puzzles. One of these asks you to corner someone you want to interview in the middle of a garden maze, a nice touch of variety. While there is some violence, tobacco and alcohol in the game, it's of the very mild variety, added more to round out the plot and characters than to shock. When you find a dead body, for instance, even if there's something branded in the body, there's no gross amount of oozing blood. Finally, a plus of the game is the inclusion of a Patterson novella and a sneak peak at the author's next novel in the game package."
This week’s ‘Deal of the Week’ promotion on Windows Phone 7 sees the surprisingly under-populated Hidden Object genre receive some of the attention. James Patterson Women’s Murder Club: Death in Scarlet, a spine-tingling murder mystery, is available at a reduced price now, and for one week only.
Games based upon the novels of James Patterson have become remarkably popular in recent years. With a number of releases across many formats – including PC and Nintendo DS – the series comes to Windows Phone 7, beginning back at the start with James Patterson Women’s Murder Club: Death in Scarlet. While the story is the same as on other formats, the gameplay is an altogether different situation.
The main storyline is delivered through comic book styled panels with fantastic artwork, drawing parallels to some of the top tier hand-drawn works intended for an adult audience. However, the gloss doesn't last too long and minor plot developments are handled with almost characterless by comparison profiles. Playing as three female characters with their own professional interest in the unravelling murder mystery is a superficial adjustment and has little bearing on the gameplay, though does allow for areas to be utilised in multiple ways for varying objectives.
