Have you ever watched NCIS and wished you got to do cool things like Dr Donald “Ducky” Mallard and help solve criminal cases? Well, Team17 and Woodland Games have made your dream a reality. ‘Autopsy Simulator’ is a story-driven, mystery horror-sim hybrid that will leave tingles down your spine as you progress through your pathologist career. You get to solve some disturbing criminal cases and see some absolute horrors in front of you both real and of the supernatural.

You start the story off as a middle-aged gentleman, whose life profession is being a pathologist. Your life has been turned on its head with the loss of your beloved wife and also your career is spiralling downwards. You are tired and exhausted and you turn to pills to live your day-to-day life. You are eventually thrust back into the life of taking care of the dead because you are just that damn good. I was drawn into the narrative that was added as it really pushed the boundaries of a typical simulation experience.

I’ve always firmly believed that most simulations need to be done on the PC or at least with a mouse and keyboard and Autopsy Simulator is no exception from that belief. Some aspects are normal for PCs like your movement with W, A, S, and D and interacting with objects like doors is just a left click. One of the key things in this title is that there is a prompt screen whenever you are doing something so you know exactly what controls you need to click and for the first time I don’t think the on-screen prompt was overwhelming as it is quite subtle.

Getting down to the nitty and gritty with the autopsies you do lots of clicking and lots of dragging which adds to the experience of feeling like you are really cutting their chest open or you are dissecting the brain into a couple of pieces to investigate. There are some similar titles where you want to remap the key bindings to make the game more comfortable but the developers did a great job with just the default configuration of the controls.

I loved the attention to detail, with you having to really break down each case to find the cause of death for the subject. It made it even better that the development team got real-world forensic doctors in to help guide how things were being done to make the most accurate simulation experience. I was worried that this game was going to feel repetitive, which was not the case in the slightest. Each case had its own case file and each case felt a little bit more different each time. It took me a little while to get used to cutting patients open and removing vital organs and then dissecting them but after the first one, I was sweet and keen to get amongst it.

I had come to the conclusion that simulators were all going to look bland when it came to the graphical side of things but Autopsy Simulator has changed that opinion very quickly. This game looked absolutely stunning graphically which added another level of mystery and horror to the title. The shadows and lighting in the morgue made it the most eerie location to be working in and the Meticulousness taken to designing the damage done to your patients was phenomenal.

I have always loved what lighting and shadows can do to a scene to paint more of a picture of the game. You have the morgue which is dark and haunting and the contrasting bright sunshine glowing through the windows in your apartment is a great juxtaposition. All the smaller things like the clipboards, pictures and case files were done super well and there was no distortion or anything like that which made for a great overall experience.

The sound portion of the title took a little back step which was super fitting for the theme of the title. The main character has dialogue throughout the entire game which was more him talking to himself the entire time. You can hear the exhaustion in his voice which adds a much-needed emotional connection. You hear the occasional sound effect when doing things to your patients such as when you are cutting them open you can hear a slicing sound but it was not overboard that it made you feel sick. There was not much more to the sounds apart from the occasional sounds in the little cutscenes which added to that mystery.

If you are chasing a title that has the perfect mixture of gameplay that submerges you into the life of a pathologist and spine-chilling moments that will keep you on your toes from start to finish then Autospy Simulator will be the perfect game for you to cut some time into. The immersive details alone make this a great title for anyone seeking something a little bit different from the casual simulation games. 

Written by: Hayden Nelson