Do you remember the movie ‘Minority Report’, starring Tom Cruise? The super futuristic, hologram, computer, intense crime-solving, and in-your-face drama/sci-fi?

Well, Forest Grove is that movie in a game.

Forest Grove is a first-person mystery game where you uncover forensic clues, solve puzzles, and piece together a story using your own conclusions. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong! This game has more twists and turns than ‘Game of Thrones’ (and hopefully a better ending).

Though our playthrough was a DEMO build, here is the story of Forest Grove so far; Zooey Kunstimatigaard, a teenage heiress to a billion-dollar tech fortune, was reported missing by her stepmother Mary. She was last seen in her bedroom in Forest Grove, Oregon.

You, the player, as a part of The Remote Forensics Bureau uses this as an opportunity to roll out their latest crime-fighting technology, the Nanodeck. You will use it to investigate the scene, collect evidence, and unmask the truths behind Zooey’s disappearance.

The RFB have a gigantic white room, where they house the previously mentioned Nanodeck. The Nanodeck is a powerful computer that generates a hologram recreation of the Kunstimatigaard household, allowing you to enter and begin your investigation.

The crime scene/household is absolutely over following with evidence ranging from DNA, fingerprints, perspiration metabolites, and much more. One of the most engaging pieces of evidence to discover is via the assistance of floating drones that are stationed throughout the hologram. When you line up the drone with scattered outline fragments of people, it reveals audio conversations that can either help sway or hinder, your investigation.

The game is much more than just a scan-collect-rinse-repeat method, you also have to do your own clue hunting and problem-solving. For example, there is a locked cell phone in Zooey’s room, which requires the password key of her mother’s published book. To find this book requires unlocking a safe that requires clues from other rooms found in the house. It truly does provide a double sense of crime-solving with one being to uncover the house and the other being to solve the crime.

Though certain doors and avenues were locked due to the preview build of this game, I was actually left with a sense of ‘No, come on! I want to keep finding clues and solving this mystery which is rare for mainstream, let alone indie games like this one.

Though only a demo, it’s abundantly clear to see that Forest Grove will be leading the forefront in the Mystery genre for the next few years. I urge you to search out this game and uncover this mystery as soon as possible!

Written by: Brutaleo