It's murder most foul with Pastel Games' latest point-and-click mystery, Rizzoli & Isles: The Masterpiece Murders. Created for TNT's series of the same name, the first murder case you'll wind up trying to solve is anything but routine; people are dying, and when paintings showcasing the very crime scene you just entered begin to turn up, it becomes apparent that you're not dealing with your garden variety whack-job. Is Bob Ross striking back from beyond the grave? I never trusted that guy. Who knows how many happy little lumps were buried under those happy little trees?
The gameplay will be familiar to anyone who has played either The Scene of the Crime or its sequel, The Golden Doll. The game is played in a first-person perspective, presenting you with different scenes to explore and hunt in for clues as you tackle cases. A changing cursor will indicate an item, place, or person you can interact with, and you can make use of items that you gather via your inventory at the bottom of the screen. Gameplay is essentially split into two parts; tracking down clues across various locales, and trying to make connections with your evidence back at the office based on things you've found or new information Rizzoli and Isles have for you. You can take a closer look at certain items on your desk, but the bulk of your work will be to make connections between pieces of evidence on your bulletin board; drag items together to see if they "match", and try to form conclusions that will lead you to new locations. For example, I conclude that based on my timely write-up of this game, and how spectacularly wonderful my boss is, I will be given an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas. [Nice try. -Jay] D'awww...
Analysis: Okay, so maybe murder isn't necessarily foul; visually, the game is as artistically striking as we've come to expect from Pastel Games, with great artwork that matches the overall theme and wonderfully detailed environments. The repetitive soundtrack does get a little old, but then that's what disabling the music via the options and playing Lady Gaga on loop is for. (Why, how do you get "in the zone"?) Considering that the game is based on a television drama, you might wish that the characters were more involved than relegated to what feel like walk-on roles, but hey... don't we all want to star in our own stories?
Investigation, unfortunately, winds up feeling like it takes a bit more guesswork than anything else. You'll spend a lot of time blasting every surface you come across with blood stain spray, then trying to fingerprint everything, then trying to swab it, just in case you missed something. Since you actually play as neither of the two lead characters (I always dreamed of being Nameless Detective #41!), it seems like allowing for an option to ask Rizzoli, who always seems to be hanging around the office, for a hint or a hunch would have been helpful. But, alas, if she doesn't have anything new to say, she just stares at you like your shirt is covered in day-old pizza sauce, leaving you to shuffle meekly back to your evidence board and bump papers together in the hopes of stumbling across a connection. As of this writing, there are also a few glitches to stumble across that might hinder your progress, which stinks since one of them (an apparently random "infinite tutorial loop") essentially forces you to reload the screen and lose your progress.
Play all the Rizzoli & Isles games:
Ultimately, however, if you stick with it and doggedly cover every scene for fingerprints, bloodstains, and belly-button lint, justice will prevail. The Masterpiece Murders isn't a particularly long game, but it's just the right size to fit a bit of prime-time mystery murderin' into your evening for those of us too lazy to do it ourselves. (Maaaaan, it's not my turn to do it this week! It's joye's turn!) If you enjoyed the Scene of the Crime series, you're definitely not going to want to miss this chance to gum up your shoes, as the pros say. That... is what the pros say, right?
Walkthrough Guide
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Walkthrough
Scene of the Crime
Speak to the cop on the right on the starting screen.
Enter the apartment (pink doorway).
Examine the corpse in the window.
Mouse over the neck wound to find out more about it. Use a cotton swab on it to collect a blood sample.
Zoom in on the victim's hand. Use the fingerprint brush, then the tape, on it to collect samples.
Go back twice.
Use the fingerprint brush on the table near the red droplets. Nothing.
Turn left. Zoom in on the painting. Looks familiar, eh? Mouse over it. Also, get a fingerprint from the left side of the frame (remember, brush, then tape).
Go back twice.
Enter the bathroom (door on the right). Zoom in on the tub. Spray the interior with the blood stain spray until you've got a good sample (look for it below and to the right of the faucet), then use the cotton swab to collect it.
Go back as much as possible.
Speak to the officer on the left.
Go left, then forwards, then forwards again. There's nothing to see in the hallway.
Speak to the landlord to get a drawing.
You're done here! Go to Headquarters via the map.
Headquarters
Zoom in on your desk (bottom of the screen). Not much to do here, so go back.
Zoom in on the bulletin board. Not much to do here, either, so go back.
Go right, then forwards to get into the autopsy room. Speak to the doctor, then return to the first view (the door's in front of you).
Check your desk again. Pick up the pink report and the weapon sketch.
Go to the board, and the new objects will automatically go up on it. Mouse over the pink report to find out about the Medical Center.
You're done here for now. Go to the Medical Center.
Medical Center
Speak to Rizzoli. Then go into the center (mouse over the sign).
Go forwards (big doors), then approach and enter the door with the crime scene tape over it.
The victim's in her chair. Approach her.
Hm, deja vu. Get a blood sample from her neck.
Back up, then click on the desk to the right of the victim.
Take one of the pencils from the holder and use it on the notepad next to the schedule book. Take the scribbled page.
Examine the schedule book. Mouse over the one message.
You're done here. Return to headquarters.
Headquarters
You've got three pink reports on your desk now. Take them all, then stick them on the board.
Combine Painting #1 with Painting #2.
Combine the picture of Julia Harris with the picture of Dr. Harris.
Combine Julia's blood sample with the report of the blood sample from the bathtub.
Back away. Go left and talk to Rizzoli.
Alright, you're off again, to Heragon this time!
Heragon
Go inside Heragon and talk to the owner.
That was easy. Return to HQ.
Headquarters
Check your desk. Two things are there, so pick them up and add them to the board.
Combine Rizzoli's note with the yellow post-it, then combine both with the list of oil paint buyers.
That was easy! Head to the Free Art School.
Free Art School
Go inside and talk to the receptionist. Then go past her.
Go into the auditorium (double doors on the left). Pick up the lockpick from one of the easels, then leave (the door's in front of you).
Advance on the director's door (on the right). Zoom in on the doorknob and use the lockpick on it.
Inside, take the key from the shelf towards the left and use it on the file cabinet. Take the employee list from it.
Take the pill bottle from the desk.
You should be done here now. Return to HQ.
Headquarters
What are you doing in the Autopsy Room? Oh well, speak to Isles and get her note.
Return to your desk like usual. Fingerprint the pill bottle, then hit the board for more deductions.
Combine Dr. Isles's note with the medical receipt (remember the pencil scribble?). Then add in the toxicology report.
Well done, new unlocked location! Head to Thompson's home.
Thompson's Home
Go inside Thompson's house and head straight to the back room. Deja vu all over again.
Zoom in on Thompson's body. Don't worry about blood samples this time. Back away.
Zoom in on the painting. Take the spatula from the easel. Looks a lot like that murder weapon sketch, doesn't it?
Check out the bag on the sofa. Get the dismissal paper from it.
Done! Head back to HQ one last time.
Headquarters
Check the desk. Fingerprint the spatula, then go to the board.
Add Mr. Thompson's picture to those of the Harris sisters, and the new painting to the other two paintings.
Combine the fingerprints from the spatula and the vial.
Mouse over the dismissal. Adam Burns? A.B.? Those initials! Aha! Combine the dismissal with the logo the landlord drew for you a while back, then add in the Free Art School employee list.
You're on a roll now! Go to Rizzoli's desk (left from this view), then use the pencil on the conspicuous piece of paper.
Go find Adam Burns on your map and open the door, then watch the cutscene. Mystery solved!
Posted by: SonicLover
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June 20, 2011 7:04 PM