I’ve had my eye on KILLER INN since it was announced, as the concept of an online murder mystery experience sounds right up my street, with detective-style games being my newfound genre of choice. With the Closed Beta last weekend, I got the chance to jump in and see how the game is shaping up, and this is how it went.
First of all, the premise of KILLER INN is quite simple: an initial body is found, and you, among the rest of the players in the game, must try to figure out who did the deed and take them out. Players are divided into two teams: Lambs and Wolves. The Lambs are the ones trying to figure out the identity of the killer and survive, while the Wolves are trying to kill all the Lambs. It seems like a simple concept, and that’s largely because it is. Each game has more Lambs than Wolves, so it sounds like it should be a lopsided victory for the Lambs every game, but surprisingly, the games I took part in were evenly split between both sides for victories.
KILLER INN begins with you choosing your character for the particular match you’re loading into. There are 25 different characters to choose from, and they all have different perks that the player can earn as they level up in each match. There are character sub-types like Detective, Gangster, Martial Artist, etc., that offer type-related perks. For example, the character Autumn belongs to the Thief sub-type and has two perks that she can earn at level two and four respectively: Quick Hands (the pickpocket minigame has no gaps and the bar moves 25% faster) and Lockpicker (allows her to unlock any door or chest without normal requirements and doesn’t leave clues behind when she does).
“In KILLER INN, it is best to remain neutral in the presence of the Inn’s employees unless you want to invite the rest of the population to come hunt you down prematurely.”
Once you’re in the game, you spend the first few minutes completing small fetch quests to level yourself up and obtaining weapons or traps or healing items, etc., as well as collecting clues from various murders that have been committed as you and the rest of the people run around the Inn. These small quests are obtained from various Inn employees who have safe zones in their immediate sightline. This means that any murders or violence committed while they’re watching will mark that player so everyone can see where they are. In KILLER INN, it is best to remain neutral in the presence of the Inn’s employees unless you want to invite the rest of the population to come hunt you down prematurely.
As I mentioned earlier, players can find weapons and equipment around the map by unlocking various chests they find using tokens received from completing quests. Sometimes the quest just says go to this location and touch the icon; other times, there is a puzzle to solve, but nothing too egregious. I will say that you’re vulnerable while interacting with the icon or puzzle, so be careful when trying to collect tokens.
KILLER INN wants to be a murder mystery at its core, and there is evidence of that, especially in the clue-gathering aspect. This is easily my favourite part of the experience thus far, as everybody you come across can be inspected for clues or looted for their ill-gotten gains. Sometimes you’ll find a strand of hair that only matches a few players, or a piece of cloth from a shirt that one person alone is wearing. Once you have this info, ideally, you should try to kill them as casually as possible to not arouse suspicion, but that is not always how things go.
That is because as the Lambs are gathering clues, the Wolves are killing the Lambs. So it quickly becomes a game of kill before you’re killed (again, this is if you’re in the Lamb role), and that’s where things can go loud. Many times in matches I was in, I could nary enter a room without two or more people shooting it out. So when things go loud, depending on your role, it may be best to lie low until the smoke settles.
“KILLER INN wants to be a murder mystery at its core, and there is evidence of that, especially in the clue-gathering aspect.”
One part of the game that I never saw completed was the ability to escape the island that KILLER INN takes place on. On the map, the Lambs have four keys they can recover to open the gate to the dock to work on escaping the island. At no point did I see more than one key ever used, so I don’t really know how popular this method of play will be when the game releases in full. Somehow, I found myself in a lobby all by myself, so I took it upon myself to gather the keys to see what was on the other side of the gate.
What I found was a large wooden ship that felt VERY much like it was from Pirates of the Caribbean. Once the gate is open, the Lambs need to raise six anchors in just under six minutes to escape, all while trying to evade any remaining Wolves that may be stalking them.
Graphically, KILLER INN is quite good. The Inn itself is very well put-together, and seems like it’s right out of an Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes novel. Without needing to render a huge area, Square Enix has been able to focus on the environment and making it stand out as important as the players themselves. Don’t mistake me here, it’s not Horizon-levels of gorgeous, but it’s still very pretty to look at when you take a step back from the murders.
What I hope to see for the full release of KILLER INN is more emphasis on the clue gathering and deduction aspect of the game. 95% of the matches I played devolved into shooting galleries by the 8-minute mark, which makes me feel like the game is like Among Us with extra steps. Party chat is available should you choose to use it, and I recommend it, especially if you are playing with friends, as coordination can be key.
Overall, there is a lot to be excited about after the end of the Closed Beta for KILLER INN. I hope Square Enix can take whatever feedback they received and turn it into engaging and cooperative gameplay while staying true to the soul of the genre.
