Bohemian Killing
The Moonwalls · 2016 · Adventure, Indie, First-Person, Detective, Choices Matter
PC
Mixed59% · 111
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About Bohemian Killing
Steampunk Paris, set against the background of the late 19th century, torn between tradition and modernity. Class differences and pervasive racism finally lead to a tragedy. A year later you find yourself on trial, accused of a brutal murder. How far will you go to exonerate yourself? Will you lie, seek evidence to prop your testimony or, perhaps, pretend to be insane? Your imagination is the limit.
Bohemian Killing is a narrative-driven courtroom drama, offering players almost unlimited possibilities of solving the lawsuit, thanks to the complete integration of gameplay and narrated story. It is also the first law-themed game made by a real-life lawyer!
Welcome to Paris of the late 19th century. The aftermath of the Great Revolution offered a new start for each and every citizen, regardless of social class. Alfred Ethon, a young inventor of Gypsy origin, benefits from the change, becoming a symbol of success thanks to his hard work and innovative projects, well ahead of their time.
Soon, a young woman is brutally murdered - a maid working for an impoverished Lord, a relic of the old French regime. Is Alfred Ethon to be blamed for the murder? The evidence points towards him... But you can change that.
As you stand before the court, all you can count on is your own intellect and creativity. But how does that look in practice?
Gameplay in Bohemian Killing is a combination of a courtroom drama, and a walking simulator. It can be classified as a first person experience, or a first person interactive story adventure game.
The story is set within two time frames. In the present, you find yourself locked up in the courtroom. You're getting acquainted with the evidence, witness testimony and questions posed by the Judge. Each question triggers a flashback - and begins your testimony. During the flashback you find yourself in a Parisian district, with each of your decisions, interactions and action affecting Alfred Ethons' testimony and the final verdict.
To help you in your testimony, you'll have access to all the evidence gathered on the case - expert opinions, reports and witness testimonies. Each of them can be (but doesn't have to be!) refuted in a number of different ways.
In the Evidence menu you can familiarize yourself with testimonies of witnesses, forensic expertises, physical evidences, etc. They are grouped into appropriate categories, making them easy to find.
Sample:
A neighbor testified that at approximately 10 p.m. he passed you in the entrance of the tenement house, noticing that your clothes were covered in blood? Try testifying that your neighbor lies and prove that he has a reason to do so. Or maybe you'll get into a bar fight just a few minutes before, so that you can testify that the blood the neighbor saw was yours, and not the victim's? Or maybe you will cut yourself while shaving, covering your clothes with blood that the neighbor sees later? But what if the court finds your time of shaving conspicuous and torments you with even more questions? How will you get out of this?
With a wide range of possibilities that can lead to several standard endings and one additional hidden one, the game doesn't consider any path "a bad one", ensuring that each playthrough will be different.
To adjust the game to the preferences of each player, two modes are available:
The main character of the game is played and dubbed by a world-class film and voice actor, Stephane Cornicard!
Stephane Cornicard studied in France, at the prestigious Colby College in the US, and at Goldsmith College in the UK. He played in numerous blockbusters such as “Spectre,” the most recent Bond film, or Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan”.
His career as a voice actor is no less impressive and includes Syphon Filter, Primal, Metal Gear Solid, and the Dragon Age and Total War series. He currently teaches drama at the Actor’s Centre in London.
OVERVIEW
Bohemian Killing is a narrative-driven courtroom drama, offering players almost unlimited possibilities of solving the lawsuit, thanks to the complete integration of gameplay and narrated story. It is also the first law-themed game made by a real-life lawyer!
STORYLINE
Welcome to Paris of the late 19th century. The aftermath of the Great Revolution offered a new start for each and every citizen, regardless of social class. Alfred Ethon, a young inventor of Gypsy origin, benefits from the change, becoming a symbol of success thanks to his hard work and innovative projects, well ahead of their time.
Soon, a young woman is brutally murdered - a maid working for an impoverished Lord, a relic of the old French regime. Is Alfred Ethon to be blamed for the murder? The evidence points towards him... But you can change that.
As you stand before the court, all you can count on is your own intellect and creativity. But how does that look in practice?
GAMEPLAY
Gameplay in Bohemian Killing is a combination of a courtroom drama, and a walking simulator. It can be classified as a first person experience, or a first person interactive story adventure game.
The story is set within two time frames. In the present, you find yourself locked up in the courtroom. You're getting acquainted with the evidence, witness testimony and questions posed by the Judge. Each question triggers a flashback - and begins your testimony. During the flashback you find yourself in a Parisian district, with each of your decisions, interactions and action affecting Alfred Ethons' testimony and the final verdict.
To help you in your testimony, you'll have access to all the evidence gathered on the case - expert opinions, reports and witness testimonies. Each of them can be (but doesn't have to be!) refuted in a number of different ways.
In the Evidence menu you can familiarize yourself with testimonies of witnesses, forensic expertises, physical evidences, etc. They are grouped into appropriate categories, making them easy to find.
Sample:
A neighbor testified that at approximately 10 p.m. he passed you in the entrance of the tenement house, noticing that your clothes were covered in blood? Try testifying that your neighbor lies and prove that he has a reason to do so. Or maybe you'll get into a bar fight just a few minutes before, so that you can testify that the blood the neighbor saw was yours, and not the victim's? Or maybe you will cut yourself while shaving, covering your clothes with blood that the neighbor sees later? But what if the court finds your time of shaving conspicuous and torments you with even more questions? How will you get out of this?
With a wide range of possibilities that can lead to several standard endings and one additional hidden one, the game doesn't consider any path "a bad one", ensuring that each playthrough will be different.
To adjust the game to the preferences of each player, two modes are available:
- In the Standard mode, the outcome depends entirely on your creativity and ability to solve logical problems. You will suffer the consequences of your own actions.
- In the Story mode, your attorney will advise you as you progress along, commenting on your decisions and choices, preventing you from acting in a way that might prove to be harmful in the eyes of the court.
VOICE ACTING
The main character of the game is played and dubbed by a world-class film and voice actor, Stephane Cornicard!
Stephane Cornicard studied in France, at the prestigious Colby College in the US, and at Goldsmith College in the UK. He played in numerous blockbusters such as “Spectre,” the most recent Bond film, or Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan”.
His career as a voice actor is no less impressive and includes Syphon Filter, Primal, Metal Gear Solid, and the Dragon Age and Total War series. He currently teaches drama at the Actor’s Centre in London.
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What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
I rate Bohemian Killing 2.5/5. This is a good idea done somewhat badly. Bohemian Killing is an unusual first-person-perspective game wherein you play a sociopathic defendant during a murder trial taking place in Paris in the year 1894. The gameplay is, in effect, a representation of you defending yourself during a trial by lying about what took place on the night in question. What you do during most of the game determines what lies you will say in court and how effectively you defend yourself. This is not exactly a mystery game, at least not fully; the game makes it clear that your sadistic A-hole character is definitely guilty. What you must do is figure out the nature of the crime (as you cannot fully remember what happened) and how to try and get away with it now that you are testifying in court. It isn’t as fun as it sounds though because this game doesn’t really give you a great deal of freedom concerning how to act (or it otherwise ignores your antics). Good things about this game: + Fantastic music with a strong musical theme. There is a soundtrack available on steam but altogether it is only about 15 minutes long. The full 3 dollar cost was worth it to me though given h…3 found this helpful
I have bought this game 8 years ago, when I was excited after Telltale games and "Choices Matter" element in games. Bought it, and forgot about this game for ages. Now, I have decided to complete every game in my library, or at least taste it. So, the taste was...peculiar. [h3]A hidden gem, or a half-made project?[/h3] In fact, it's both, The whole idea, the whole gameplay loop is very unique. It's not living through the same story again and again, it is about lying and changing the details as they unfold. There is a straight skeleton to follow, otherwise you will be guilty, because evidence is against you. It is about dancing around those evidences in a way, that whole story is believable. And this is truly unique. The game even feels like a rogue-like, because you have to start over and over again, and with each failed run, you learn something new. This is a nice experience. But... It has "Mixed" reviews for a bunch of reasons. The game is buggy. I have clipped through walls and ended up in places from which I could just only restart whole run. Purring game on pause in the elevator while it is going up or down - and you are leaving the textures. That was really uncomfortable…1 found this helpful
Please save your time and money. [i]Bohemian Killing[/i] is walking simulator combined with a court room drama. With limited actions available you have to put up a defense for a crime you committed (you have to do before the intro…) depending when and where you go and what evidence you find/use there are nine defend endings. Sounds fun, is a nice premise, but the execution is terrible. The game is in parts broken, the graphics are in parts interesting (I mean the cars) but subpar for the time it is from and the loading screens are tedious. The endings are not very different; in fact, there are 4 endings video vise but there are 9 reasoning’s why you got that sentencing... It seems to be inspired at least to some degree by the [i]The Stanley Parable[/i] that was release three years before, with the character commenting things he does every step of the way and your actions determining the outcome. But other than Stanly our murderous protagonist just states the obvious and it really becomes tiering. And in two or three places they put the wrong line in/did not think that the door opens in both directions and the statement is plain wrong. I will comment on the story here, so ful…
This could have been so good. I love the concept, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Lost interest by the end of it, and had no desire to go back and explore the other endings.
It was an interesting idea and I really wanted to like it, but I found it... more irritating than enjoyable. The thought of going back through to do multiple play throughs on this to get the other achievements does not appeal.
Try to get it on offer, but for ten pounds I would say this game is well worth it. Many of the mechanics are janky, and I had a hard time figuring out what I'm supposed to be doing when I first played it. But after many hours with it, I enjoyed teasing out the story from the information given, and playing around with all the freedom the game gives you to do what you want. The concept is brilliant, the execution is uneven. But I think the concept is strong enough that it shines through and makes this game a lot of fun, even when it's confusing or clunky. I also really enjoy the French accents on display, but your mileage may vary there. I'd recommend picking this game up and being patient with it. Expect to be confused at first. Once you've figured out what the actual crime is, you can then start weaving your lies and planning the story you want to tell. Maybe, for your first playthrough, aim for a confession. I would advise not resorting to guides unless you have to, but there are many good ones that may help you get through something confusing or janky so that you can continue to enjoy playing around with the game. For £9.99, I would say go for it. I had a lot of fun and hopefu…
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