A dead millionaire. A greedy family. A jaded cop. Throw in a luxurious mansion, some dramatic fireworks and a mysterious blackout, and you have all the ingredients for a Golden Age whodunit.  If Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen are your idea of fun, then Rory Scherer and a talented team of actors, cinematographers, lighting designers and others have a great way for you to spend a few days.  The fruit of their hard work is Mystery at Mansfield Manor, an interactive FMV movie adventure compared to the likes of Clue and the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. Scherer created, wrote, produced, financed, and managed PR for this new endeavor, which has already received considerable attention from USA Today and CNN. For just $7, you get four days’ access to the website to solve the mystery.

I know what you may be thinking.  FMV?  Aside from Conspiracies, didn’t that die out in the 90’s? Well, that’s what first came to my mind when I read the press release for the game. And having never been a fan of FMV to begin with, I was skeptical as to what the quality would be like. All my fears were soon erased. Everything was very professionally shot and edited. Camera angles are put to good use, creating the effect of a real TV show or film. The introductory video introduces you to Detective Frank Mitchell, who, with the help of a rookie, is asked on the eve of his forced early retirement to investigate one final murder: that of Colin Mansfield, Sr. of Mansfield Oil & Gas.  Upon arrival, he looks at the body and then interviews the cook, Anita, before assembling everyone in the living room to interrogate them individually. And he has until midnight to solve the crime.

There are nine suspects to interrogate, hence nine videos to watch.  Most of them run about ten minutes, making quite a  lengthy portion of the game.  They alternate between scenes of Mitchell’s interrogation and flashback sequences, which frequently overlap among different suspects and can get a bit tedious. They’re all viewable as long as you have Flash, and they load pretty quickly.  A strong and fast internet connection is definitely recommended, as your four days of detective work include the time it takes to load the videos, and you want to have as much time as you can to watch and re-watch them for clues. All of the actors and actresses play their parts nicely. Some scenes come off as forced or overacted, though they fit in with the soap opera-like drama of the mystery.

After the initial interrogations, you must deduce for seven of the suspects whether or not they are lying, based on the video evidence and the statements they made during the interrogation, and substantiate your claim(s).  The clues and details are all cleverly hidden in the videos; the key is to watch carefully and take notes on the notepad that you can access from the bottom of your screen.  After you’ve narrowed down the suspects (I guess the assumption is made that those who told the truth are automatically innocent), you must re-interrogate them before one final tour of the house. Then it’s time to arrest somebody for the murder!  There are multiple endings, all depending on what deductions you’ve made, and some of them may just make you want to go back and replay the adventure to find an alternate solution!

All of this being said, I cannot help but point out that while the whole endeavor shows a tremendous amount of effort and creativity, you cannot ignore the fact that it’s all been done before.  From the cast of characters – the shady politician, the greedy daughter-in-law, the jealous housekeeper – to the plotline – secret romances, a sudden blackout, deadly threats – Mystery at Mansfield Manor is simply a modern interpretation of the classic drawing-room whodunit, which has been adapted in countless forms for decades. Yet I can’t deny its entertainment value.  As trite as it may be, it’s fun to play and, for a mystery fanatic, fun to solve. There is even a “Making Of” video and photo gallery to admire when you finish.  The game certainly whet my appetite for a mystery (even if it wasn’t too hard to solve) and made me nostalgic for the Choose Your Own Adventure books and the interactive Clue VCR games from the late 80’s.  If either of those appeal to you, then check out Mystery at Mansfield Manor. The game’s afoot!

System Requirements:

• Internet Connection
• Web Browser with Flash