The story is set in New York City in 2040 and begins with the murder of Renee Stein, the third victim of a serial killer known as The Ripper. Jake Quinlan, a reporter for the Virtual Herald, investigates the case alongside the police, led by Detective Vincent Magnotta.

After The Ripper warns Quinlan that his girlfriend, Catherine Powell, is the next target, Quinlan finds her alive but in a coma. Cybersurgeon Claire Burton is able to recover a distorted image of the attacker, and Quinlan continues his investigation by tracing what Powell had uncovered and identifying three possible suspects.

Quinlan learns that the victims and others tied to the case were connected to an old gaming group called the Web Runners, whose game based on the Jack the Ripper mystery ended with one player dying in real life. He also discovers that the murders were caused by a code placed into victims’ brains in cyberspace, and he enters a virtual Whitechapel to confront and kill The Ripper.

The killer can be one of four suspects: Joey Falconetti, Claire Burton, Vincent Magnotta, or Catherine Powell. The overall story remains mostly the same between play-throughs, although clues and the killer’s identity can vary, with changes limited to the third act.