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The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker

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The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker
Developer(s)D'Avekki Studios
Publisher(s)D'Avekki Studios[a]
Director(s)Tim Cowles
Writer(s)Tim Cowles, Lynda Cowles
Platform(s)
ReleaseWindows, macOS
19 May 2017
Switch, PS4, Xbox One
5 June 2018
Genre(s)Adventure, interactive film
Mode(s)Single-player

The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker is an FMV murder mystery adventure video game developed by D'avekki Studios, written by Tim Cowles and Lynda Cowles, and released in 2017. You play as a psychiatrist, trying to solve a murder whilst treating the patients of the recently deceased Doctor Dekker. The game was initially released for Microsoft Windows and macOS via Steam before being published on consoles by British game publishing studio, Wales Interactive.[1][2]

Another game by the same studio titled The Shapeshifting Detective was released the following year.

Gameplay

The player sees full-motion videos of characters who were patients of Doctor Dekker. The goal is to find out the details surrounding the death of Doctor Dekker. You play as a replacement psychiatrist and must ask the patients questions. You are free to switch between characters to find out more about them. In sessions with each patient, you interact by typing questions or comments into a text box. The game interprets your input and responds by spitting out a full-motion video reply from the subject. You have a list of responses in the log that will sometimes have asterisks beside them. One asterisk means there's still a question to ask, but two means you should follow up with this character. Questions can take plenty of forms, but you are generally free to type what you please. Hints are available, but have a cooldown before you can use them again.[3][4]

Story

The full identity of the playable character is not known except for the fact they are a replacement psychiatrist. They have been brought in to find out why the previous Doctor Dekker was murdered and they're tasked with interviewing Doctor Dekker's many previous patients. One patient is a woman who blacks out and finds herself at the beach when she wakes up and another patient seems to relive the same day over and over again. One patient also believes that he gains an extra hour at the end of the day, during that hour time freezes and he is free to do whatever he likes without anyone knowing. The player's questions influence the events of the game and can lead to a variety of different responses ultimately resulting in different endings.[5][6]

Reception

On Metacritic, the PC and Nintendo Switch versions received positive reviews, and the PS4 version received mixed reviews.[7][8][9]

Adventure Gamers and Rock Paper Shotgun both compared the game to Her Story. Adventure Gamers said it adds a few new twists and includes more dialogue,[10] and Rock Paper Shotgun wrote that it does not always elegantly succeed as meeting its goals. For example, reviewer John Walker said that the game's parser misunderstands some obvious questions, though he felt that game remains "often very interesting" despite its limitations.[11] Adventure Gamers concluded, "The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker is engrossing, disturbing and erudite, and though it's a little lacking in plot it's full of welcome ideas."[10] Digitally Downloaded's reviewer said she was inspired to read H. P. Lovecraft's fiction because of the game's references to them; she considered these references to be its "shining point".[12] Nintendo Life criticized the game's continuity errors.[13]

The game was nominated for TIGA awards for diversity and heritage.[14]

Notes

  1. ^ Wales Interactive published the console versions.

References

  1. ^ "The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker Launch Date Revealed". wales-interactive. 15 May 2018. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  2. ^ McFerran, Damien (30 November 2017). "The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker Will, Erm, Infect Switch Next Spring". Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  3. ^ Deogracias, Elisha (5 June 2018). "In the mouth of madness – The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker review". gamingtrend.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  4. ^ Van Allen, Eric (27 May 2017). "FMV Mystery Doctor Dekker Is Messy, But Campy Fun". kotaku.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  5. ^ Cowles, Lynda (5 June 2018). "Putting the Madness in The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker, Available Now on Xbox One". news.xbox.com. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  6. ^ Lemne, Bengt (13 July 2018). "The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker". gamereactor.eu.
  7. ^ "The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  8. ^ "The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  9. ^ "The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  10. ^ a b Mattsson, Peter (23 August 2017). "Review for The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  11. ^ Walker, John (29 June 2017). "Wot I Think: The Infectious Madness Of Doctor Dekker". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  12. ^ M., Lindsay (5 June 2018). "Review: The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker (Sony PlayStation 4)". DigitallyDownloaded.net. Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  13. ^ Lane, Gavin (5 June 2017). "The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker Review". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Awards – 2018 Winners". Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
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