Shadows of Doubt hides secrets aplenty in its fully-explorable sci-fi city

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Hunt down a killer hiding in an urban dystopia

There's a shocking lack of great detective games out there, and from details we've seen at the Future Games Show Powered by Mana, the upcoming Shadows of Doubt from Fireshine Games is out to redress the balance.

Set in an alternate sci-fi reality where 1980s culture and a hyper-industrialised metropolis mix into a smoky dystopian setting, Shadows of Doubt lays bare its intentions - a classic detective story in which you'll have to pull a mysterious serial killer out of hiding. Meanwhile, the city carries on its motions all around you, a fully-simulated urban playground where you can explore, detect and deal as you want. Citizens keep their heads down and carry on their lives independently of you - at least until you appear at their door with some difficult questions. And considering every street and room in the city is said to be explorable, it's going to take some very sharp minds to pull the truth from this bleak world.

That's the hook - this isn't just a game about detective work, but about actually being a classic PI and living a fully-simulated existence, forging a career in dark, crime-riddled alleys. Explore how you want, talk to whatever witnesses you can find, go through old records in search of evidence, and access crime scenes in any way you think is justified - stealth, bribes or even CCTV hacking. 

Then, once you think you're making headway, take the info you find and piece it together to reveal the truth at the heart of the case. You can even take odd jobs and hustles to ensure you can afford new equipment and questionable expenses. Or just burn it all in one glorious night on the town. Everybody's gotta blow off steam, right?

Whatever the truth is, it'll take a true detective to pull it into the light. For those who think they've got the cunning to catch a killer, they can Wishlist Shadows of Doubt on Steam and be ready for its future PC release, or keep up to date with the developers and follow them on Twitter. 

For more awesome games featured during today's Future Games Show, check out our official Steam page.

Joel Franey
Joel Franey
Guides Editor, GamesRadar+

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.