Voxel private eye simulator Shadows of Doubt investigates a full release in September

ColePowered Games has announced (spotted by Gematsu) that its procedurally generated crime investigation simulator, Shadows of Doubt, is ready to end its journey through Early Access with a full release on September 26 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Shadows of Doubt was released into Early Access in April of last year. It attempts to simulate the noble profession of a private eye using a randomly generated city full of randomly generated crimes. You take cases (usually from bulletin boards in restaurants and bars), then are left on your own to talk to people, trespass on private property, and gather as much information as you can in order to crack the case.

There are different types of cases to tackle. You might try to prove that a spouse is cheating, find stolen property, or solve a murder. The city and its citizens are persistently tracked in the simulation and will have things like an apartment and a workplace, so you can typically find information in multiple ways. Sometimes a set of fingerprints will lead you to your culprit, while other times it’s an email stored on their computer.

It’s a very ambitious game, make no doubt. More importantly, it works. Mostly.

I previewed the game last year when it launched into early access. At that point, I found the concept to be intriguing, but the game was way too janky and buggy. There have been plenty of big updates since then. However, the last time I dove in (a few months ago), I found it to be in much the same way. I didn’t get deep enough into it to discover something that I’d point to as a clear bug, but there was some really weird stuff happening.

For instance, I saw someone get murdered directly in front of me on the street. I was actually able to have a calm conversation with the murderer right next to the body of the victim. I then quickly gathered evidence, then strolled off to solve the murder for a fat reward.

However, I get the feeling that, even with all the jank, if you put in the work to actually get good at the systems in Shadows of a Doubt, you could probably have a good time. There’s also a chance that all the roughness will be sorted out before release. Honestly, I’m looking forward to finding out. The concept is just too intriguing not to.

Shadows of Doubt leaves early access and fully releases for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on September 26, 2024.