While players can engage in merciless contests online, rare are the games that allow you to settle down around the same television. A bitter observation that Sony is trying to correct through PlayLink, a range of games that use our smartphones as controllers. If "Who are you?" made it possible to discover the concept gently, it must be admitted that the game clearly lacked ambition and was not representative of the capacities offered by this new type of game. Fortunately, Sony has given players some hope during Paris Games Week 2017 by unveiling Hidden Agenda, a dark crime thriller where players are masters of their destiny. Developed by Supermassive Games, the game uses the principle of an interactive film and introduces us to the story of the Trapper, a serial killer who uses bombs to kill his victims.ALL ON YOUR MOBILES
Before you can embark on a hunt for the mad killer, you will have to go through the configuration box of the smartphone. Like the other games in the PlayLink range, you will need to download the "Hidden Agenda" application on your mobile. Once the operation is complete, you just need to connect to the same network as your PS4 so that the phone is paired with the console. If there are several of you and you do not want to share your Wi-Fi connection with other players, know that it is possible to transform your PS4 into a Wi-Fi access point. Players can connect easily, by entering the code provided by the PS4. A very useful option that avoids many hassles during your installation. Be careful though, remember to charge your phone, the Hidden Agenda application drawing a lot on the battery. Now that everything is ready, we will finally be able to start our game.
Whether you are alone or with others, you can choose to discover the story of Hidden Agenda through the "Story" mode or through the "Rivalry" mode, which we will focus on later. Once the game is launched, players are directly put in the mood with a scene worthy of Seven where we find a man praying with a bomb around his waist. It is in this dismal context that we discover Becky Marney, a seasoned police officer who will participate in the arrest of a suspect in this case. However, the investigation will take a completely different turn when it is discovered that the suspect may be just a decoy so that the real killer can continue to perpetrate his crimes. Then follows a long police investigation to discover the whole truth around this sordid affair. To complete your investigation, you will have to interrogate suspects, convince your superiors, but also make choices that will have a significant impact on the story, such as shooting an individual or choosing to save one person rather than another.AN OVERLY PASSIVE INVESTIGATION
In order to determine your choices, you are going to have to use your phone. Indeed, each time a decision is made, the player(s) will have to slide their finger over the answer that seems most appropriate to them. If most sequences will ask you to choose between two proposals, players will also have to participate in QTEs, where you have to place your cursor in the right place, in order to shoot an enemy or avoid various obstacles. All these actions will have consequences for the rest of the story and you will have to be very careful with your choices which can lead you to certain death if you are not careful enough. However, do not expect an armored QTE game since Hidden Agenda remains above all a film before being interactive. A somewhat regrettable point since, very often, the player remains passive to the point of forgetting his phone and the QTEs that can happen at any time. Another small negative point: during the search for clues, we deplore some bugs when we want to move our flashlight in order to search for clues at a crime scene.
In addition to these small youthful flaws, Hidden Agenda takes on its full meaning when you finish the game for the first time. If you will need about two or three hours to reach the end of the adventure, the multiple possibilities of the player to rediscover the story from a completely different angle. Despite the short lifespan of the scenario, certain choices can modify an entire section of the story and make you discover scenes that have nothing to do with those seen during the first run. Very quickly, the "investigation" side of the game takes over and a real reflection takes place when one has to make a choice. Of course, all your choices will not have the same impact on the story and if some decisions will have major consequences, the others will have very little influence on the rest of the events. For example, if you decide to let one of your colleagues die, the latter will be replaced by a similar character. Thanks to all these choices, the game gains in interest and gives a little pep to a story that is far from perfect.THE TRAPPED TRAPPER
As we told you above, Hidden Agenda offers players the opportunity to follow the investigation into the Trapper, an unscrupulous bomber. If the investigation itself manages to captivate us brilliantly, certain shortcomings, especially in terms of the characters, taint the whole. The protagonists flirt with clichés to such an extent that they become antipathetic. The various storylines used are quite simple to understand and if you are used to the genre, you should rarely be surprised. Small flat on the other hand when we discover the end of the story. Some connections are made in a hurry and the conclusion comes somewhat hastily, which risks leaving some of the players speechless. However, this defect fades as we play Hidden Agenda again. Indeed, depending on your choices, many details may come to expand your investigation and give new perspectives on the killer.
But if Hidden Agenda suffers from many flaws in its script, the production allows you to soak up the atmosphere of the title as well as possible. The modeling of the faces is of high quality and the staging, with small onions, gives a real thriller aspect to the title. Very quickly, we get caught up in the game of the investigator and we carefully follow each scene, in the hope of detecting a clue that could help us better understand the intentions of the killer. On the other hand, we remain somewhat skeptical about the choice of the developers not to put a save point. If you stop your game during the game, you can resume where you left off, but if you die, you will have to restart the game from the beginning. If it's not really disturbing when playing with other players, when you're alone it can quickly become frustrating. Nevertheless, rest assured, each run offers its share of novelties and it is only after 5 or 6 games that the element of surprise disappears.THE SIX CLUB
Already very pleasant to play alone, Hidden Agenda gains even more interest when several people come together to play. Moreover, the name Hidden Agenda is not insignificant and refers to one of the multiplayer features of the game. Indeed, in solo, you will only be required to make choices that will influence the investigation. But to spice things up, when playing with others, the developers of Supermassive Games had the good idea to integrate a Rivalry mode (playable up to 6 players). To put it simply, during the adventure, a player (randomly chosen by the console) will have to carry out a secret mission in order to earn points. Therefore, the latter will have to influence the decision of the other players in order to accomplish his objective. The other players will have to find the mole and prevent it from carrying out its prediction. Very quickly, a second investigation is then set up and the debates between players are animated in order to know who could be the culprit. We quickly get caught up in the game and this adds a little more suspense to the story since each player can try to steer the scenario in this or that direction.
The choices being validated by the majority, you will also have at your disposal jokers which allow you to force a decision. If in fact, we suspect that the player using his joker is the mole, this also allows the story to be distorted and create differences within the group. All your friends want to save the victim, but you prefer to let them die? No problem, a joker hit and you're done! This concept of joker brings a real plus compared to the solo mode since this time, the player is dependent on other people and may be surprised by choices that are diametrically opposed to his. Nevertheless, we regret that the developers did not go further in the concept. The "hidden agenda" part turns out to be daunting and if the moles change as the story progresses, it's very (too) easy to guess who the traitor is.
