The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker
$8.99
Pros
- High replay value
- Outstanding acting
- Great story telling
- Devs listening to feedback and always improving
Cons
- Getting keywords or phrase exactly right sometimes frustrating
- Hints given sometimes jump to a future part of conversation
The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker comes from UK based developer D’Avekki Studios Ltd, with over seven hours of film which is split over 1,500 replies to questions you type to your patients.
There appears to be a pattern in my reviews lately, doesn’t there?
It would seem FMV (full motion video) games are on the right track and I couldn’t be more pleased. First ‘Her Story’, then ‘The Bunker’, then ‘Late Shift’, and now ‘The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker’ have all found a comfortable resting place in my heart. Doctor Dekker may stumble a little and sometimes is a bit picky, but it still does wonderful justice to the FMV genre and I’m grateful to have come across it.
Shortly after my review of Splendy Games ‘The Bunker’, an account named Doctor Dekker started following me on twitter. Upon further investigation I saw it was an account to promote an upcoming FMV game called ‘The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker’. Naturally, they had me at FMV. I made a mental note to check the game out when it released in May, but with E3 coming up I unfortunately got side tracked and only recently had the time to sit down and dive into this wonderful Lovecraftian psychological horror game where the lines of reality are sometimes blurred with insanity.
Jaya, your lovely assistant..I believe Bianca Beckles-Rose had too much fun in this role and I loved every second of it
In The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker you take on the role of a psychiatrist who has just taken the place of the recently deceased Doctor Dekker and are tasked with the role of not only caring for the patients he has left behind, but also assisting the police in uncovering Doctor Dekker’s murderer. Yes, the police suspect one of Dekker’s patients as the culprit. At the beginning of the game, the murderer is selected at random which bodes well for multiple playthroughs. This means there are multiple endings possible and extra side interviews to conduct. No playthrough will be the same. There are 6 main characters, each with their own mysterious story to delve into, and depending on how you handle them will determine how each of their story ends. There are also a handful of other patients you see between these main 6, so you don’t get tired of seeing the same faces every day. You type out your own questions and keywords will trigger responses from the patient, however I found that just typing the keywords instead of a proper sentence had the same effect.
Bryce, played by Millin Thomas who does an incredible job of creeping folks out
Free text games can be tricky, and Doctor Dekker come with it’s own bundle of frustration in dealing with figuring out the keywords and how to word them properly to trigger a response. The good thing is, the devs are incredibly responsive to feedback and continue to make changes to improve this core mechanic. For example: a patch was recently added where the keywords are italicised when you replay a scene to give you a hint. They are also constantly updating variations to the spelling and wording the game will accept to trigger new scenes. You can also type the word ‘Hint’ and it will give you a question to ask to help get things moving if you get stuck. So even though I found myself frustrated because I knew the keywords that should be triggering the response, but couldn’t manage to word it correctly according to the game…the hint systems in place helped alleviate that in most cases. I did find that sometimes a hint given would result in a response that jumped forward a bit in the conversation and would confuse me. However, once you become settled into the game and you become accustomed to thinking how the game wants you to think then the keywords and questions begin to come to you naturally. Doctor Dekker does a great job of going the extra step by providing different video responses when you ask something that doesn’t trigger a new video clip, so you don’t get the same old ‘I don’t know’ or ‘What are you talking about?’ every time. It’s extremely refreshing! Patients will even sometimes turn the table and ask you a question or ask for advice and your response seems to have impact.
Elin, made suspiciously passionate with the work of Helen Jenkinson
As soon as you meet your patients, you realize this is not going to be like any psychiatrist job you’d ever signed up for. One patient believes her neighbor was murdered by a mystical creature posing as a saleswoman, another believes she can shift into the loved ones of her dying patients, another believes paintings speak to her and harshly ridicule her, and it only gets weirder from there. You have the opportunity to either encourage or dishearten your patients when it comes to their delusions. Or are they not delusions after all?
There is a notepad of sorts built into the interface that you can freely type notes in, but sometimes automated notes pop up in there and can be distracting if you’re slightly OCD like I am. I opted to keep my own physical notebook next to me while I played, furiously taking notes as I went through sessions with each patient. It definitely came in handy, as sometimes patients can contradict themselves or each other. Catching them in a lie felt oddly satisfying, I have to admit!
Marianna, portrayed by the stunningly beautiful and equally captivating Aislinn De’ath
Allow me to emphasize here that the acting in this game is absolutely splendid. Sometimes the lines are cheesy, but they’re still brilliantly delivered and it doesn’t take anything away from the immersion. The actors bring these characters to life and I found myself carefully answering questions my patients asked, because I didn’t want to hurt their feelings or upset them. I cared about them, I wanted to fix them, I wanted to help them. And because of that, I was able to forgive the frustrations I sometimes felt along the way.
Here is where I’m going to gush a moment about the performances. Bear with me! It’s hard to say which performance was my favorite, but there are a few that stood out. Aislinn De’Ath (pictured above, Marianna) managed to teeter between naughty and broken was it beautiful. Doesn’t hurt that she’s a pleasure to look at, as well! Millin Thomas (Bryce) does an incredible job of borderlining on extremely creepy and mildly creepy, and he even managed to encourage sympathy from me on several occasions despite the levels of creepiness! Bianca Beckles-Rose (Jaya) is perfect in her role of your assistant. She manages to portray authority and kindness at the same time, and yet you can sense a kind of wrath lingering just below the surface. I was afraid to piss her off! The whole cast does a wonderful job, I’d love to sit here and dote on each of them, but that’s not what you’re here for, is it?
The directing and cinematography is equally brilliant, and the use of framing and minimal special effects makes the experience even more enjoyable. Tim Cowles did a wonderful job capturing the atmosphere with his directing and I applaud his work! There was one scene in particular that caught me off guard with a very subtle eerie moment (no spoilers) and not only did I audibly shriek, but I realized I also had goosebumps. THAT is when I knew this game had sunk its claws into me.
Nathan, given life by the very handsome Dom Lister
So, in short, if FMV games are your thing, this is one you definitely need to check out. If you aren’t much of a fan of these types of games, then maybe wait for a sale and then check it out. Either way, you should give it a go! Doctor Dekker is helping the genre progress and improve, despite the occasional stumble. I can’t wait to play it again!
Format Reviewed: PC
Developer: D’Avekki Studios Ltd
Release Date: May 19, 2017
$8.99
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