As the title refers, DeTechtive 2112 is dragging us into a cyberpunk theme, set approximately one hundred years in the future. With the intro, the game portrays a society similiar to George Orwell's novel "1984". Offering a unique ambiance and some dark secrets you will discover along the way. If you are someone who likes isometric arcade especially those that combine themes such as futuristic cyberpunk, detective, noir and finally little bit of bullet hell as a spice, then you might want to check this title. In this article, I will try to give you some insight into what you expect or may find in "DeTechtive 2112".

Abigail, are you in the office? 

... 

Put some coffee on, we have a case to solve! 

There is one thing for certain, this game knows how to pull you into the mood. The game starts with an impressive intro that gives you a general idea about what kind of universe you are getting into. While doing this, it uses a nice cinematic animation, professional voice acting and a soundtrack in the background that makes you feel like you are in a Mission Impossible movie. With these Hollywood breezes, the introduction part is successful. In fact, it all raised my expectations about the game. Yup... there is but coming...

For almost my entire playtime, I experienced this game with a controller. Because, before launching the game, Steam interface warned me about using a controller for the best experience. As a gamer who likes to use a controller as a first choice, I immediately grabbed mine. The game provides full controller support for the Xbox Controller. After the first dialogue, you'll be able to start wandering around and after a short while you'll be able to get used to controls. With mostly intuitive controls, the game also provides a smooth tutorial progression over the prologue until got you have covered all the basics. The tutorial is not boring or strict, some visual pop-ups and hints help you out when it's necessary. Although, clarity and tutorials are ok, my experience in this game with the controller wasn't satisfying. Some of the features seem to be lacking and this also affects gameplay. There is no aim assist or haptic feedback. So you might need some time to work on your aim by using "RS". But if you are k/m user then I can say aiming won't be an issue for you.

When you are finally ready to jump into your first case, your precious Secretary Abigail will lead you to the task board. My humble advice, make sure you are really prepared before you go on a mission, because in the mission there is no checkpoint or manual save system. If you die, it restarts from where the case starts. Since cases are not so long, this is not a big issue. But the problem is that the only way to unlock new weapons or tools is solving cases and earning some money. And the game does not offer variety in gaining money, weapons or tools. No point to explore in the game world, there is not even much of interaction besides some repeats of NPC dialogues. All that fascinating ambience but the game only progresses linearly. Since gameplay mechanics and enemy AI is not the strong suit in this game, this linear playthrough might cause disappointment at the end of the day. In the mission you can find yourself running away from 20 lined-up enemies going towards you or in a corner that you can't avoid detection while game offers you "allegedly" stealth as an option.

Uh?!.. Why are you guys lined up like that?

DeTechtive 2112 uses Unreal Engine 5 and offers really impressive visuals. All the effects, lights, vapors or neons gives you a vibe like you can almost breathe the air in a cyberpunk world that the game presents. I would expect a bit more environmental interactions, destructible objects, and explosions but generally, modeling and environmental designs are nice. Level design could've been better because as mentioned above, it might affect your play style and you may find yourself in an unintended conflict.

Overall, the visual aesthetic makes me happy in this game. Also, optimization is not bad either. In the range of recommended system requirements, I can say that the game runs without graphical or performance issues. However, you may encounter a few typos or wrong information about weapons in the UI.

Additionally, the game provides interface & subtitles support for 23 languages but you should know there is also a small note on the store page from devs that says "AI is used for some translations”.

About the audio, so much potential wasted in this game, in my opinion. Intro part and our mustache detective Matthew has good voice acting but the game doesn't provide a voiceover for any other key character. Besides Matthew, all other characters are just humming. At least not constantly and annoying way but still makes you feel something is missing. This may cause disappointment and also loss of focus during dialogues. Music is not bad and you can feel the action in the melody but some more tracks wouldn't be a bad thing. Lastly, sound effects are mediocre, not many environmental sound effects and if you really focus on the step sounds they are not really synchronized with footsteps but just a random recording triggered by your movement.

Why do you keep murmuring Abigail??

DeTechtive 2112 currently has 5 cases and I won't go into any story details in this article since it is not a long story. After beating the game there is not much to really keep you in the game except trying harder difficulties. You may find some challenge at normal or higher difficulty options and the game lets you change this setting at any time. Or you can call your friend. DeTechtive 2112 has Online Co-op and LAN Co-op features. While playing alone you may not find the bullet hell experience that you are looking for but up to 4 player Co-op sessions may provide some chaotic combat.

Completionist Corner

For those who would like to make this game %100, you really have nothing to worry about while playing. Nothing is missable. There are 9 story related and 1 online achievement. Estimated time for completion is around 2 hours.

Failed it or Nailed it

DeTechtive 2112 intrigued me with its intro, ambience and story content, even though it did not last long. But with the lack of gameplay features, bad enemy AI, unbalanced difficulty and repetitiveness, the game gives an early released vibe and makes you feel like you are playing a demo. Sadly, I must say "DeTechtive 2112" you have failed me. 

My Review Score : 4/10

Game Title           : DeTechtive 2112

Developer            : M11 Studio, 5Deniz

Publisher              : indie.io

Release Date      : 29 Jan, 2025

OS                            : Microsoft Windows

Platform                : Steam, Epic Games (coming soon)

Current Price     : $ 10,99 / € 10,49