I really enjoyed this game. I loved the other games made by this gamemaker, and was really excited to see a new one. I was not disappointed, this one lives up to the standard set by the previous games for sure. This game is very well made, and has a great plot; I was on the edge of my seat and engaged in the story even after replaying a couple of times. I like how the different endings and scenarios fit together and give a more complete idea of the events in the game. I also kind of like how it depends on the player to find all the details; its actually possible to miss things if you're not exploring everything (this is also beneficial on multiple playthroughs, because you don't need to do everything every time to get all the endings).
Fair warning to anyone reading this before they've played, there will be spoilers past this point.
I was only able to find five different endings, as one of the endings is acheivable in both scenario A and B (marked with a * in the list below). Not really a criticism, just mentioning it in case its helpful to others, or to find out if I've missed something.
Endings I found:
Scenario A: Fred escapes alone, or is mutilated in the car* (officer Timmons end)
Scenario B: Maria escapes alone, Maria lets Fred go and is killed by 'creature' (officer Timmons end), car mutilation ending* (Maria makes Fred stay)
Scenario C: "Crystal" counts to 10 and kills Dillon.
Some comments:
>I really liked that I could fast forward by holding down the x or left click, but in some scenes (like watching the dvd, or the flashbacks without gameplay) it would be nice to have a 'skip' option, especially given the multiple play-throughs to find all the endings.
>When reading the journal on the laptop downstairs, it would be nice if all the entries were just in one list instead of organized into menus. It would be easier to just read them all one after another if they were in the same list.
>I enjoyed the plot progression, and how the discovery of clues and flashbacks filled out the story. I almost kind of wish that Maria's story was scenario A, and then you'd find out more about what's going on after through playing Fred. That would have made the mystery last a little longer, and perhaps heightened the suspense a little. Minor suggestion though, and I really like it as is (and the player does have the option to choose A or B first themselves, I just did them in order and kind of wished I'd done it the other way after).
>I like how the 'clue' function works, and found it useful (I didn't use it around the computer, so maybe that would have helped). It was nice to have a little hint on what to do next when feeling a little stuck. That was a really good idea.
Overall, fantastic job. I had a really good time playing, and didn't want to stop until I'd seen everything the game had to offer. Thanks so much for another great game. I hope you continue making these games, I'm really looking forward to the next one!