J.B. Harold Murder Club

~ J.B. HAROLD MURDER CLUB ~

Hudson Soft / Riverhill Soft

CD-ROM

1991

I was so into this game when it first came out that I even jotted down notes in the little black-and-white case booklet that came with it. It's a simple game to play, point-and-click stuff as you go around town questioning people and looking for evidence to help solve a murder case.

But the plot evolves into something incredibly elaborate and intriguing with plenty of bizarre twists and turns. I bet it has more substance than any mass-market mystery you can find at your local bookstore.

Even playing through it now, knowing darn well who committed the crime, I have lots of fun with the game. There's still a rush involved with finding a key piece of evidence or breaking someone down in the station's interrogation room. Speaking of that room, things get surprisingly intense when you're on the verge of a confession and a suspect is reaching his or her boiling point.

Also, there's some nice jazz music during the opening, ending, and "rest" screens. You don't have to sit through any crappy FMV, and you can leave the voices off if you want. What might prove annoying is that you have to visit/search some locations and talk to certain people over and over again. I could see why some players would consider it monotonous after a while.

While it seems like most people who've played this game enjoy it to some degree, it really hasn't gotten much attention over the years. VG&CE praised it but also took it to task for a minor (and largely irrelevant) plot point involving a rape. It was overshadowed by Sherlock Holmes when it was first released because Sherlock had the FMV, and while Sherlock is still mentioned these days (mostly when people are making fun of it), Murder Club is just sort of out there. It's a great game if you're up for a little point-and-click mystery solving, and it deserves more accolades than it has received.