This Is the Zodiac Speaking

Ultimately the game feels like the first draft of a really great idea. Add some polish, and we’d love to see what it could become.

We commend the approach taken with this game. It’s a thoughtful take on a real-life murder mystery, and although the stealth sections felt a bit unnecessary, the experience as a whole at least felt relatively authentic. Ultimately, though, the gameplay and visuals just aren’t up to scratch at all, and there are far better examples of the genre on Switch that you’d be much better off playing.

It'd be apropos to say Punch Punk Games' latest title botches its execution on this fascinating subject matter.

This is the Zodiac Speaking sets itself up as a moody and mature take on a series of still unsolved murders, but the game in practice lacks a considerable amount of finesse. Beyond running poorly on the Nintendo Switch - to the point where anyone who exclusively plays undocked should avoid a purchase outright - the script is as overindulgent as it is clunky and what few attempts there are at building tension are downright comical. This is the Zodiac Speaking might have been worth suffering through the flaws if the game had tighter controls and ran better, but the Switch release simply isn't worth the money.

If you absolutely have to pick up this game, do yourself a favor and play Detective mode. You’ll get through it three times as fast and can move onto something worth your time

While I've generally found first-person exploration adventure-type games like this to be a drag in their pacing I do appreciate that in this case the game has taken on a quasi-historic element of a member of the press chasing down the Zodiac killer to add interest...

Taking inspiration from the infamous Zodiac Killer, you too can feel the fear of hunting the hunter, or are you in fact also his prey?

The core mechanics of This is the Zodiac Speaking and the mystery that it offers are intriguing, but the ugly visuals make it extremely difficult to recommend on the Nintendo Switch. I can’t deny that actually enjoyed investigating the case and seeing how it affects Robert does add a neat personal touch to proceedings, but the fact that it has such a blurry resolution, dark environments that are difficult to make out, and terrible pop-in that springs objects into your viewpoint from out of nowhere just soured the whole experience for me. This is the Zodiac Speaking is certainly playable on the Nintendo Switch and in fairness it does have its moments where even the graphics are passable (even if they are few and far between) – if you really want to enjoy the clever concept of the game though, I’d implore you to try it on a platform where the awful visuals won’t ruin the experience for you.

There are some really good things in This Is The Zodiac Speaking. It nails its setting, being shockingly faithful to its source material. The developers did a great job researching the subject matter, that’s for certain. Sadly, I can’t say the same about the game as a whole. Its graphics are cheap, its sound design is a mixed bag, and what’s worse, it’s just not very exciting to play.

This is the Zodiac Speaking has interesting ideas, but is ultimately a dull slog through a poorly-told story.