The Bradwell Conspiracy

"Something different" is the best way to describe this puzzle solving adventure game, but whether or not that's a good thing is open to debate. The acting in The Bradwell Conspiracy is well done, but for obvious storyline reasons, it's also a one-sided experience. You feel like you're being spoken at instead of being talked to. The photo aspect of the communication is inventive, but doesn't always work the way it's supposed to. The problem is, for every thing the game seems to get right, it gets that same thing just as wrong. This results in a title that has flashes of brilliance one minute while also teetering on the edge of disaster the next. And it's this back and forth that makes it difficult to ever truly love or hate the game, resulting in an overwhelming feeling of "meh" by the time all is said and done.

The story has an interesting concept, but unfortunately there's just too many coincidental events, too many moments of where things "just so happen" to happen to ever gain any suspension of disbelief. For example, it would be easy to talk to your ally and come up with a plan to escape, but you "just so happen" to have lost your voice in the accident. Thankfully, your smart glasses "just so happen" to be able to take pictures that you can use to communicate with, but only if you "just so happen" to take a picture of the right thing at the right angle. You need specific items to overcome obstacle, but you "just so happen" to have a device that can instantly 3D print almost anything … assuming you "just so happen" to find a blueprint for what you need and the material to fuel the printer with. With so much of the game relying on things falling into just the right place, The Bradwell Conspiracy feels like one cover-up best left covered.