Publisher: Phoenix Online Studios
Developer: Phoenix Online Studios
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/iOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), 2.0 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB DirectX 9-compatible graphics card, 2.5 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

I think we can stop using the “adventure games are dead, but…” line. Along with platformers, adventure games are low-cost laboratories where creative indies can play around within well-established genre conventions. If the subtitle didn’t tip you off, Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller is an adventure game in the vein of the airport thrillers of Clive Cussler and James Patterson. Think Castle without the snark, or the Alex Cross movies without the suck. It’s a world where murder happens like an elemental force, and killers leave puzzles and traps behind like rats leave droppings. With remarkably high production values and Adventure Goddess Jane Jensen attached as a story consultant, Cognition seems to have everything going for it.

While most adventure games use retro stylings for the aesthetics (or to simply mask budgetary constraints), Cognition really goes all out. It uses a blend of cell-shaded 3D models and painted backgrounds to great effect. The feel is that of a comic book, complete with text boxes. Don’t let that give you the wrong impression, as Cognition can be remarkably violent. The whole setup revolves around a creepy serial killer, and the game doesn’t hesitate to shoot Erica in the face when you screw up.

Yes, you can die, but thankfully it avoids reaching Space Quest levels of self-destruction. Where Sam and Max might have you in a comical steady state where a gunbattle might last an eternity until solving the magic puzzle, Cognition gleefully puts a bullet in Erica’s head. You can always text your father for a hint if you get stuck (that’s Erica’s father, not yours. He’ll just be confused).

The trick here is that Erica has a special intuition that lets her see the history of any object she touches. Considering that’s the entire job description of a police investigator, it seems like cheating. It’s not just a gimmick, it’s pretty central to a huge range of puzzles. Everything from bomb disarming, finding murder weapons, and even walking through memories with witnesses. It’s a neat addition; something different from the genre-standard inventory puzzles.

Cognition is hardly a gory game, but it is relentlessly dark. It’s the kind of game in which people get their eyes gouged or they get tied to tables laced with crossbow traps. One puzzle requires you to drive spikes into your shins to unlock a door. It never outright shows the bloody bits, but that often makes things worse. It’s a thick atmosphere that can be cloying if you’re not into crime thrillers. When your plot involves a psychic FBI agent versus Saw villains, you’re bound to stray into cheese. What works so well is how the plot is woven into the intuition game mechanics.

These two episodes are fairly similar. While the second one is shorter, it’s also bound with more taut puzzles. Hopefully the trend continues in the upcoming final two stories. Phoenix Online Studios has succeeded in beating Pendulo at their own game. Cognition lacks the odd idiosyncrasies that make modern adventures such as Yesterday seem strange to those outside of the adventure bubble. It does supplement with a few oddities of its own, but on the whole, Cognition is a far more engaging experience than most of its kin these days.

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