Procedural detective noir Shadows of Doubt adds infidelity investigations next week

19.09.2023 - 10:23 / eurogamer.net / Liv Ngan / Next Week

Shadows of Doubt, the ambitious procedural detective noir sandbox from developer Cole Jefferies, is introducing new cases themed around infidelity on 25th September, as part of its first major update since entering Steam early access in April.

Shadows of Doubt, for those in need of a quick refresher, is a first-person, open-world detective sim set in a noirish sci-fi city. Its unique selling point, however, is that procedural generation governs virtually every aspect of it in a bid to create an endlessly replayable crime-solving caper — from the layout of its city streets to the schedules of its citizens, right through to the cases you'll need to solve through stealth, subtrefuge, and sleuthing.

And from next Monday, 25th September, come the arrival of its Cheats and Liars update, Shadows of Doubt will have another trick in its toolbox — as players might just find themselves asked to investigate cases of infidelity, should it suit the procedural generation's whims.

«As a private detective, you'll be tasked with looking into suspected sordid relations to track down everything that's been going on in an illicit affair,» explains the Cheats and Liars announcement. «Investigate the couple’s movements, discover clues, seek out evidence and monitor their actions to determine whether the accused has been unfaithful.»

Also coming in next week's Cheats and Liars update is a new multi-storey hotel building — which players can check into and enjoy its luxurious amenities, including a rooftop bar, as long as they've got the money to pay for it — alongside new missing item notice board quests, plus new NPC interactions and dialogue, including the ability to directly accuse citizens of crimes and cuff them on the spot. «But be warned,» teases today's announcement, «your suspect might not always take kindly to being accused of a crime...»

All this arrives alongside various bug fixes and quality of life improvements, including better localisation and support for Nvidia DLSS.

Eurogamer's Liv Ngan took a look at Shadows of Doubt back when it entered early access in April and, despite admiring its wonderful freeform approach to crime solving, wasn't entirely convinced that all its procedurally generated bits clicked together to form an entirely satisfying whole. Hopefully that'll be less of a concern as its development continues.