It was the ability of the main character that got me interested in Cognition, and even if I had some frustrations at first in my progression, after I got the hang of the gameplay the adventure was much more than I was expecting.
In Episode 1: The Hangman you play as Erica Reed, an FBI agent working on the disappearance of her brother. Erica also has a special ability called post-cognition, which allows her to see visions of events past by focusing on certain objects. After her brother’s death, the case is closed without the killer ever being found. Years later, Erica and her partner John are called to a new and unusual crime scene, where her visions become more and more scrambled, and her headaches progressively worse.
With simple point and click mechanics that are familiar to adventure gamers, moving and inspecting items is nothing new. The novelty factor relies on the cognition sphere, which you can use whenever and wherever you are.
This ability also shifts the adventure game into more of a puzzle. When you click the cognition sphere, certain objects in the scene will show a sort of haze. You can focus on these items to learn more about what happened to them. Sometimes you must focus on more than one thing at once to get results.
Unlike in most adventure games, the story in Cognition isn’t linear. Certain conversations open up different options, and even some actions can alter the relationship between characters, or make a difference between moving on or game over. My Erica died within the first hour of gameplay due to my inability to respond to a quick-time event, of sorts. So be advised, sometimes what seems like an action sequence that you just sit back and watch, is not, and you are still able to click things. Pay attention to your cursor for changes in shape, so that you know when you’re able to act again. Fortunately, when you die there is a retry option that places you at the beginning of the crucial scene.
Putting pieces of the case together won’t be as easy as it may seem, especially when your main character seems to be on the verge of madness with out-of-control visions. There are different places to visit around the city, including the FBI agency where you can interrogate suspects or do some research, the cemetery, the morgue, and interesting people to talk to, particularly the friendly antique store shopkeeper, who can help you get some control over your visions and abilities. Later on, Erica will also learn how to make sense of people’s thoughts and ideas from this lady, which works a bit like scavenger hunting into someone’s mind. Invasive, but effective.
On a more technical aspect, the look of the game is quite interesting. The backgrounds are vibrant and detailed, and the cut-scenes have somewhat of a comic book look to them. The different layers of 2D art are animated to bring the scenes to life. The characters are cel-shaded and fit the comic book appearance, but their movements and facial expressions are somewhat awkward.
As for the sound, the music and voice acting are excellent, which is definitely a key aspect in sucking you into the story. The dialogues are well-written and the actors bring their characters’ personalities to life perfectly.
On the downside, the game has fairly long loading times, particularly reaching the map to navigate the city, and there isn’t much help to be found throughout the game when common sense fails you. However, you can use Erica’s cell phone to text her father, who gives you some general guidance as far as what to do next.
I suppose we can sum up Cognition into an adventure game for grown-ups with an engrossing story and intriguing gameplay. Episode 1: The Hangman is not without some flaws, but it’s a promising adventure that leaves you shocked, wondering and wanting more right up to the end of the credits.
