Man, so here’s the deal with these FMV games lately — like, they’re sneaking back in, you know? Quietly causing a stir in indie circles. It’s kinda like those choose-your-own-adventure books, if you remember those things. Anyway, there’s this game, or rather, interactive story or whatever, called The Shapeshifting Detective. It’s totally got this whole “Who’s the bad guy?” vibe, and you’ve got actors doing their thing in a compact little sandbox. And then there’s Not for Broadcast, which goes off the rails with fun, more hands-on action. But let’s circle back — there’s this up-and-coming thing from Dark Rift Horror, Dead Reset. Looks promising, sounds promising.
So, Dead Reset throws you into this character Cole Mason’s shoes. Dude’s a surgeon, waking up on some space station floor? Picture Alien movies. Next, boom! He’s yanked up by a guard, pushing him to fix up a woman with some freaky growth. Imagine pressure, right? Reluctant surgeon vibes, gun to the head, literal and metaphorical. You get these moments where you choose — do you operate or make a run for it? I went for operation under duress and whoa, alien creature burst out, chaos everywhere. Poor Cole’s caught in a crazy time loop, same thing happening over and over. In just one chapter, I racked up a few loops, like when Cole’s attempt to shoot ends with his arm gone (ID verification fails can be messy, apparently). You know, finally found a pathway forward — captured the alien, but now what?
Now, the acting. It’s like, mostly solid, some flubs when tension kicks up. Time seems to speed up — Cole’s suddenly best buds with strangers? Feels a bit rushed — not their fault probably, just fast storytelling. But fits, considering horror cranks up connections quick. Gore in the demo? Yeah, it’s all there. Blood, guts, aliens doing their mutilate-y dance. The alien’s kinda funny-lookin’ but they keep it from getting too goofy by not showing too much. Gun flashes remind me of that old Area 51 game in arcades. Less polished direction would’ve been laughable, but somehow it works here.
So, did I dig the demo? Yeah, mostly. It teased just enough without spilling all the beans on the plot. The whole deal with Cole, this time loop business, that alien hiding out — enough to keep me intrigued. Looking forward to more, and September 11th, you can grab it in the Nintendo Switch eShop, if you’re into that sort of thing.
