From the get-go, Cognition Episode 4: The Cain Killer, sets itself apart from the rest of the series. You are taken back three years, to the night when protagonist Erica Reed’s brother was killed, and introduced to a new gameplay mechanic: the Trust Meter. That may sound like a grandiose addition to the game, but don’t go around expecting Walking Dead-style relationship management. Instead, the Trust Meter is just a creative way of depicting a standard dialogue puzzle. You simply say things that makes the other character like you until the sequence ends, at which point you “win” the conversation and move on. If you fail, you’ll end up dead and have to replay the sequence over again.
Once you’ve learned how to use the Trust Meter, the scene changes and you get to play through a more traditional point-and-click adventure sequence. After that’s complete, you’ll be taken to another sequence, one that requires heavy use of Erica’s psychic abilities. This scene-switching is the second way that The Cain Killer differs from the previous Cognition games: you’re taken through a linear set of scenarios, and not allowed to explore the world on your own.
That’s not a bad thing, because it actually suits the episode’s central theme, which is the hunt for Cain. Erica is no longer conducting an investigation. She knows exactly who she’s looking for, and he actually wants her to find him, so it’s just a matter of figuring out and following the puzzles/clues he has deliberately left behind. As such, you’ll never have to explore areas larger than two rooms, which makes the experience substantially more focused, but also much easier than before. Whereas the previous games in the series had me running to the built-in hint system for help on a regular basis, this time I didn’t even feel the need.
The low difficulty makes Episode 4 the shortest of the lot. It took me three hours to complete, but it felt even shorter than that because of how engaging the story was. I found The Cain Killer to be the most interesting game in the series, by virtue of the fact that the previous three titles set up an escalating and personal antagonism between Cain and Erica. I felt myself caught up in Erica’s desire to find him and bring him to justice, and the pacing of the story matched the intensity of that desire. It constantly moved forward, with no backtracking or difficult puzzles to break the flow, and I didn’t notice the time flying by as a result.
By the time the game wrapped up, I felt fulfilled. Episode 4 is the best kind of finale: one that ends on a positive note, provides closure, and is emotionally satisfying, while also hinting at the possibility of further adventures. Oh, yes, the developers very cleverly left the door open for Erica to embark on more psychic-fueled thrill rides, and it’ll be interesting to see what they do with that in the years to come.
Technologically, the game is exactly the same as the previous installments: flawed but acceptable. Animations are awkward, characters still reach into their torsos to retrieve items (though it’s more cleverly hidden now), and some graphical weirdness happens on occasion. None of these issues negatively impacted the game for me, though others might not be so forgiving. I did encounter one game-breaking bug, however. There is a segment in which you can interact with a round table and sarcophagus. I chose to play with the table first, and when I went to check out the sarcophagus after, the sub-screen that opened did not go away (it’s supposed to close automatically once you click on all the items). Reloading a save and opening the sarcophagus before using the table worked around this problem, but the developers have said that a fix is in the works, so by the time you read this review it could be resolved.
Conclusion—Is It Worth The Money?
To be honest, as a standalone product, I wouldn’t recommend you purchase Cognition Episode 4: The Cain Killer. As the final part in a riveting and enjoyable series, you really need to play the rest of the games in order to fully appreciate what it does. However, If you’ve already purchased the previous games, then this one is definitely worthy of your $10, just to see the conclusion of Erica’s tale. Additionally, if you’ve never played any of the Cognition games, then the series as a whole is worth your time and $30 (you can read our reviews of the previous installments here, here, and here).
