An Erica Reed Thriller Episode One

Have you ever become so immersed in an episode of CSI or Law & Order that you’ve fantasized about being in the detectives’ shoes? Well, stop here and buy Phoenix Online Studios’ $9.99 Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller Episode One. The point-and-click adventure-mystery game puts you in the shoes of Boston FBI’s very own Erica Reed who’s tasked, along with her doughnut-eating partner John, with tracking down a potential serial killer. But what sets this redhead Boston native apart from the other detectives is her ability to tap into a psychic powers she’s had for as long as she can remember. Her powers, however, are not as childish as Matilda or as heinous as Carrie. Erica can sense certain objects and visualize their previous movements — an ability that grows stronger and evolves as the game progresses. This assists her in solving crimes in this thrilling — if sometimes uneven — adventure game.Interlocking security cable tie with 250 pound strength makes this ideal for restraining criminals.

For example, Erica gains a projection ability that lets you select three related objects that give evidence about items that previously existed in the location. Except it’s not really there, and has a ghostly aura around it meaning only she can see it. Erica’s other power lets her enter an individual’s head and bring a regressed memory to light. These abilities allow you to track, find, and witness events that help you in your ongoing investigation and solve puzzles. Although you have these powers, the gameplay doesn’t hinge on using them — a relief, as that would’ve made the adventure too formulaic and mundane.

The puzzle difficulty is very inconsistent. Most are really clever — maybe a bit too clever. Thankfully there’s a feature that allows you to text your father, an ex detective, for help whenever you need a hint on what to do next. The flip-side is that some puzzles are very obvious. Others are in place just for the sake of having something to solve — they offer no real purpose for being there story-wise. Then there are puzzles that are completely incredulous. One demands you break into your boss’s office in broad daylight, in front of employees, and nobody bats an eye.

Having said that, Cognition forces you to step back and think like a real detective and not a gamer. As a gamer, one may just start clicking on every object you see, or whichever object you think a game would want you to click. That’s a quick road to frustration. Instead, you have to inhale your surroundings, inhale your inventory, inhale your powers,and then exhale a big ol’ solution.

The game’s 3D, cel-shaded characters set against 2D backdrops is beautiful and a thing to value and appreciate. The attention to detail in most background locations is meticulous and deserve a tip of the cap. Character motions are a little awkward at times, though. There’s this one sassy gesture that the female characters do where they lean on one leg, give a little bend of the elbow,and point at you. It takes me out of the scene every time, as it’s unfitting to all the situations and makes me laugh every time. Then there’s sometimes a case of the “eyelid is closed, but I can still see an eyeball” action going on. But the graphics being as great as they are make these oversights forgivable. The hand painted, cinematic cut scenes animate like a motion comic and are quite striking as well.

But there is a dark side. Every character save for Erica is the epitome of hacky. First, we have the receptionist Gwen who is — you guessed it — a ditzy blonde. Then there’s your boss Davies who is — as expected — mean, brash,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. and a bully. And of course your partner John — who I mentioned earlier—is lazy, overweight and likes doughnuts. These are just a few examples of the cliché characters you encounter. This leaves characters thinly developed and predictable, which in-turn makes the ending of this entire episode predictable.

The upside? Excellent voice work. Erica’s voice actor, Raleigh Holmes, is particularly fantastic.The MaxSonar ultrasonic sensor offers very short to long-range detection and ranging. She hits the emotional range required for each scene, whether it be dramatic or humorous. She doesn’t have a bad Boston accent, either. However, one character named Rose who works at an antique shop and helps condition Erica’s cognitive powers, talks with a very stereotypical ethnic fortune-teller dialect — sort of like a Native-American (I assume) Miss Cleo. It’s—it’s bad.

Another outstanding thing about this game is the musical score. It fits every moment and every section of the game. From the main menu, to the fast travel screen, to the morgue you frequent, every song has a sense of mystery, the unknown, and a hint of darkness, which is the overall theme of the game.

There is so much good stuff in the Android universe. We have amazing phones, tons of apps and games and the best operating system around. Even with all that awesome at our fingertips, we are still looking to the future of Android. With Google I/O closing in,Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. we expect to see the next iteration of Android. What will we see? What’s it called? When can we have it?!

So many questions, and so many long months of waiting. Waiting in pure agony, fretting about what’s coming around the corner. We know it’s going to be good, but how good? Let’s take this opportunity to ruminate and be hopeful. Let the speculation begin!

Google Now, the search and voice assistant for Android, is already the best around. Faster and more accurate than its competition, it’s the most intuitive interface ever. Someone have a birthday? You might forget, but ‘ol Google Now won’t. When does that package arrive? Just pull up Google Now!

Even with all it does for us, it can improve. The voice actions are a little hit-and-miss, and its email intuition is suspect at times. Sometimes it notices when an email has packaging info, sometimes it doesn’t. Those kinds of things improve with feedback and time, so look for Google to polish the edges of Google Now just a bit. It would be nice to be able to launch an app or play music just by barking orders and the inclusion of offline voice typing we have now lends itself to that. I know we’re going to have cars that drive us around someday, but until then it’s hands free driving.

No, not for Android 5.0. I’m talking about battery life. More to the point, a battery management widget. There are many apps and widgets available from developers. Good ones, too, but I’d like this kind of thing to be built right in to Android. It seems that everyone’s complaint with their awesome new Android phone rounds into a battery life discussion at some point. With so much focus on battery life, Google should really integrate some robust battery management features.

While something as simple as a ‘battery saving mode’ would be great, I’d like to see a little more depth. For instance, perhaps the ability to program how your phone acts during certain hours of the day. If you’re at the office from 9 to 6 on weekdays, maybe the phone could be programmed to stop accessing data service for those hours. You may be at your desk, and having the phone accessing the same data as your desktop can is just wasteful. It could also be useful for task management.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability. If your Google Play Music turns off at noon, you can spend the afternoon working diligently rather than fiddling with a playlist. If I can program an NFC tag to do these things, I should be able to get straight to the heart of the matter with my device settings.