Line #29 VideoGame/WhispersOfAMachine


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/woam.png]]
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3	''Whispers of a Machine'' is a 2019 point-and-click AdventureGame, developed by Clifftop Games and Faravid Interactive and published by Creator/RawFury. It's a sci-fi NordicNoir with heavy CyberPunk elements, set in a post-apocalyptic future.
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5	Vera Englund is a rookie special agent of the Violent Crime division of the Central Bureau, sent to the remote town of Nordsund to investigate the murder of a museum curator, since the local cops have almost no experience in dealing with murder cases. In a post-Collapse world, [=AIs=] are banned, as is a whole range of advanced technology that may potentially lead to an AI. Special agents like Vera have been enhanced via a nanotech substance called Blue, which integrates into their bodies and gives them certain abilities that, in part, depend on their personality. Since Vera has been "enhanced" only recently, some of her abilities have not yet manifested. Some abilities are set, while others will depend on her conversation choices throughout the game (empathetic, analytical, or assertive).
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7	Upon arrival to Nordsund, a town positioned atop a high pedestal, Vera learns of another murder that took place the night before. As is customary in such games, what seems like an ordinary murder will eventually unravel a conspiracy that may affect the entire world.
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9	The game deliberately keeps the details of the setting vague by not mentioning any countries and introducing an AlternativeCalendar that says nothing about when the events are taking place from our viewpoint. Unlike many other similar games, ''WOAM'' does not include the ability to manually save the game, instead keeping a running save that prevents SaveScumming. All decisions are final.
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11	!!This game provides examples of:
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13	* AfterTheEnd: The game takes place 82 years after an event only known as "the Collapse". Very few details are revealed. All we know is that anti-[=AI=] groups, fearing the approaching [[TheSingularity singularity]], managed to ban the [=AIs=], and the old civilization collapsed as a result. Also, the Collapse was helped along by vicious fighting and terrorist activity from both pro-[=AI=] and anti-[=AI=] groups. In the post-Collapse world, most advanced tech is banned, which includes even basic computers. Based on some of the items in Nordsund's museum, it can be concluded that the pre-Collapse world had {{Flying Car}}s and {{Robot Soldier}}s, as well as many kinds of household robots. Even the remote town of Nordsund is located atop a giant stone or metal disc-shaped pedestal that requires an elevator to access.
14	* AirVentPassageway: Vera sneaks into [[spoiler:EPOS headquarters via its duct system]].
15	* TheAlcoholic: [[spoiler:Stina's apartment has several discarded or half-empty booze and beer bottles lying around, suggesting that she has quite the habit.]]
16	* AlternativeCalendar: The only dates mentioned use the abbreviation "AR" - "Anno Reducto", i.e., "Year after the Collapse". The current year is 82 AR. But there's no information about how these dates correspond to our calendar.
17	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Councilwoman Stina Rooth is the real culprit. After her accomplice Lennart Dahl murders Maja Strands and Karl Oscarsson, Stina kills him and feeds his body into the recycler. Her goal is to awaken the AI Huldra, but in her own body rather than that of the child, in order to become a goddess. Vera ends up fatally shooting her, after Stina refuses to surrender without a fight.]]
18	* BlindedByTheLight: [[spoiler:This is how Vera defeats Stina, by using the museum's FlyingCar exhibit to blind Stina and then shoot her.]]
19	* BookcasePassage: [[spoiler:Maja's secret lab full of illegal equipment is located in the museum behind a sliding panel that can only be opened by activating the exhibits in a specific order.]]
20	* BorrowedBiometricBypass: One of the ways of getting into a room secured by a fingerprint scanner is to either cut off the owner's finger (the owner is dead at that point). [[spoiler:The other way is to create a mold of the finger and use that instead.]]
21	* BrokenBridge: You cannot enter the museum until day 2 when the problem with the electricity is fixed.
22	* ChekhovsGunman: Two gunmen:
23	** [[spoiler:The old man on the train, who strikes up a conversation with Vera in the intro, turns out to be the leader of the Church of EPOS in Nordsund.]]
24	** [[spoiler:The gardener you meet on the cantina balcony later turns out to be the third victim's brother.]]
25	* ClearMyName: A small subplot involves a character doing this after being wrongly accused of murder. [[spoiler:This could actually have been resolved in minutes had two police officers coordinated and realized that the accused had a solid alibi; see PoorCommunicationKills]].
26	* TheCoroner: Dr. Persson combines this function with that of Nordsund's only doctor. Few people enjoy visiting him due to his rather grim sense of humor.
27	* EasyAmnesia: The Amnesia ability allows Vera to temporarily make the subject forget about the last several minutes.
28	* FanOfThePast: Maja Strand, the curator of the museum, was a fan of all things pre-Collapse. [[spoiler:She turns out to be a member of the Conduit and wishes to bring back the [=AIs=].]] Possibly also Valter, who scrounges the junkyard for robot parts and restores them (in appearance, at least, never in function).
29	* {{Frameup}}: [[spoiler:As soon as Vera returns to Nordsund, after being thrown off the platform by Stina Rooth, she is arrested by either Gabriel or Anderson (depending on previous player choices). Stina convinced Gabriel/Anderson that Vera is the murderer, forcing Vera to flee custody and try to prove her innocence.]]
30	* TheFundamentalist: [[spoiler:Lennart Dahl turns out to be one. As a member of the Church of EPOS, he is vehemently anti-AI. However, whereas the Church no longer condones violence, Dahl refuses to stand by and do nothing, while members of the Conduit are trying to create a new AI, so he murders Maja and Karl, forcing Stina to "put him down like a rabid dog".]]
31	** Maja seems to be a fanatical follower of the Conduit, judging by her mystical ramblings. Also, unlike Katarina, she never called Katarina's son a baby or something like that - always just a "vessel".
32	* GiveHimANormalLife: [[spoiler:If Vera chooses to not go through with uploading Huldra to Karl and Katarina's son, the question becomes what is to become of the child. Katarina, realizing that she is going to serve a long sentence in jail and therefore is not going to be able to take care of him, instead chooses to give up any claim to him, asking Vera to see to it that he gets a normal life. Vera can choose to do this by putting him up for adoption or choosing to take care of him herself.]]
33	* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: While in jail at the police station, Vera tricks the guard with her [[spoiler:HealingFactor.]]
34	* HealingFactor: Vera's final ability is Regeneration. [[spoiler:It allows her to survive a fall from a great height, and bring Katarina out of her coma by hooking herself up to Katarina's IV.]]
35	* HolographicDisguise: The Mimic ability can scan a person's physical appearance and voice patterns and then recreate them to disguise Vera. Only one pattern can be stored at a time.
36	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: When Vera talks to Katarina in one of the endings, she justifies [[spoiler:killing Stina]] using this line.
37	* AIIsACrapshoot: This is what most post-Collapse people believe. The only exception is the Conduit, a group of fanatics, who believe that [=AIs=] have the potential to become gods and must be brought back. They are classified as terrorists and typically find themselves coming to blows with the Church of EPOS, who are just as fanatically against anything resembling an AI.
38	* ImTakingHimHomeWithMe: [[spoiler:Vera can potentially choose this for Karl and Katarina's infant son. Katarina accepts it, considering that she is going to be in jail for several years for her involvement with a terrorist organisation, and she wants her son to have a better future.]]
39	* InvisibilityCloak: One of the abilities Vera can develop, depending on her conversation choices. The effect is temporary and is negated by touching something or using another ability. [[spoiler:Stina has the ability too, given that she's a former special agent, and uses it to sneak up on Vera and push her off the platform.]]
40	* LivingLieDetector: The Biometric Analyzer power allows Vera to scan another person's heartbeat. This can be used to catch someone in a lie by detecting anomalies in the pulse. It's generally a good idea to keep it on when talking to pretty much everyone. [[spoiler:She later learns, however, that one character had a special implant that sent fake biofeedback, allowing them to lie undetected.]]
41	* TheLostLenore: Alex, Vera's husband. He died shortly before the story's beginning and she is still very much hurting from the loss. [[spoiler:She can possibly come to terms with his death in one of the endings.]]
42	* MindControl: Of the powers Vera can potentially unlock, allowing her to take over people and remote control them. [[spoiler:It is implied from Gabriel's dialogue that Stina also has some version of this ability, albeit less powerful.]]
43	* MultipleEndings: The game has three endings, depending on Vera's choices on the final day. [[spoiler:She can awaken the AI or destroy it. In the latter case, she can either adopt Katarina's baby or put him into the foster system.]]
44	* {{Nanotechnology}}: Every special agent is infused with Blue, a substance that consists of nanobots that permeate the agent's body and give them a number of abilities, typically [[PersonalityPowers based on their personality]]. Thus, no two agents' abilities are the same. Since nanobots are controlled by the person's neurons, the tech isn't classified as AI, but only special agents are permitted to use Blue. Retired special agents keep their Blue, since the nanobots are too firmly integrated to be removed.
45	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: A justified case, as "the Blue" nanomachines, which grants the agents of the Central Bureau their superhuman powers, takes time to "settle in", and responds sympathetically to the personality of the agent, resulting in them adapting to the agent over time. To begin with, Vera, a newly minted-agent who has just recently been given "the Blue", only has three standard powers: Forensic Scanner (which can be set to a general scan or to scan for something in the database), Biometric Analyser (measures a person's heartbeat and can be used to catch someone in a lie), Muscle Boost (a short burst of SuperStrength). Three more abilities will be unlocked later, one per day. Two of them are dependent on Vera's conversation choices throughout the game: she can be empathetic, assertive, or analytical. Day 2 abilities are Amnesia (empathetic, can induce temporary short-term memory loss), Energize (assertive, creates a momentary burst of energy in electrical objects and people), and Enhanced Vision (analytical, telescopic zoom and [[InnateNightVision night vision]]). Day 3 abilities include Mimicry (empathetic, can copy another's appearance and voice), Mind Control (assertive, self-explanatory), and Cloak (analytical, temporary invisibility). The final ability is [[HealingFactor Regeneration]]. This allows for multiple playthroughs, especially since a single continuous save precludes SaveScumming.
46	* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Averted, [[spoiler:Stina isn't at all certain that Vera was killed after she pushed her off the platform into the river below, partly because she knows that Vera's body has been enhanced by Blue, same as hers. This is why she frames Vera and convinces the cops to arrest her the moment she appears. Indeed, Vera's next ability to unlock is [[HealingFactor Regeneration]], allowing her to survive.]]
47	* NordicNoir: It's a murder mystery, set in an unspecified but likely Scandinavian location, given that the town's name is Nordsund and most people have Nordic names.
48	* Myth/NorseMythology: Justified, given the NordicNoir setting. Valter's robot helper is named "Nisse", which is a type of helpful domestic spirit or gnome in Scandinavian folklore. [[spoiler:Maja calls her AI "Huldra", which is a forest spirit in Nordic mythology, while her protocol to wipe all data is called "Fenrir", after the monstrous wolf that will help start Ragnarok.]]
49	* TheNotLoveInterest: Some players may expect Vera to end up with the handsome local cop Gabriel, but she still hasn't recovered from the recent loss of her husband Alex.
50	* OvertRendezvous: Katarina and Karl thought they were safe talking their plans out on a park bench at the market square. However, [[spoiler:Lennart]] recorded their conversation.
51	* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: Downplayed. The door to Katarina's apartment is locked with a password that has to do with [[spoiler:the date of her arrival at Nordsund]].
52	* PoorCommunicationKills: The entire ClearMyName subplot would have been avoided had Gabriel and another police officer mentioned that [[spoiler:Vera never left the police station on the night that Lennart was murdered]]. If Anderson is in charge, he will [[LampshadeHanging Lampshade]] this.
53	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:
54	** Commissary Kurt Anderson is the chief of Nordsund's police. He is reasonable and cooperative with Vera, understanding that his department is not equipped to handle a murder case, considering how incredibly rare they are in this quiet town. [[spoiler: In the empathetic route, Stina manages to force him to step down through political maneuvering, and has him replaced with the somewhat less reasonable Gabriel, in order to enable her frameup of Vera to go more smoothly.]]
55	** The head of the Nordsund's branch of the Church of EPOS. He doesn't complain when Vera sneaks into the building and calmly answers her questions, seeking to distance the Church from any suspicion by being helpful to the investigation.
56	* RobotBuddy: Valter, the Nordsund's robot tinkerer, has Nisse, although he is more of a fancy ventriloquist dummy than an actual robot.
57	** To a lesser degree, Valter also has Uffe, his "concierge robot" who waves in greetings and goodbyes at everyone who enters or exits his shop.
58	* SecretRoom: Vera finds a hidden lab [[spoiler:at the museum]] which she opens using a BookcasePassage technique.
59	* SecretUndergroundPassage: [[spoiler:Vera finds one at the junkyard, with the entrance hidden inside a fridge. It leads to Katarina's hideout.]]
60	* ShoutOut:
61	** A scene sees Vera walking up to Dr. Persson and greeting him, while he has his back turned. Persson emits a yelp and tells Vera "not to sneak up on [him] like that", in a sly reference to the intro scene of ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland''.
62	** Drinking coffee in the police station for the first time, Vera comments that it is "[[Series/TwinPeaks a damn good coffee]]".
63	* TheSingularity: [[spoiler:This is what Maja and Katarina hoped to achieve by growing a child in a tank and infusing his body with Blue, before loading the AI Huldra into it.]]
64	* SuperSenses: Vera's Forensic Scanner highlights and scans anything significant to the case. It can also look for specific shapes, DNA, or fingerprints, if they've been entered into the database. She can also potentially get Enhanced Vision, which adds telescopic zoom and InnateNightVision.
65	* TreacherousAdvisor: [[spoiler:Stina Rooth, being an experienced former agent of the Central Bureau, occasionally offers advice on the investigation to Vera, who is still somewhat of a rookie. Stina, however, turns out to have long gone off the deep end in fighting TheConspiracy.]]
66	* TwoDunIt: It's initially assumed that all three murders are related and may have been committed by the same culprit. [[spoiler:In fact, the third victim is the murderer of the first two, which is why his partner murdered him afterwards.]]
67	* UsedFuture: Given the game's AfterTheEnd setting, this is justified. Everything looks old and fixed-up. The train Vera takes to Nordsund in the prologue has some broken windows, which have been covered up by wooden planks. The shiniest things are in the pre-Collapse museum, including things like a FlyingCar and a RobotSoldier (all non-functional, of course).
68	* {{Ventriloquism}}: Valter, the proprietor of the Robot Shop, likes to engage in this using his robot Nisse. When questioned, he admits that none of his robots have microchips (which would have been highly illegal), so it's just a trick. He frequently helps out Dr. Persson at the hospital by entertaining the children with Nisse.
69	* VirtualGhost: Vera keeps seeing the ghost of her late husband Alex with increasing frequency. She assumes it's a side effect of the Blue. [[spoiler:Except "Alex" is strangely insistent that she activate the AI Huldra, so he can come back to life, and his voice gets more electronic in timbre the more excited he is.]]
70	* WeCanRuleTogether: Before the final shootout, the BigBad offers Vera to join their cause.

Context VideoGame / WhispersOfAMachine