The game works like an interactive movie, in a similar fashion to Supermassive's previous game, Until Dawn. The key difference from its predecessor, however, is that multiple players can join in using the PlayLink app on their mobile devices, and vote for choices, find clues, perform Quick Time Events and other such things. In Story Mode, everyone just sits back to relax and play through the story and see what they can find. But in competitive mode, players can get a Hidden Agenda they want to push for, either through convincing their fellow players or taking over the choice with a takeover card.
The plot revolves around a serial killer called the Trapper, who booby-traps his murder scenes so that the first police officer to investigate will become an additional victim. During the tutorial mission, police officer Becky Marney catches a troubled young man named Jonathan Finn in the act of setting up a Trapper crime scene; after his arrest, he confesses to the Trapper's crimes and is given a death sentence. The story then jumps forward five years: Finn's execution date is 48 hours away, when he suddenly changes his story, and claims that he took the fall to cover for the real Trapper, who he claims is a man named Adam Jones. Becky is skeptical, but then the Trapper (or is it?) strikes again...
Tropes:
- Action Girl: Becky, of course. By the end of the game, Felicity gets in on it too.
- Artistic License – Law:
- Finn seems to believe that even if he is arrested red-handed, and the Trapper strikes again, it’s somehow reasonable doubt. This would likely instead be criminal conspiracy-not helped by him explicitly outlining this plan to the District Attorney who convicted him, and would not get him out of jail. It does indeed not work; he stays in police custody regardless unless he is freed by player choice.
- It's highly suspect that Felicity interviews Finn without his attorney present, Felicity even comments on it. Yes, she has permission to do so from Petty herself, but it is considered a failure at providing effective council and Felicity would've needed to obtain written and/or verbal consent from Finn that he's waiving his right to counsel since he had retained it.
- Artistic License – Law Enforcement:
- The police are exclusively seen using the 1911 handgun-not impossible, but unlikely for a metropolitan police department, which usually issue Glocks.
- If Becky is supposed to be placed on desk duty, she still repeatedly leaves the precinct to investigate old leads. This would be difficult as her vehicle would have her location at all times, and her supervisor clearly knows but is for some reason unwilling to discipline her.
- Asshole Victim: Almost all of the Trapper's victim's are this, to one degree or another: His first, the undertaker, is a drunk who beats and cheats on his wife. The second, the orderly from the orphanage, was wildly abusive to the kids there. The third, the priest who ran the place, is hinted at being a pedophile, and also frequented prostitutes. At least two of the responding officers were dirty cops. The social worker was targeted for not being very thorough in her job, apparently ignoring or just not caring about the abuse claims. Det. Calvary was a Jerkass of the highest order, and a Covert Pervert who also sought the services of hookers. Judge Vanstone is targeted near the end of the game because he gave Adam Jones's mother an unduly harsh sentence for killing her abusive husband. Only Becky and Felicity are exempt, who are targeted to keep them off his trail.
- Ate His Gun: Used word for word by Becky, to describe how her father ended his life.
- Bad Habits: Becky learns that the priest who ran the orphanage had a secret prostitute habit; among the evidence is a flyer for a prostitute who dresses as a nun and "punishes" the "sinful".
- Big "NO!": The only time the Trapper ever emotes is when you reveal he didn't kill Judge Vanstone like he thought.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: If Felicity is caught exploring the Trapper's lair, the Trapper decides to leave her tied up inside the lair while it burns down, rather than some faster and more definite end. Arguably justifiable as the Trapper adapting on the fly (having already been intending to torch the lair to dispose of the evidence), but clearly the real reason is so the player has a chance to get Felicity out alive.
- Compromising Call: One way the endgame can go is for Felicity to discover the Trapper's secret lair, hide when the Trapper returns suddenly, and have her presence revealed to the Trapper when Becky phones to tell her what the Trapper's just done.
- Convenient Replacement Character: If Becky's partner Tom dies in the first part of the game, or gets a promotion, she will have a replacement partner after the 5 year time skip who fulfils largely the same role.
- Cop Killer: Part of the reason the Trapper case is taken so seriously is because his traps target police officers. After the first of the new attacks, Sergeant Riggs notes that Calvary was not a nice person, but they owe it to him to do the job properly because he was a fellow cop.
- Covert Pervert: Calvary. It's revealed he frequents hookers and films all of his sexual escapades, including posting one of them on a porn site and was forced to pay the woman hush money to keep it out of the system.
- Creepy Monotone: Simon Hilary talks this way, all the time. It's an inkling that he's the Trapper.
- Creepy Cross Dresser: The Trapper, aka Simon Hilary, aka, Adam Jones, posses as a prostitute to lure his victims to the room he wants to kill them in. He also dresses up as a waitress at one point to get the drop on Becky.
- Death Row: Finn is on death row, and when the game begins after the prologue, he only has 48 hours left before being executed.
- Dirty Cop: The 3rd Precinct, the one Becky works for, has a number of cops who are drug users and frequent hookers. Becky is framed as one in the story, but is actually completely honest. The Trapper is also one.
- Disappeared Dad: Becky's father killed himself just a week into Becky's career on the force.
- Domestic Abuse: The undertaker, the first of the Trapper's victims, would do this to his wife.
- Dramatic Drop: Simon Hilary drops his mug of coffee when Becky tells him she's found evidence that Adam Jones is still alive.
- Driven to Suicide: The Trapper will try to off himself when the jig is up and Judge Vanstone is a lot more alive than he thought.
- "Everybody Dies" Ending: It's possible to make it so that just about every major character is in the morgue by the end of the game.
- Fair Cop: Becky is gorgeous.
- Faking the Dead: Adam Jones; the official record says that Jones died in a fire years before the Trapper's first murder.
- Fingore: Becky will catch shrapnel to her hand if she investigates the outside of the trailer the social worker is trapped in if she is able to diffuse the bomb in time.
- Foreshadowing: If Becky decides to question Simon Hillary, he gets nervous when she discusses Adam Jones and the Trapper. This is because Simon is Adam, who is also the Trapper.
- Frame-Up: When Becky gets too close, the Trapper sets her up to be suspected as the Trapper herself, playing on existing tensions with certain of her colleagues. Whether it works depends on the player.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Calvary sabotages Becky's application to the FBI because she caught the Trapper when he couldn't.
- Guns Do Not Work That Way: At Calvary's murder scene, there are three bullet holes in the wall. Both Becky and her partner will remark that Cavalry fired a whole clip. The standard pistol magazine holds 12-15 rounds, with smaller pistols holding 6-8, but three is way too small to be a whole clip.
- Hates Being Nicknamed: Felicity does not like it when others call her "Flissy".
- Hookers and Blow: What the Dirty Cops get up to in the 3rd Precinct.
- Impairment Shot: If Becky gets drugged by the Trapper, the screen goes fuzzy as she loses consciousness.
- In the Hood: As the case progresses, Becky has several encounters with a sinister figure in a face-concealing gray hoodie. Unfortunately, as it turns out, more than one character owns a gray hoodie.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Katie Cassidy provided the voice, motion capture, and physical likeness of Becky.
- Jerkass: Detective Calvary is rude, vulgar, deliberately sabotaged Becky's application to the FBI out of jealousy, threatens Felicity at one point, and has a penchant for filming his sexual conquests without telling them.
- Last-Minute Reprieve: Finn is (supposedly) trying to clear his name and get the real Trapper Killer, Adam Jones, arrested. He's trying to do this within his last 48 hours before his execution.
- Like Father, Like Daughter: Discussed by Becky, who alleges that her coworkers treat her different because the job drove her father to eat his gun, so she must also be not all there in the head.
- Lore Codex: The game features a logbook that has tabs for story progression, character bios, and ripple effect events, as well as rules for the game, that can be accessed at any time.
- Magic Countdown: If you choose to investigate outside the trailer where Becky saves the social worker from a time bomb, the cinematic begins with the counter clearly showing 18 seconds remaining, but significantly more than 18 seconds elapse while she struggles to free the social worker. Notably, the timer will jump back up to 18 after a few seconds pass, but even with this "reset" it still takes more time to free her.
- Meatgrinder Surgery: Taking the phone bomb out of Judge Vanstone, since it's just with Becky's bare hands and no anesthesia or painkillers.
- Mercy Kill: Shooting Judge Vanstone is presented as this, since he has a bomb implanted in him. The trophy name for doing so even says as much.
- Ms. Fanservice: Becky, if knocked out by the killer, can gain a pretty nice outfit that includes a midriff-baring shirt.
- Multiple Endings: The game can end in many ways, depending on player choices.
- Non-Lethal K.O.: Becky can be knocked out by the killer, either by drugged drink, or by chloroforming her in her car.
- Orphanage of Fear: Las Palmas orphanage, where Finn grew up. Most of the Trapper's victims were connected to it, such as the priest who ran it.
- Permadeath: You get one life per run. If Becky is killed or arrested, you must start the game over from the beginning.
- Quick Time Events: QTEs pop up from time to time, and are the only form of gameplay. If you're playing with multiple players, completing one will grant you a takeover card.
- Reusable Lighter Toss: In the Hillary residence, Simon will pour gasoline and then open up his lighter. If certain QTEs are failed, he will toss it, setting the basement on fire. If Simon is shot but Jonathan turned on the police and another QTE is failed, then he will pick up the lighter and toss it instead.
- Schrödinger's Gun: At one point, there's a flashback in which Becky recalls an incident where the Trapper attacked a social worker. The outcome of the scene, including whether the social worker survives and whether Becky herself comes out unscathed, depends on the players' actions; whatever the outcome, the consequences will then show up in the present-day scenes.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: If Becky saves the social worker from the Trapper, she dies offscreen a few weeks later in a hit and run, implied to be the Trapper, finishing what he started.
- Shout-Out:
- The whole game is unsubtly based on the Saw series, but Sgt. Riggs was a definite naming choice.
- Jonathan Finn's appearance seems based off John Doe from Se7en.
- Suspend Save: The game will only save if you quit and will usually save at the exact moment you quit, preventing players from Save Scumming if they make a bad choice.
- Time Skip: After the prologue, there is a Time Skip of 5 years, with the Trapper case being reopened as Finn is about to be sentenced to death.
- The Ghost: Lana Petty, Finn's lawyer, never actually appears on screen despite having a character portrait.
- Train Escape: If you choose to explore the abandoned orphanage first, Becky finds somebody else lurking and gives chase. Outside the building, the suspect crosses a railroad line shortly before a long train passes, separating them and giving the suspect an opportunity to escape.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: It is possible to get all but a couple of the characters killed in the course of the game.
- Villainous Breakdown: If Becky and Felicity lure the Trapper into the underpass, he will brag about killing all of his intended victims. If Becky saved Judge Vanstone and lets him know, he promptly loses it.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: The name of the city, or even state is never given. The sign outside the precinct house says "Police Department", with no emblem or details of which city or precinct it is. The only clue that it's even in the United States is the American flag outside of the station.
- Worst Aid: If you choose not to shoot Judge Vanstone to keep the bomb in him from going off, Becky will take it out of him.
