Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins Review (Switch eShop)

Have you ever wanted to receive text messages from the Doctor Who universe?

No, neither do we. That doesn’t want to diminish the long-running sci-fi broadcast as a whole; more than a sad acknowledgment that his current incarnation may not represent the show at its best. We were surprised, then, to find out that Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins is arguably the best Doctor Who game ever made. Although, admittedly, that’s not exactly a difficult feat to accomplish given the series’ relatively stripped history with the medium.

While the genre “found phone” isn’t new, it feels notably cool here, and it’s a very clever way to bring the player into the Doctor Who universe; your character has no name or gender, so it is effective you. Your Switch becomes a mobile phone, either positioned in the middle of the screen and controlled via the cursor using the stick and buttons, or, more intuitively, turned sideways and used as a real phone (Even if it’s massive, imagine we are in the late 80’s or something like that). The latter is the most absorbing way to play – any means of playing this game other than a touch screen is one step down. The option to play on TV is welcome, but clearly designed to play on smartphones.

Contacted by Petronella Osgood from UNIT, you will need to navigate the various phone apps to solve the mystery of a missing person, as well as keep an eye on the Doctor. You’ll browse text messages, flip through and zoom in on photos, listen to recordings … just about anything you would do with a normal phone. This makes the interface very intuitive, although there are some overtly “gaming” moments where certain files and features will be “unlocked” as you go, which never feels as natural as it should.

Of course, you’re not going to solve this one without a bit of friction, as the absolutely terrifying Weeping Angels, best known for the episode “Blink”, of which this game is a direct sequel, will be on your trail at all times. His penetrating influence and frankly excellent writing make this game truly terrifying in places; This writer is a bit embarrassed to admit that he almost threw his Switch across the room at one point thanks to a brilliantly simple scare that we won’t spoil.

There are puzzles to solve in the two-hour run of The Lonely Assassins, but they are not overly demanding: a notepad can be useful to keep track of certain details, but the game’s interface is intuitive enough for you to find yourself to yourself. breeze through. You’ll want to do it too, because this is probably the best-presented Doctor Who narrative we’ve seen since the Moffat years; certainly superior to anything from Chris Chibnall.

Making The Doctor a background character was a stroke of genius by making the cast (and you, the player) seem vulnerable; Like “Blink”, there is a real sense of atmosphere in this game. It’s so well done that it almost seems effortless, with just its short duration and a few less organic moments from the introductions to new mechanics colliding with the need for the narrative to move forward. Overall though, it’s easily and comfortably the best Doctor Who game we’ve ever played, yes, even better than Dalek attack in the Amiga. So good that you don’t want to blink. But you should, or your eyes will crust over.

Can we have a game of “Ghost Light” next, please?