Evidence 111 Review: Immersive Audio, Impressive Acting, Average Story

The interactive story game Evidence 111 features immersive sound and impressive voice acting that come together to tell a fairly engaging story, although its choice-making mechanic doesn’t always have the gravity the game intends it to. Evidence 111 is unique in that it takes place entirely through audio, with the game’s interface consisting only of simple swipe controls that players use to make choices. The game comes from Czech developer Play By Ears, who specialize in audio games.

Evidence 111 is a game reminiscent of Choose Your Own Adventure books, where players will make choices throughout that affect the fate of the protagonist, chief inspector Alice Wells. The game is set in 1985, a decade after an incident that occurred on Alice’s shift that’s haunted her ever since. Ten years later, a mysterious caller threatens to reveal her past if she doesn’t bring an envelope of evidence to the Harbor Watch Inn, located on the remote Cork Island. Upon arrival, Alice is quickly roped into investigating the disappearance of a young boy named Hugo, and must explore the old inn while determining who she can trust.

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The voice acting in Evidence 111 is superb, with the game utilizing Hollywood actors like Gone Girl’s Rosamund Pike as Hugo’s mother Adele, and The Wheel of Time‘s Zoë Robins as Alice. The game contains a relatively small cast of characters, as a large storm has dwindled the normal amount of employees staffing the Harbor Watch Inn, and each of them comes off as distinct through the work of the strong cast. In a game comprised solely of audio, the manner in which each character shines through in their own unique way is integral to player enjoyment and something Evidence 111 greatly succeeds in.

The game is an incredibly immersive experience that’s best experienced with headphones. Evidence 111 utilizes binaural audio, a technique similar to the PS5’s 3D audio technology. The sound is recorded with a series of microphones that better emulate how humans perceive sound, and the result makes it feel as if players are right in the room alongside the game’s characters. The ambient noises and soundtrack of the game are also excellent, rounding out the game’s environments and setting the mood between scenes. Evidence 111 was designed with accessibility in mind, with these advanced audio techniques and the title’s intuitive controls making the title just as enjoyable for visually impaired players.

The gameplay of Evidence 111 revolves around the choices Alice makes, with the actions she takes determining which ending players receive. While the game doesn’t offer as many endings as games like The Quarry, there are ten different outcomes offered in Evidence 111 that can befall Alice, which adds a fair amount of replay value. During subsequent playthroughs some of the dialogue that remains the same can become repetitive, but the game thankfully allows players to fast-forward particularly familiar sections. Throughout the game’s roughly two-hour story, players will make a lot of seemingly innocuous choices that have lasting consequences – however, the large moral choices the game is advertised to include often fall short. The end of the game does offer some harder ultimatums, but the rest of the game largely consists of simple decisions.

In a landscape where many games have a lack of accessibility options, a game designed with it at the forefront is a refreshing change. The story of Evidence 111 isn’t particularly ground-breaking, and choices never present much of a challenge, but the game’s strong acting, entertaining characters, and immersive soundscapes make it engaging nonetheless. The experience could be likened to an interactive audiobook that’s easy to pick up and play either in short doses or all at once, and for its low price Evidence 111 is a worthwhile experience for any player looking for a new style of storytelling.

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Evidence 111 is available for iOS and Android devices via the App Store and Google Play Store. Screen Rant was provided with an Apple Testflight download of the game for the purpose of this review.