PlayLink's experiment in multiplayer narrative is sound but suffers from poor execution


Hidden Agenda
2017 Sony Interactive Entertainment67Worthwhile
Playtime
ShortIt typically takes about 4 hours to finish the game.
Playable on
Game modes
Details
- Launch
- October 24, 2017
- Developer
- Supermassive Games
- Publisher
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Genres
Overview

Hidden Agenda follows homicide detective Becky Marney and district attorney Felicity Graves as they investigate doubts about a convicted serial killer's guilt. Five years after the Trapper killer's arrest, Finn awaits execution while maintaining his innocence, prompting both women to reexamine the case. Players shape the narrative through a companion smartphone app that connects to the PS4, making choices that affect character relationships, uncover evidence, and determine the true identity of the killer. The game features both single-player story mode and competitive multiplayer, where participants pursue hidden objectives. Through quick-time events, clue searches, and dialogue choices tracked via the app's logbook system, players navigate three chapters of branching storylines that can lead to multiple conclusions, including the possibility of becoming a suspect themselves.
Screenshots
Reception
- Metacritic66from 47 reviews
- OpenCritic68from 35 reviews
Hidden Agenda is a hard recommendation, because the game feels like a natural fit to share with non-gamers, but we had one playthrough that ended so abruptly and unsatisfyingly I thought we had somehow skipped a section, and had I brought this game out at a party I would have felt like we totally wasted two hours.
Hidden Agenda is a nice thriller to play, thats lacks some fine tuning in terms of Story and mechanics.
With a huge web of choices to make and an enjoyable competitive mode to boot, there's a lot to like in this crime analysis. Hidden Agenda proves that the PlayLink initiative can be taken advantage of in more than just casual party games, but this particular outing doesn't quite realise its full potential. This investigation is absolutely one worth experiencing,...
Supermassive's dour whodunnit is a poor vehicle for PlayLink's experiment in multiplayer narrative - a woeful mismatch of genre and form.




