Video Game Review: Who Pressed Mute On Uncle Marcus?

Developer & Publisher: Wales Interactive

Genre: FMV

Reviewed For: Nintendo Switch

Also Available On: PC, PlayStation, Xbox

The eccentric and somewhat troublesome Uncle Marcus has no shortage of people in his family that might want to kill him. Unfortunately, it seems that someone has finally succeeded. The only thing that will stop them from sealing the deal is Abby, but she only has a few hours to save the day. Can she do it?

In Who Pressed Mute On Uncle Marcus, players take on the role of Abby, a member of a wealthy but problematic family. Every year, the family meets for a session of quizzes and games, and this year it will be taking place over a video call. Just before the quality family time begins though, Abby’s Uncle Marcus contacts her and reveals that he has been poisoned and only has a few hours to live. Without knowing what poisoned him, he will die, so it’s up to Abby to discover who in the family poisoned Uncle Marcus while also uncovering what the toxin is.

Much like the other titles by Wales Interactive, Who Pressed Mute On Uncle Marcus is an FMV game, meaning that the entire experience is played with real actors. The players will watch the movie play out and make decisions for Abby, including who she partners with for the quizzes as well as what she asks them.  Players will also get the opportunity to answer the trivia questions themselves, which may or may not aid them in their investigation. Like other FMVs, gameplay is fairly limited, so the entire experience hinges on the game’s writing and acting. 

Fortunately, those areas hold up rather well. The cast is eccentric with many characters that feel larger than life. Some of the lines might be a little “overacted,” but the entire experience is endearing throughout. The comedy is solid, making this a lighthearted murder mystery that will fully engage players all the way through.

What may frustrate or delight players is the game’s structure. They are unlikely to solve the murder in the first playthrough, but this is how the game is designed. Uncovered clues carry over through subsequent playthroughs, allowing for players to try and try again until they actually find out who wants to kill Uncle Marcus. Each playthrough takes less than an hour, so players likely won’t feel burnt out after failure. Seeing everything come together with new clues and new interactions based on the players’ decisions adds a significant amount of replayability.

Every character (Except for Nan of course) is unlikable, but there is a surprising amount of love put into each one at the same time. Sure, the characters are full of tropes, but many playthroughs will reveal tons of nuance to each one of them. When you throw in the game’s nods to the current social climate and the pandemic, it’s easy to fall for Who Pressed Mute On Uncle Marcus. If players don’t take it too seriously and embrace the game for how silly and full of heart it is, they will have a great experience here. 

Everything comes together to create one of the best FMV games since the pandemic hit. Who Pressed Mute On Uncle Marcus is a triumphant culmination of everything that Wales Interactive has learned through it’s previous games. If players want a nice evening of murder mystery solving either alone or with friends, you can’t do much better than this.