After playing this Xbox Game Pass game, I hope no one reads my notebook

techradar.com:

I hope no one reads my notebook. Words like ‘bleed out’, ‘kinky’, and ‘meemaw’ litter its pages, with devil-scratched dates and times alongside them: I wouldn’t want anyone to take me for a serial killer.

I’ve not been plotting anything sinister, honest. I’ve simply been playing one of the best games to hit Xbox Game Pass: Telling Lies.

I’m ashamed to admit that when Sam Barlow’s Telling Lies was released back in 2019, I slept on it, despite the fantastic reviews it received. I’ve always had an aversion to FMVs, thinking them outdated and as something that should remain firmly in the ‘80s. But Telling Lies has converted me. 

Gripping from start to finish, Barlow’s detective thriller taps into our natural curiosity and is a must-play for anyone with (or without) an Xbox Game Pass subscription ahead of the developer’s new game, Immortality, later this year.

Telling Lies pits you as an investigator watching through archived video calls between four people to get to the bottom of a plot. You use a database to search through the footage by entering keywords – if a word appears in any of the archived footage it appears as a short clip for you to watch. You use what you see and hear in the conversations between these characters to guess at keywords to enter into the archive. As you watch more videos and enter more words, the story begins to unfold  –  as do its many twists and turns.

Watching the videos feels intrusive, you’re a stranger invading private moments between couples, friends, and families. It’s even more uncomfortable having spent two years relying on the likes of Zoom and Skype to keep in touch with my own inner circle. I don’t want to spoil any story beats for those who haven’t played Telling Lies, but as you go you’ll