Hidden Agenda is developed by Supermassive Games, the ones behind Until Dawn. However, this is not a horror game; rather it is a crime thriller and part of the PlayLink range on the PS4. Therefore, the game is not played using the DualShock 4 but with a smartphone or tablet. In order to play the game, you must download the app onto your smart device and connected to the same wifi that the PS4 is. It is easy enough to set up but latency is a slight issue. Hidden Agenda doesn't require quick reflexes so the input lag isn't too much of a problem.
The game is pretty much a glorified cutscene movie where at certain points, you make choices that would affect the flow of the story. Certain choices are important as it will dictate what events will occur next (such as whether the suspect attempts to run away or not) and ultimately the ending. There are a variety of endings from ones where characters die to others where they solve the murder mystery.
Hidden Agenda can be played solo or locally with up to six players. Playing with others means that when it comes time to make decisions, the game takes the choice decided by a majority vote. Other gameplay elements to keep your attention include timed segments where you need to find clues on the screen and quick time events. These are done by using the touchscreen on your smart device to move the pointer on the TV. It works well enough with the imprecision of such controls.
The other major gameplay element is its namesake. In every section, there will come a time where one player, or no players, will get a "Hidden Agenda". This is a secret objective to that specific player. The aim is to get them to secretly manipulate the story to go down a specific route. To incentivize this, each player has a score. If you succeed in completing the "Hidden Agenda", you gain 100 points. For players that didn't get the objective, they are not left out because if they can pick the player that did get the objective, they get 50 points. The whole aim is to get the players to start suspecting each other and add some tension.
Unfortunately, while the "Hidden Agenda" gimmick is pretty cool the first time it comes around, it gets tedious really quick. The other issue is that you're in the middle of a cutscene, engrossed in the story when suddenly it cuts out to hand out a "Hidden Agenda", then a few minutes later it cuts out again to vote for the player that got a "Hidden Agenda", and then the decision happens before cutting out again to display the results. These breaks in the storytelling are really jarring and does more harm than good. This isn't a problem when playing solo and you get to enjoy the story without interruptions.
The story follows detective Becky and district attorney Felicity as they investigate the case of the serial killer known as The Trapper. The game begins with the suspect caught and sentenced to death. As the final days of the suspect comes to a close, he reveals and casts a seed of doubt by saying that the real killer is still out there. The graphics are pretty good but the game mainly takes place in dark areas or rainy weather, severely subduing the colors. Perhaps most noticeable is the facial animations. The detailing is there right down to the movement of the muscles. Unfortunately, their awkward and stiff walking animations break the immersion.
While the game boasts replayability via choosing different decisions to get different scenes and ultimately a different ending, it can feel tedious and repetitive. This is because you are still forced to view large swathes of the same scenes with no option to skip any of them. Furthermore, some of the endings feel abrupt and rushed. The scene transitions in the later part of the game are poorly handled, and oftentimes suddenly without warning. As the story is only around 1-2 hours long, it never builds up enough suspect and mystery to develop the impact is wanted to during the reveal of the culprit. You never truly got to understand the characters' personalities and telltales so that the culprit can seem like it came out of nowhere.
Overall, Hidden Agenda is not a bad game but it is very average. The usage of smartphones as the controller is handy for multiplayer but is much less responsive and fun to use than a traditional controller. There's no reason why traditional controller support could not have been added for single player. Due to its low pricepoint though, Hidden Agenda is still worth a playthrough if you're interested in the story.
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