The story sets off with the vagueness typical of the murder mystery genre: flashbacks and questions galore arise from the dramatic and captivating intro. In typical detective film style the phone rings with an ominous message and so it's down to the docks to investigate. This gently plants the gamer in the drag and dingy position of Kyle with just enough detail to begin piecing together the initial puzzles which will eventually uncover the much larger underlying lie. Now, obviously we can't give away too much plot, but it is safe to say that there is a lot of the stuff. Those gamers suited to the more instant satisfaction action may want to avoid Hotel Dusk as it is very slow paced. But it is so paced in the best possible way, gently revealing detail by detail the overall picture of what is really going on within the walls of the suspicious Hotel Dusk.

So straight from the get go Dusk presents itself as a plot driven game with actual gameplay taking a second place, functioning as simply the means to progress the story. This is nothing new for the mystery adventure genre: previous games such as Sam and Max and Monkey Island employ the same story telling through gameplay technique. It's just as well then that the plot and characters have been carefully crafted to near perfection. The story is well penned and, although sometimes predictable, makes for an engaging and satisfying murder mystery. For what is undeniably a modernised point and click portable adventure each character, especially Kyle himself comes across as multi-layered and believable person. With the exception of the odd passing character everyone has line upon line of dialogue to help get under the skin of each character and really helps draw you into their distinct personalities.

The controls for the game are simple enough. The d-pad or face buttons employ the 'page-turning' role for the huge amount of text you will have to plough through. The stylus is used to guide Kyle around the complex of the hotel (where the vast majority of the plot unfolds) whilst the left screen demonstrates his movement in first-person. DS specific features include a notebook to write in and one particularly nice touch is that you can 'flip' items around to look on the other side of them by closing the DS and then re-opening it. It's a minor but pleasing detail.

When involved in conversation with many of the residents of the hotel, the player can also select questions with the stylus to investigate potential areas of revelation. All the time the DS is held on its side (just like a real detective's notebook!). The whole feel of the game demands the player let out a calculating 'hmm' as your eyes narrow at the plethora of contradictions and half-stories spewing from the untrustworthy residents of the shifty suburban hotel.

Graphically, Hotel Dusk is undeniably one of the most stylish games on the system. The contrast of the 3D coloured background with the 2D manga-esque sketch characters creates a unique visual style. Straight from the intro video you as reassured that if anything Hotel Dusk has succeeded in re-creating the film noir feel and might remind players of the visualities of Sin City et al.

The audio in the game holds up pretty well too. The smooth jazz numbers create more of an ambience whilst off key notes remind you that all is not well as you wander down the dimly lit corridors. It really helps the atmosphere, but if anything the tracks could do with a little more variety. They get old quite fast. One major flaw with this type of game is that the very well scripted text feels like it deserves some voice acting. Given the sheer amount of dialogue in the game it is probably impossible to squeeze that much audio onto a DS cart, but perhaps just a few utterances here and there would have given the player an idea of what the characters sound like and add that extra layer of personality.

Dusk comes together very well, the slow pace of the game won't be to everyone's taste in the same way that an RPG gamer might find it difficult to click with a fast moving FPS. But for those with enough patience and thirst for a compelling, twisting and engaging story look no further. The plot delivered via stylish visuals and fitting soundtrack combine to create a game that you could spend hours getting lost in just talking to characters and examining items.

That said, it is not without its flaws. The most major of these is that if you interrogate the wrong character with the wrong question the result can be... death. Perhaps a little shocking the first time it happens but you soon learn when not to ask those particular life threatening questions. The game also has little replay value although multiple endings are available but the one you get is adequate. Once completed you won't really want to go back straight away to find out what the others entail. Another minor complaint related to the dialogue is that some of it is drawn out or over-done. You can sometimes feel the character is repeating themselves rather a lot from time to time and may find yourself rapidly pressing the 'next' button to advance through information you already know.

Overall though, Dusk provides a great murder mystery game presented in a stylish coating. It weaves a compelling and enticing story and draws you in bit by bit. If you're sick of ADD gaming, put on the fire, pour some brandy, and settle into a good old murder mystery.