Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 68 | 39 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 82% | 76 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 75% | 71 | 441 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Apr 30, 2026) · 300 reviews sampled · 441 total reviews in window · weighted 177.8 up / 57.9 down · computed 4h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (23)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 74
“Shadow of Doubt is an incredibly ambitious and conceptually brilliant title, with the potential to offer endless hours of gameplay thanks to its procedural structure. Unfortunately, its execution falls short in several areas, preventing it from reaching its full potential, and the technical and gameplay issues present in its current state are unacceptable for an official release. If these flaws were resolved, Shadow of Doubt could genuinely redefine the genre and deliver on its revolutionary promise.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“An extremely addictive and satisfying core gameplay loop combined with exceptional gameplay, immersion mechanics, an outstanding setting, and a strong, fitting visual style make this an indie title for the history books. There is nothing like this out there, and I'd be shocked if there's anything like this again.”
read full review ↗ - 55
“A fantastic premise sandbagged by technical issues”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Ingenious, unstable, and uncompromising in pursuit of its goals, Shadows of Doubt truly is the ultimate hard-boiled detective sim.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“A clever and unusual indie detective story, but the emphasis on clunky stealth and samey cases quickly saps your enthusiasm for the pixelated noir setting.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Shadows of Doubt isn’t just another detective game, it’s an open-world, first-person noir experience that gives you all the tools to be the grizzled detective you’ve always wanted to be. From breaking into apartments under the cover of darkness to sleuthing through classified government information, the game offers a staggering level of freedom.”
read full review ↗ - 83
“One part detective sim and one part chaos generator, Shadows of Doubt lives up to its influences as an immersive sim that actually makes good on its ambitions.”
read full review ↗ - 84
“Playing detective has never felt so organic! The procedurally generated map, which can be explored completely freely, offers a wide variety of ways to track down a perpetrator - or to end up in a dead end. Gameplay systems centred around stealth, profiling and physical confrontations and status effects, a social credit system or upgrading implants create a depth of gameplay that is unheard of in this genre. However, one drawback is the repetitive process of filling in the form at the end of the case. Shadows of Doubt is unfortunately still full of bugs and glitches in its current state, but this should be tolerated in case of the first fully-fledged sandbox detective game.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Shadows of Doubt is not an investigative experience I would recommend to everyone. Still, if you love gritty, procedural, and remarkably free games in their approach, you can't miss it.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“The core gameplay loop is incredibly unique, and immensely satisfying. Investigations can be as easy or hard as you make them. They present you with challenges which you have heaps of ways to overcome, which lend themselves well to a game this replayable.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Shadows of Doubt is simply brilliant, with its sleuthing gameplay loop proving clever, creative, and unpredictable in design to ensure that each case you solve will keep you fully immersed in its fascinating world. I was constantly amazed at how deep each case would go, and with cities on offer that are packed with citizens to interrogate and locales to explore, it’s hard not to feel blown away by the scale of it all. I haven’t played anything quite like it before, and whilst it does have some imperfections and some cases can leave you flummoxed for a little longer than I’d have liked, Shadows of Doubt offers the best representation of ‘solving a murder’ that I’ve EVER seen in gaming.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“Shadows of Doubt has some interface design issues, needs to fix its bugs, and is far from friendly to its audience. But he is so brilliant in the execution of his proposal of narrative freedom in solving riddles that he deserves to be celebrated, especially in times when safe sameness seems to guide the market towards repetition and superficiality.”
read full review ↗
STWGames Italia
Pro Game Guides
Games Freezer
Eurogamer
Metro GameCentral
Quest Daily
PC Gamer
Cerealkillerz
IGN
Screen Hype
Use a Potion
PSX Brasil…and 11 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Shadows of Doubt 42.03 - Patch NotesApr 30, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt Steam WorkshopJan 12, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V41.04 - Patch NotesNov 3, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Modifiers update out now!Sep 18, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V 40.03 Patch NotesJun 19, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- The Off-Duty update is live now!Apr 29, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- 2025 RoadmapApr 25, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt DevBlog 43: What to Expect in 2025Feb 5, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V 39.13 Patch NotesJan 21, 2025
- Shadows of Doubt V 39.13 Experimental Branch Patch NotesJan 15, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V 39.12 Patch NotesDec 11, 2024
- Shadows of Doubt V 39.11 Patch NotesNov 18, 2024
- Shadows of Doubt V 39.10 Patch NotesOct 24, 2024
- Shadows of Doubt V 39.09 Patch NotesOct 11, 2024
- Shadows of Doubt V 39.09 Experimental Branch Patch NotesOct 8, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V 39.08 Patch NotesOct 3, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V 39.08 Experimental Branch Patch NotesOct 1, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Devlog #41: 1.0 is now live!Sep 26, 2024
- The Launch CountdownSep 25, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V 38.10 Experimental Branch Patch NotesSep 9, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V 38.09 Patch NotesSep 9, 2024
- Shadows of Doubt V 38.09 Experimental Branch Patch NotesSep 2, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V 38.08 Experimental Branch Patch NotesAug 19, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- V1.0 Coming September 26th!Aug 12, 2024
- Shadows of Doubt V 38.07 Experimental Branch Patch NotesAug 9, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V 38.06 Patch NotesAug 6, 2024
- Shadows of Doubt V 38.06 Experimental Branch Patch NotesJul 25, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V 38.05 Patch NotesJul 18, 2024
- Shadows of Doubt V 38.05 Experimental Branch Patch NotesJul 3, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Shadows of Doubt V 36.09 Patch NotesMay 15, 2024
- Shadows of Doubt V 37.08 Patch NotesApr 22, 2024
- Shadows of Doubt V 36.07 Patch NotesMar 22, 2024
- Shadows of Doubt V 36.06 Patch NotesJan 25, 2024
…and 30 earlier patch announcements.