TR-49 Review – A Tough Audio Mystery

TR-49 is a story-rich puzzle game developed and published by inkle Ltd. You are Abbi, a woman who finds herself stuck in a chapel’s basement with a strange machine. Abbi must learn how to use the machine and find the records of a dangerous book. However, she doesn’t know how to operate the machine and has no clues about the book. She must use the machine repeatedly to find the book, piecing together clues that allow her to achieve her goal.

Abbi is suddenly thrust into this situation and your only ally is Liam, who talks with you through another channel. Liam is clearly hiding vital information about Abbi’s predicament, only elaborating on certain aspects as time goes on. He wants Abbi to focus on retrieving the dangerous book but they clash as Abbi is unsure why she’s doing this at all. While Abbi must trust Liam, he must also provide Abbi with enough information for both of them to succeed. Seeing Liam withhold information is frustrating as Abbi is clearly not here of her own volition. His reluctance to share anything and his desire to destroy the book become more apparent and Abbi’s frustration and cluelessness force him to provide vital information. It creates a fire-forged friend dynamic between the two as they must learn to trust each other. As Abbi makes headway into finding the book, Liam becomes more talkative and provides more answers. Thanks to Liam slowly opening up, you learn more about why Abbi’s job is important and why she’s operating the machine. This provides one half of the story as the stakes are high, something Liam never lets you forget.

The other half of the story involves the machine’s creator, who fed several books into the machine to “teach” it. They used a variety of materials but the creator met their end too early. Their daughter took something from the machine and left no trace behind. Figuring out what happened and seeing how the creator viewed the machine’s inputs clues you in on the its potential. The strength of the story comes from tying your progress to discoveries. The narrative ties up loose ends as much as possible and you won’t feel like something is missing.

Gameplay consists of testing a combination of two letters and two numbers. You get a few combinations in the beginning but you must discern clues to help you find other books. There are thousands of potential documents and Abbi can’t sort through them all. By bringing up reference material and discerning clues, she gets closer to finding the location of the dangerous book. Matching document names with the correct content helps you narrow down the clues until there’s only one possible outcome. There are 67,600 potential combinations and testing them all is unrealistic, forcing you to bring an analytical eye. Ensuring that you are testing every possibility you can discern immerses you in the challenge, making you feel like a real detective. Finding the next combination isn’t easy and the difficulty ties into Liam’s reliance on Abbi since it’s something only she can do. That puts the pressure on and makes you feel the stakes at hand.

Progress is difficult and Liam doesn’t always give a straight answer. It’s frustrating to try to advance while Liam insists you are doing a good job and there’s never a good reason for his reticence in the beginning when telling Abbi everything she needs to know would be more helpful. It makes you less likely to continue because you don’t know if Liam will tell you anything useful or if it’s worth proceeding. Even if you see clues, you might not be sure what they mean or realize they don’t lead to a proper combination. It doesn’t help that the game has several red herrings that don’t lead anywhere. There are times when putting in random combinations is more effective than reviewing old information. If random inputs are effective, the game has a double-edged sword.

On one hand, it is exciting when your random guesses give you vital clues that help you proceed; it’s surprising to see what works and sometimes going down a list of possibilities is your only hope. On the other hand, this risks making gameplay feel repetitive and if you need random inputs to get what you need, then searching for clues feels pointless. There’s no good “organic” way to put information together and it feels like you must take chances. Otherwise you can’t finish the game or have fun.

Another strength of TR-49 is the audio. The visuals are basic and you spend lots of time in front of the same machine. However, listening to a character’s depth of emotion is a real treat. For example, Abbi sounds genuinely confused and doubtful while Liam’s panic is evident in his words. It helps raise the tension and immerses you in your work, reminding you that fooling around isn’t wise. The audio also has important gameplay elements too; Abbi’s voice has distinct variations when she’s got the right answer or is unsure. Listening to these variations helps you figure out if you are correct. The machine bringing up another document is another clue that your combination is working. You are more likely to hear the sound first before the document appears, letting you stop inputting combinations.

Unfortunately the audio does drop out at times. One big example is when Liam is introducing himself, the volume is low enough that I wouldn’t have known his name without subtitles. Some characters also have volume drops that prevent you from hearing what they are saying. While subtitles and written text mitigate this, the audio must be a source of strength. Without good audio, a lack of visuals won’t take the game very far.

TR-49 has fantastic audio that lets you hear a variety of voices while helping you discern clues. It also does a great job piling on the pressure even though there’s no inherent time limit. Unfortunately the audio drops out at times and clues are sparse. Several red herrings distract you and it feels like guesswork is necessary to proceed. There’s a legitimate challenge that lets you feel intelligent, but getting invested in the story may be difficult.

Victor reviewed TR-49 on PC with a provided review code. This review is based on the version of the game available at the time of writing and our score will not be changed.