Solve murders and piece together clues in this investigative point-and-clicker that blends X-Files with Her Story

Scrub through footage to solve unusual crimes in The Operator

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The Operator is an investigative puzzler that mixes the footage-scrubbing clue analysis of Her Story with the nail-biting crime mysteries of X-Files - and its newest trailer from theFuture Games ShowSpring Showcase shows off both!

The Operator casts you as a fresh-faced FDI (Federal Department of Information) worker whose job is to assist agents on the field. You’re the earpiece, the one behind the desk, the Barbara Gordon, the Cortana, et cetera. While FDI field agents are on-site, you need to fiddle with software and scrub through clues to solve unusual crimes.

One example might task you with finding the identity of a murderer. Scrubbing through camera footage might reveal the perpetrator’s silhouette, but not their face, meaning you’ll need to dig for further clues like, let’s say, their car’s license plate which will lead you to their name. Case closed!

Special software makes FDI operating work slightly easier with apps that let you peruse camera footage, a database that lets you dig up information on any random citizen, and a notepad app so you can write down your twisting thought processes.

But The Operator’sSteamdescription teases something more sinister bubbling behind the screen you’re staring at throughout the game. The storefront instructs operators to avoid “unauthorized areas” in the terminal, which obviously points to some shady secrets in the FDI’s mainframe. There’s also word of a “cyber criminal known as HAL” whom the FDI really doesn’t want you to interact with, though the shadowy figure did at least manage to mess up The Operator’s storefront page.

The Operator will be released on PC via Steam later this year.

If you’re looking for more excellent games from today’s Future Games Show, have a look atour official Steam page.

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GamesRadar+ created this content as part of a paid partnership with Bureau 81. The contents of this article are entirely independent and solely reflect the editorial opinion of GamesRadar+.

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.

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