Melissa Walther writes:
"A classic point and click adventure game, Art of Murder follows new FBI Agent Nicole Bonnet from the dingy streets of New York to the jungles of Peru as she tries to solve her first murder case. The game begins with a slightly funny cut scene in which the senior field agent on a stake out orders you out for coffee and is brutally murdered while you're gone. The agent, James, manages to cling to life long enough to tell you a cryptic message for his partner.
Your boss removes you from the case and reassigns you to the field agent's partner, Nick. You of course protest, saying it's your case and your fault because you weren't there. You pass James' message to Nick and the both of you decide in typical crime-show fashion to work the case yourselves.
In the course of trying to find the murderer Nicole gathers evidence, questions people, does field research and manages to get to Peru (and get abducted), giving it all the hallmarks of a made-for-TV crime show. Add in the Mafia ties and internal corruption, and you're set for prime-time."
Avault:
"It had to happen; I simply had to review a bad game at some point. Art of Murder: FBI Confidential is that game. Between the lifeless visuals, the laughable dialogue, and the profound lack of thought put into the puzzles; this game wears its budget title on its cover. Adventure gamers, you have the point-and-click gems of yesterday and the occasional treasures that trickle down every so often. Cherish them and stay away from this game."
GameZebo: "Art of Murder from City Interactive is a point-and-click adventure with a Law & Order feel. Set in 2007, you follow Nicole Bonnet, a rookie FBI agent on the trail of a serial killer. A strong plot and sophisticated graphics are a plus, but some boring puzzles and illogical gameplay can be jarring. Add a violent storyline and a sprinkling of four-letter words, and you have a game that will please some and repel others."
WP reports:
''Because I am an opinionated egotist, it's very rare that I am at a loss for words, but Art of Murder: FBI Confidential leaves me speechless in its failings as a murder investigation game. Since my WorthPlaying editors would hunt me down with pitchforks if I ended the review here, I'll continue.
You play as Nicole Bonnet, an utterly two-dimensional character charged with the solving of a series of bloody murders involving South American artifacts. The plot is so predictable that it should have been stapled to the bottom of a "Columbo" script. For a game that puts you at multiple crime scenes as you try to find a killer, the total absence of detective work is a glaring omission.
As an example, one of the early moments has you look around the murder scene after the crime scene team has already been there and apparently exhausted all of the fun and interesting gameplay options. Instead of scouring for errant fibers, fingerprints and DNA evidence, your job is to complete various Resident Evil-style puzzles in order to track where the killer will be next. This may sound like an interesting dynamic on paper, but Art of Murder involves some of the most absurd and arbitrary puzzle concepts I've ever seen, save for perhaps Monkey Island.''
