After you check on Mrs. Oswald and Tommy next door, you find yourself volunteering to investigate. The investigation takes you all over the city, where you talk to an eclectic cast of characters. You soon find out that there are mysterious forces at work here – just what was your neighbor doing before his disappearance?

As the story unfolds, the circle of people involved grows ever larger and the questions start. You find yourself talking to everyone you meet, even the stoner boy sitting under a tree, in the odd chance that they might know something of value. Then you look at every rock and blade of grass on the ground – who knows where the next clue will be found? And what’s this about alien abduction?

Woven throughout the story is Peter’s grief for his wife and son, who were killed in a plane crash. His new apartment is devoid of nearly any trace of their existence, save for a few toys in a drawer. His colleagues are tentative with him. His online chat sessions with a new girlfriend skirt the issue as well, although she seems to know a bit more than she’s letting on. Will these shreds of a life play a larger part in the mystery?

While compelling, the story unfortunately starts to feel linear after awhile. You generally have to do things in a specific order to advance the plot. This is annoying when you realize you’ve skipped a step and you can’t go back and fix it right away. The game gives you a break most of the time, though, and you can usually find a way to go back and get things going again. Sometimes the answer lies down an unexplored fork in the conversation, especially when it comes to asking for permission to do something, like talking to the neighbor boy or conning your way into the back room of the cafй. Other times, you need an item that you may or may not have picked up or even seen. The backtracking started to wear on me after awhile, but the story was interesting enough that I kept with it. In fact, the story takes quite a few twists and turns that might scare you into thinking you’ve screwed up and have to start over. I found it anything but predictable, especially near the end.

Compounding my frustration with backtracking is the fact that Peter walks so darn slow. I spent way too much time waiting for him to traverse the scene. There are some nice effects built in, like when the background rushes forward after you walk far enough. And yet, when Peter’s walking around his neighborhood, he’s a tiny figure on the screen. Given the generally excellent graphics, I thought it was a bit odd that there aren’t more close-ups.

The graphics are all static backgrounds through which Peter walks in order to interact with certain items or people. For the most part, the graphics are lovely, if a bit fuzzy in places. Also, the soundtrack is pleasant and unobtrusive. The dialogue and voice acting are usually quite good. You can hear the sorrow in Peter’s voice when he’s asked about his family, and every new character has their own personality. Some of the conversations go on for way too long and involve a bit of useless chatter, which further drags down the pace of the story.

The intrigue! The aliens! The strangely-familiar-yet-futuristic world! If you’re a fan of mysteries and don’t mind a bit of investigative work, you might enjoy The Moment of Silence. The realistic graphics do a wonderful job of pulling you into the game, while well-written dialogue and great voice acting take you the rest of the way. There are some issues here, however. The action is pretty slow, and you have to be ready to make some deductive leaps and solve a few puzzles to keep the story moving. If this is your cup of tea, then you should have a good time.