I got to flex my little grey cells recently! Not only did I go to watch the thoroughly enjoyable A Haunting in Venice, but I also had a chance to solve a fascinating mystery in Hauma – A Detective Noir Story.
Developed by SenAm Games, a Munich based studio, Hauma is a visual novel game. You play the role of Judith, a former police officer. She must solve an ancient mystery if she doesn’t want to lose everything she still holds dear. Explore a variety of locations around Munich including the famous Oktoberfest. At these locales, discover clues, solve puzzles, and make deductions worthy of classic detectives.
Perfect Genre for a Mystery
Hauma – A Detective Noir Story lends itself perfectly visual novel style gameplay. Anyone who has played a point and click adventure or a hidden item game in the past should have no problems adjusting to Hauma.
You travel around multiple locations, where Judith’s trained eye notices everything that you may need to interact with. This can include a person of interest, a captivating object, or just a way to move to a new area. As Judith discovers clues, they are added to her mental map, where, with some careful consideration, connections can be made. (Or you can go for the classic adventure game of using everything on everything.)
Take, for example, the first mystery: the location of Judith’s phone. By searching her apartment, you realise that she got drunk the night before, saw the face of someone she really doesn’t like in the paper, and started throwing things, such as a chair and her phone.
The Story of Hauma
The story of Hauma sees Judith trying to solve a cold case that her grandfather, also a police officer, abandoned decades earlier. While working on the investigation, she is drawn into a 2000-year-old conspiracy, that involves an ancient King of India, a Kung-Fu master, a Jewish brewer who fled the Nazis, and possibly the secret to immortality.
Along the way, many people will attempt to thwart Judith’s investigation, including the corrupt Police Chief, a far-right skinhead, and a shadowy figure called M.A.P. But she will have allies to aid her, such as her younger brother J.B. Just so long as you can keep him sober enough during Oktoberfest, that is!
Art Straight from a Comic Book
The first thing you’ll notice when you start playing Hauma is the art style. SenAm Games has opted for a comic book aesthetic. Each area, character, and object is beautifully depicted as if straight out of a classic DC or Marvel comic book.
The hand drawn style and vibrant colours help to make this game really pop. Backgrounds are generally quite simple, which allows the eye to be drawn to the important information on screen. Every character features their own unique style, giving hints as to what type of personality they have. For example, Judith is a no-nonsense gal, so she is shown to wear a grey hoodie, with a jacket over the top, and has her distinctive red hair pulled back into a braid. Her brother J.B. is much more carefree, which is reflected in his brightly coloured jumper with orange and purple stripes, with a bright yellow beanie.
Hauma – A Detective Noir Story Official Specifications
Hauma, with its unique art style that utilises minimal animations, is not a taxing game to run. Meaning it can be played on a wide range of computers from powerful gaming PCs to the trusty family computer. The official requirements to play Hauma – A Detective Noir Story are:
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 7 |
| Processor | Intel Core i3 or equivalent |
| Memory | 2GB RAM |
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics |
| Storage | 1GB available space |
Best PCs to Play Hauma – A Detective Noir Story
Hauma is a fantastic game to get you thinking, but there are a wide range of games you can play that will tax both your reflexes and metal skills. Luckily here at Overclockers UK we have a fantastic selection of gaming PCs perfect for playing any genre of game you could wish to play.
Refract Gaming Crimson
The Refract Gaming Crimson is a fantastic entry level gaming PC. This computer utilises an AMD Ryzen 5 5600G APU, which features on board RX Vega Graphics. The Refract Crimson is perfect for those that wish to play less taxing games, such as Hauma, or even competitive titles such as Valorant and League of Legends, with smooth frame rates. What’s more, with an amazing three-year parts and labour warranty, you can game on knowing if the worst should happen, you’ll be covered.
Lenovo Legion 5 Gaming Laptop
Take your investigation of Hauma wherever you may go, with the Lenovo Legion 5. This gaming laptop features an AMD Ryzen 7-6800H CPU, which boasts eight cores, sixteen threads, and can boost up to an amazing 4.7GHz. Alongside this, the Legion 5 also is equipped with an NVIDIA 3060 GPU, featuring many advanced NVIDIA technologies such as DLSS and MAX-Q. To power this amazing hardware, the Lenovo Legion 5 utilises an 80Wh Lithium Polymer battery, which offers up to seven hours of battery life.
OcUK Gaming Gallium
The OcUK Gaming Gallium is a fantastic PC that will allow you to play the latest AAA gaming titles with fantastic graphics and silky-smooth frame rates. This is thanks to a powerful combination of an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X CPU and an NVIDIA RTX 4070 GPU. The Ryzen 5 5600X processor boasts six powerful cores, twelve threads, and can boost up to 4.6GHz, making it an amazing CPU for a wide range of tasks. Meanwhile, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 can render your gaming worlds in fantastic detail, with realistic lighting and the smoothest gameplay, as a result of NVIDIA’s latest breakthroughs in both ray tracing and AI upscaling technology.
If you wish for even more performance, the OcUK Gallium is a configurable computer, allowing you to upgrade select components. This includes CPU, RAM, GPU, and storage. Simply use our easy-to-use configurator or give us a call on 01782 444 455.
Crack the Case
Will you try to solve this ancient mystery? Let us know your thoughts on this case in the comment section below.
PC specs are subject to change.
- 6 min read
Simon Procter
Author
Having been a gaming nut for longer than he cares to think, Simon landed his dream job over a year ago at Overclockers UK. Since then, he has written many product pages and category texts. He even gets released from the basement to write the odd cheeky blog post. When not working, you can often find him entrenched in World of Warcraft, visiting friends to have his butt whooped in a board game, or with his nose buried in a book.
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