Still, I did finally get to play a little...man, this game has got me hooked. Best $20 I've spent on a game in years. A mix of puzzle-solving, a little game-play, and a LOT of research on the Internet. Kinda creepy, but for completely different reasons than, say, "Silent Hill" (of which I am a self-confessed fanboy). Where "Silent Hill" is a horror game, full of atmosphere and shadow, it's still a game. You're playing it,and it's creepy, but it's just a game. "Missing", though...the only time it actually shows that it's a game is inside the box it comes in. Past that, there is no indication that this is a game, at all. Everything you interact with is just as real as it could be, and doesn't 'break character' with disclaimers on websites or game logos hidden in the corner of the 'contact us' page, or anything like that. It's easy to let yourself get totally immersed in it.
The plot is simple. A reporter happens to find an old Super-8 camera in a pawn shop, and upon arriving home, finds a film inside. Interested, he watches it, and what looks like an old home video of a trip plays...but at the end, the camera (un)luckily catches a murder in progress. The reporter does a little homework discovers that the cameraman disappeared, and decides to try and solve the case, taking off with a friend...and never returns. The network he works for receives word from someone called "Phoenix" that he has them/knows where the reporter and friend are, and the network shortly thereafter receives a strange CD-ROM, that will supposedly tell them everything, if only they can decipher it. That CD-ROM is what you have in your hands...good luck. An added bonus is that when you start the game, you register it with an e-mail address, and other members of the "team" that are working on it will mail you as you go, as well as the network, and a serial killer expert. Other clues come up in the mails, and help with tough areas, as well. I've already got a folder full of correspondence and a bookmark list of sites I've been to.
It really pulls you in. It kinda reminds me a little of 'Silence of the Lambs', a little of 'Se7en'...tracking the serial killer through his own twisted clues, trying to beat him at his own game. It's definitely well worth the play...but be ready to do the research.