With the gaming industry becoming a land of modern combat sequels, it’s nice to see an industry leader continue to explore new characters and storylines not connected to previous games from their stable. Granted, not every video game developer is focusing on their next big sequel; and, to be sure, not every new chapter of an established property dooms the video game to repetition and lack of creativity. That being said, anytime a big name developer dives into a new IP, it’s probably worth noting.

Which brings us to Murdered: Soul Suspect, a new action/solve-the-mystery game from Square Enix, the company synonymous with Final Fantasy and the new Tomb Raider, to name a (very) few. Again, because this is an established developer with a proven track record, the fact they are introducing a brand-new, non-sequel-related set of characters and their surrounding storyline is worth your attention. Of course, this is helped by the fact that Square Enix released an awesome trailer that gives us a peek at the universe they are creating. In it, you play Ronan O’Connor, a police officer who recently met his demise. In the form of a ghost, it’s up to Ronan to solve his own murder using his newly acquired spectral abilities.

Take a look and see what the fuss is about:

The glowing bullet holes in Ronan’s chest are an incredibly nice touch, something that will, in all likelihood, become the game’s recognizable symbol. As you can probably tell, the game allows players to possess NPC characters as you try to figure out who had you killed and why. Because the game isn’t scheduled until 2014, other details still remain a little sketchy. It’s uncertain what other abilities players will have. For instance, when players are in apparition form, will they be able to interact with the environment, much like Patrick Swayze learned how to do in Ghost, or is that particular skill only attainable if the player is in possession of another character?

According to early reports, Murdered: Soul Suspect will be available in 2014 on the PS3, Xbox 360, and the PC. No word as to whether M:SS will be ported over to the next-gen consoles, with such news was not available in the initial announcement.