Detective Gallo Review | This one ain't a sitting chicken
In the last years, point and click adventure games have fallen out of popularity, bested by titles that mix intriguing narratives with more elaborated game mechanics. This doesn't stop independent developers in trying to reinvigorate the genre with their productions or create love letters in the name of the titles of the past.
Detective Gallo belongs to the second category.
Aesthetics
|
It's a quiet night in the knives district |
The game utilizes bi-dimensional graphics with a style vaguely reminiscent of Mickey Mouse comic books with protagonist either Donald Duck or Scrooge McDuck
It's nice to see, functional, and it gives a nice cartoon effect to everything.
The animations are fine, there isn't much to say, they do the necessary to be pleasant to the eye and convey the illusion of movement and action.
The voice acting is good, the dialogue lines are recited well, with every character having a unique voice fitting their looks.
On the other hand, the musics inspired by the jazz-noir genre did not take me, I don't remember any track, if not vaguely the main menu theme, they sound more like the melodies that you would hear in the waiting room of your family doctor.
In short, pretty enough to see with mixed sound.
Game Mechanics
|
Gallo's detective instinct doesn't disappoint
|
As already mentioned, the title is an old school point and click adventure game where you gather objects, resolve puzzles and talk to other characters.
The difficulty is ok, I've solved the majority of the puzzles using a weirdo logic that the game suggests to use, it is good rule to listen carefully what the characters say, they could be subtlety hinting the solutions of certain puzzles.
Also, if you ever found yourself at a dead end, clicking on the space bar can show all the objects on the screen with which you can interact.
For a couple of riddles I had to use a little of brute force, but for the rest it went all normally.
I've finished the game in 5 hours and a half.
Basically, a typical experience you can find in most point and click games.
Narrative
|
Always explore all the dialogues for a total comprehension of the character |
You are Detective Gallo, private investigator and hard-boiled since you were an egg, you are coming back to your office after passing a quiet night at the bar when suddenly you notice at your work place one of the shadiest individuals you can ever meet: a client. He says that his priceless plants have been assassinated and, overtaken by grief, has decided to hire you to bring the assassin to justice.
From here starts a series of mini adventures around the purpose to solve the case with your trusty cactus companion, Thorn.
The incipit works, and it gets explored all the way through, with gradual revelations until the complete and final resolution.
I didn't like the main protagonist, I understand that the developers wanted to follow the trope of the typical noir investigator, with Gallo having many similar characteristics like the cynicism and the difficulty of trusting others, but in my opinion they have exaggerated a bit, and he ends up sounding completely monotonous. The constant push for this one aspect of Gallo for the whole game as a noir detective without any kind of development or complexity made me find him not interesting to follow or listen, except for his genuine affection for Thorn, that was cute to see.
Regarding the other characters, they are not the deepest written, but given the humorous nature of the game it is done on purpose, they are used mostly for laughs instead of being explored.
It's fine, and it works, they managed to make me smile more than once through comic phrases, sketches and visual gags.
In conclusion, the game has managed to d what it wanted on some aspects and failed in others.
Recommendation:
The title doesn't reach the summits of other point and click adventure games, but it remains an adequate experience.
Comments
Post a Comment