Chicken Police Paint It Red Review Cluck It Up The Nerd Stash

Title: Chicken Police – Paint It RED!

Publisher: HandyGames

Developer: The Wild Gentlemen

Genres: Adventure, Indie

Official Site: https://chickenpolice.com/

Available on: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

Version Tested: PC

Release Date: November 5, 2020

Where to Buy: Steam Store, PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Nintendo eShop

A strange case is stirring up trouble in Clawville. The streets litter with scum and villainy and the colors of the town are long gone. A dame in distress finds herself in a maddening situation, seeking help from an alcoholic detective named Sonny Featherland. Known for being one-half of the famous “Chicken Police” team, the trouble soon finds him in a mix-up of corrupted animals, death, jazz, and the past. With the help of his former partner, Marty MacChicken, only the teamwork of this legendary duo can solve the case. This is Chicken Police – Paint It Red!

A Tale of Love, Death, and Chickens

This unique narrative-driven noir title from The Wild Gentlemen transports players to a different dimension in the 1940s. In the world of The Wilderness, animals walk and talk, steal and deal, and love and hate. Everything is black-and-white, and there’s omnipresent racial tension among the denizens of Clawville.

The story follows the titular duo on a point-and-click spree of dialogue-heavy conversations with various “colorful” characters. By simply speaking to them, you uncover context clues that will get you closer to the truth. And on several occasions, your skills as a detective are put to the test when you must question a suspect. There are also side-quests in Chicken Police that further explores the backstory of our heroes and the world they inhabit. Truthfully, it’s all quite entertaining to listen to and watch along with. With the dialogue’s option to continuously auto-play scenes, you can just sit back and watch the tale unfold. There is so much humor and intrigue in the story that none of it becomes stale.

Without spoiling anything, Chicken Police ventures into some strange territory, but you’ll probably be laughing a lot as you progress through the narrative. It’s as if a blueprint of George Orwell’s literacy entered a different era of noir-driven drama. Every character is represented by a different animal and their place in the world; It’s evident that the team behind Chicken Police have something to say, as exhibited in the ending credits. Writer and director of Chicken Police, Bálint Bánk Varga, has assembled quite the bizarre tale while building a believable world to make every encounter both fascinating and engaging.

The Sounds of Chicken Police

When you have a game that’s inspired by the noir stories of the past, you’re bound to have some jazz. Chicken Police is spectacularly overloaded with it. Laszlo Vincze of The Wild Gentlemen composed both the game’s score and sound design. The music itself is definitely one of the game’s ultimate aspects, replicating that authentic jazz sound that paints a picture of mystery and suspense with rhythmic finger snaps. It’s probably one of my favorite soundtracks for this latter part of 2020, and I highly recommend checking it out if you like jazz.

The citizens of Chicken Police vary in appearance and occupation, and you meet a good chunk of them during your nightlong investigation. Some may lead you astray while others may guide you in the right path – but no matter who they are, they all have distinguishing voices to truly make them individually special. I enjoyed listening to every conversation, and not once did I skip a line of dialogue. Everyone is voiced very well, and you’ll have a blast by just hearing Sonny and Marty talk over the simplest of things. Kerry Shale (Sonny) and Shai Matheson (Marty) are obviously having fun bouncing off of one another, and it makes the whole experience that much more amusing.

Closing The Cluckin’ Case

In regards to issues and glitches in Chicken Police, I was surprised to see I didn’t encounter any. It loads up quickly, and there are rarely any breaks in-between scenes. The blending of the 2D and 3D graphics is just awesome to look at, and the attention to detail with its lore development and noir-inspired set pieces makes the game worth revisiting down the line. There’s even some cool extra content that’s fun to scroll through, too.

My only complaint about the game would have to be the redundancy in its gameplay, however. It is indeed a point-and-click title, but there are a couple of moments where shooting is involved that really could’ve been played more into the game. The shooting aspect feels tossed in, and it was slightly disappointing to see its minimum usage.

While most of the game is linear gameplay, you do have the choice to either visit other locations to explore more of the backstory or speed things up by diving straight into the main narrative. It’s an easy playthrough as well; it’s hard to get lost when the game basically holds your hand whenever you’re basically stuck. That may not be for everyone, per se, but Chicken Police excels in absurd storytelling where the characters are the main attraction and their conversations are the action.

Verdict: Chicken Police – Paint It RED! wonderfully mixes in elements of Orwell-Esque themes with noir-driven moments of hilarity and craziness. For a point-and-click adventure, it superbly succeeds in instilling a fun factor while utilizing only a few tools to emphasize the cleverness of the characters and their surroundings. Even if point-and-clicks aren’t your cup of tea, it’s worth checking out even if for the voice acting and music. While I certainly wanted more out of Chicken Police, perhaps there will be another case in the future. Maybe one day, the Chicken Police will be back at it again.