My new favourite rooster is a grumpy but likeable guy who is investigating some serious plant crime, find out more in my Detective Gallo review.
If you love hilarious point and click games with a sprinkle of sarcasm (who doesn’t) then you are in for a treat.
Story:
The game opens with our feathered Detective friend sitting at his desk, in his yellow Umperio Bogart inspired trench coat, grumpily tapping his chicken fingers to an atmospheric jazz that fondly reminds me of the L.A Noire soundtrack.
His big case is to help multi-billionaire Phil Cloro discover who has committed a heinous crime on his beloved exotic plants such as the Grouchy Lameousous and the Tarata Tata!
Fun fact: Gallo is Spanish for rooster!
Looks:
Detective Gallo is hand-animated and illustrated. The smoke and rain animations were spot on and instantly drew me into the game from the get go. One of my favourite scenes, is Bloodletting Square where there is a money pile that reminds me of DuckTales. I also love the illustration of the sky in the Rhododendron Road scene.
The uneven edges and wonky objects are very Day of The Tentacle inspired but also keeps it’s own unique comic-noir look.
Collect, even what you don’t know the use for.
Sounds:
Jazzy detective music with saxophone tracks, instantly put you in puzzle solving mood. The voice acting is pretty funny and true to each character. There are options to change the language in the menu which is also Detective Gallo’s notebook. English and Italian dubs are available and there are subtitles throughout the game.
Plays:
The chunky style cursor is smooth to move around the screen and to access the inventory menu up top. Gallo moves along at his own pace, so don’t be expecting him to get a move on once you finally figure out a puzzle. The dialogs are skippable, which is handy if you are going through a conversation with one of the characters for a second time.
The puzzles are just the right difficulty without heading for a walkthrough or tips. If you consider everything a possibility regarding the inventory, especially if you are familiar with old school point and click games such as Monkey Island’s ‘use the rubber chicken with the cable‘ then you are onto a winner.
Gallo’s sidekick is an adorable cactus called Thorn who he consults now and again.
My cactus is none of your business
There’s a LOT of playability on this game. After playing for a few hours I was still only at 2%, so there’s still much more for me to explore. You can totally go at your own pace and as is the case with most adventure games, enjoy yourself and take your time.
PS4 trophy hunters are in for a challenge, as they aren’t too easy to obtain.
Final Thoughts:
Detective Gallo is a MUST for any fan of point and click games whether you played the classics or not. The hilarious one liners, amazing art and soundtrack are going to pull you into it’s leafy storyline.
I played on PS4 but it’s also available on Nintendo Switch which is perfect for playing on the go.
Overall score: 10/10 Detective Gallo is ‘finger clicking good’. Get it? ????
Title: Detective Gallo
Genre: Point and Click, Adventure
Developer: FootPrints Games
Publisher: MixedBag Games
Release Date: 17/08/18
Platform: PS4, Nintendo Switch
Price: $14.99 / £11.99
*The publisher kindly sent me this game for review on PS4. All opinions are my own!
What do you think? Are you a point and click game fan?