Chicken Police: A great adventure in film noir style
Table of Contents
1 Please don't shut up! 2 Point & Click acceptable again? It all starts with an innocent lady who asks the detained inspector for help ... The Chicken Police story is full of clichés, but it still works fine (or maybe because of it?). Source: PC Games The story of Chicken Police never reinvents the wheel. Our protagonist is a walking cliché and the resolution of the case is so stereotypical that it almost hurts. Nevertheless, we were tied up in front of the screen, absorbed every dialogue, guessed who the perpetrator is and chuckled heartily at the countless animal puns. The development studio The Wild Gentlemen has internalized a rule well: Better to copy well than badly made yourself. The roots of film noir from the 1940s can be felt every second, but never feel trite. The genre, which has meanwhile been underrepresented in the film sector, is not abused by Chicken Police as a cheap black and white trash game, but rather revives our interest in it. By the way, the first-class soundtrack is also very appropriate, with a number of swing songs that impress.Please don't shut up!
Animal jokes are ubiquitous in Chicken Police. With the long-haired barman, we even came across a small reference to the Netflix series Bojack Horseman. Source: PC Games But the game has a special feature: In the world of Chicken Police there are no people, only animals with human bodies. For example, our protagonist is just like his partner: a rooster. Rooster Police was probably just not that memorable, which is why the developers decided to use the female form in the game name. The "What if animals had their own humanized world?" Question has often been asked, but in combination with the noir style it is something special. The makers were also hardworking to fill the world with loads of life. In the course of the game we can learn a lot about religious views, historical events, various political opinions and much more from the freely readable chronicle. The many different characters that we come across in the course of the story also have exciting background stories and different motivations. Our two main roosters Sonny Featherland and his partner Marty MacChicken have grown particularly dear to us. Not only once did we have to smile at the dry humor of the two. The developers could have left out the one-dimensional representation of women, the constant inappropriate flirting and the inappropriate comments from our feathered friends, even if this is typically noir. Nevertheless, we hope to see the Chicken Police again soon. That doesn't seem too improbable either, at least the game leaves us with a "To be Continued ...?".Point & Click acceptable again?
The interrogation mechanism is a nice change, but often we can only guess what the correct answer is. The detective meter shows how well we're doing. Source: PC Games There could hardly have been a more suitable game mechanic for the almost extinct noir genre than the endangered point & click adventure. As in the old classics, we have a fixed camera and can look around at a given angle. In addition to all sorts of objects that you can look at and partly collect, we talk to the majority with the NPCs. All of them are not only written great, but are also set to music in English! If you don't speak English, you can use German subtitles. These don't bother you in the least and sometimes even have more animal jokes than the English original.The biggest (and therefore still very, very, small) playful challenge is interrogating suspects. We have to find the right answer from two to five different possible answers in order to elicit the truth from our interlocutor. Most of the time we have to start with gentle questions in order to then give a little more attention later on. Often the whole thing comes down to guesswork rather than a logical conclusion. If we make wrong choices too often, our interrogation will fail and we will have to start over. It's a little more exciting than the normal dialogue, but it's also not particularly exciting. The mini-games offer more variety. For example, we have to shoot out of the car during car chases or solve one or the other puzzles. It's never really challenging, but it doesn't really matter. Chicken Police is a cozy detective game, which convinces with the story and dialogues and not with action-packed scenes - just a point & click adventure.
The different environments in Clawville just look great. The genre mix works great on a visual level ... after a bit of getting used to. Source: PC Games How long we can have fun with Chicken Police depends on our style of play. If we click on every object, conduct every possible dialogue with all characters and optionally return to already known places, the game can definitely inspire over 10 hours. If we just chase after the main story and bypass any optional conversations, the adventure can be played in an estimated 6 hours. With Chicken Police, The Wild Gentlemen has created an excellent genre mix that leaves you thirsty for more. The game is full of clichés and is logically not a big cinema, but for two or three relaxing evenings, Chicken Police is fully recommended due to its unique style and fascinating game world. If you want to look around for more point & click adventures and indulge in the good old days, we recommend Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town or the German video game of the year 2019 Trüberbrook.
Chicken Police is available on the PC, the Playstation 4, the Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch.
My opinion
By Alexander BernhardtAuthor I think it's chicken skin Tension! Chicken Police may seem totally absurd and stupid at first glance, but it has a serious story, an exciting world and a wonderful graphic style ... but you have to be able to get involved with it. The dry humor is right, the dialogues are exciting, the setting is perfect and the soundtrack is wonderful. The latter rhymed (halfway), so it has to be right. I'm already looking forward to the next adventure of the infamous Chicken Police! Chicken Police - Paint it RED! (PC) 8/10
Graphics - Sound - Multiplayer - Pros & Cons Unusual (and admittedly took some getting used to), but beautiful graphic style Winding and exciting film noir-inspired detective story Wonderfully successful setting A game world full of background stories and Interesting characters Dry humor fits perfectly with the world and the characters Coherent swing soundtrack Nice little puzzles and action scenes for a change Game rewards exact searches with collectibles and background stories Full of clichés Interrogation mechanics sometimes feel like pure advice Women are sometimes pure objects the desire presented More pros & cons ... Conclusion Chicken Police convinces with an extraordinary look and an exciting, if clichéd detective story.
