Detective Gallo – Nintendo Switch
Title: Detective Gallo
Developer: Footprints Games
Publisher: MixedBag
Website: http://www.detectivegallo.com
Genre: Point and click, comic-noir adventure.
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Audience: All
Price: £13.49. I was kindly provided with a review code.
What the developers say
Detective Gallo is a point&click comic-noir adventure that is entirely hand-illustrated and hand-animated, and whose protagonist is a feathered and grumpy private eye struggling with a very tricky case, bizarre characters, and puzzles that will put his insight and patience to the test.
- A non-violent adventure, inspired by the best point&click adventure games of the past!
- Play as Gallo, a… rooster noir detective, and investigate on a multiple plant murder!
- Meet lots of incredible characters, all hand-animated, frame-by-frame.
- Dozens and dozens of logical puzzles and quests!
- Listen to over 50 minutes of original pure jazz-noir soundtrack!
- Fully dubbed in English and Italian, with multilanguage support!
Introduction
I haven’t played a point and click adventure game for a long time! In fact, I think the last one I played was called The Crystal Rainforest, back in 1992! So, when I read about Detective Gallo, I was excited and thought that it would suit the Switch perfectly. Read my rapid review for my impressions of this game.
Looks and sounds
Our hero, Gallo, with his trusty cactus sidekick, Thorn.
I really liked the look of this game! The fact that it was entirely hand painted and illustrated makes you appreciate it even more. For me, it was like being inside my own comic book. It reminded me of an episode of Inspector Gadget or something similar when I was a child. The game features a jazz-inspired soundtrack which suits the game perfectly. The sound effects are excellent and add an extra layer of enjoyment.
Gameplay and replayability
You won’t meet a baby with a bigger attitude than this one!!
This is a point and click adventure game in which you must solve the mystery of a plant murderer. You quickly discover that plants belonged to an eccentric millionaire (he did remind me of a certain Scrooge McDuck) called Phil Cloro, and he wants you to find the killer, at all costs!
Phil Cloro, he’s not happy that his plants have been killed!
Once the investigation has started, the game teaches you the core mechanics. Press B to examine an object and A to interact. Pressing the + sign brings up the menu screen, from which you can read a brief overview of your current goal. Once you’ve mastered these, the only thing holding you back is your imagination!
Quick tip – pressing A twice on the red arrows will allow you to move between scenes a little quicker.
Poor, innocent, dead plants!
You need to use your poultry powers of deduction to collect items from the world. Some might seem completely pointless at first. For example, I found a single wax candle behind a grate. However, soon after, I used a lit bbq to turn it back to wax, to seal an envelope which I then needed to post. A further example is when I had to combine a wig, a pole and some paint to complete another part of the investigation. These are just a small sample of how the game requires you to think outside the box in order to solve the investigation.
The candy store owner has a somewhat peculiar obsession with our Detective.
When stuck, which I often was, you can use Gallo’s sense (tap ZR) which highlights parts of the scenes that might be of interest to your investigation. Using your mobile phone to speak to the informant, can also be very helpful.
You are able to interact with many of the characters and you must use the sentence starters to continue the conversation. An orange sentence shows that you’ve already used it, and a yellow one tells you that you are yet to use that line of enquiry.
The script writing in this game is witty, however, I did find myself skipping a lot of the conversations, often to my disadvantage. I strongly advise you to listen to the conversations and read carefully because more often than not, it leads to the answer that you’re looking for.
Detective Gallo is a likeable, sarcastic and quick-witted protagonist, who isn’t afraid to make fun of himself.
I haven’t completed the game as yet. However, I’m a few hours in and I would say that I’m not even halfway through. Therefore, for the price, I would say that this game offers good value for money.
Conclusion
A fun, rewarding game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The combination of stunning visuals, catchy soundtrack and slapstick script writing make this game a must-have.
Rule #1 of playing Gallo: Buy the game!
Rule #2 of playing Gallo: Enjoy yourself!
Rule #3 of playing Gallo: Think outside the box!
Rapid Reviews Rating: Yeah!
You can purchase the game at the following link,
https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Detective-Gallo-1416010.html
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