Developer: A Crowd of Monsters
Publisher: A Crowd of Monsters
Rrp: £1.99 (Steam)
Released: 23rd July 2015
Available on Steam
Played using: An XBox 360 Control pad
This is a review of the first episode of Blues & Bullets, once the full series has been released I’ll write up a full review.
It seems that when TellTale started creating their narrative adventures (the most well known of which are the Walking Dead and A Wolf Among Us series), they opened the flood gates for others such as Doublefine, DONTNOD and now A Crowd of Monsters to follow suit.
It’s actually quite impressive how these three companies have created their own aesthetic style. TellTale have the cel shaded look, DONTNOD have the more realistic look and now A Crowd of Monsters has the black and white with a hint of colour look (or the Sin City style).
As you may have guessed from my little introduction there, Blues and Bullets is a narrative adventure in the vein of TellTales Walking Dead or The Wolf Among Us. In this particular narrative adventure you take control of Eliot Ness, a retired police detective turned chef who’s asked to take on another case.
If the name Eliot Ness seems familiar to you it’s probably because the name is somewhat famous as he was heavily involved in the downfall of Al Capone (if the name Al Capone is unfamiliar then… I don’t know, read a damn book or something). In fact Blues and Bullets features quite a lot of places and characters from that era, although this is set in an alternative timeline/universe where things happened a little differently.
On the subject of the era there is something I must mention, please bear in mind the era in which this game is set. You will hear racist jibes from time to time, because it’s something that was said at the time. I don’t condone it but we can’t let it be forgotten either. If you think you can’t handle it or don’t wish to deal with that I suggest you not play this game.
Some actual sleuthing is involved in gathering clues to solve cases, I warn you though they can pretty gruesome. You’ll survey a scene gathering as many clues as you can and then add what you have found to a board. I have to say I like this mechanic and it is far more well done then how Murdered: Soul Suspect. You really had to think logically about the clues you found and how they fit in the puzzle, admittedly you could easily brute force your way through it but if your the sort of person who would your likely the sort of person who won’t enjoy this game.
Combat is also a feature in this game, although not extensively. Melee is done through QTE’s and are quite forgiving, even if you fail you start very close to where you left off, with the QTE prompts not changing.
There is also gunplay but unlike most of its peers Blues and Bullets has some real shooting mechanics, including health, the ability to make headshots count and the ability to switch cover. I know that The Walking Dead did include a shooting section but it didn’t have the level of competence and was really just a QTE in disguise.
I do have some bones to pick with this title though, Eliot Ness moves at a dawdling pace, I know he’s supposed to be a man in his late fifties but most people move quicker than that. There is a run function included but it looks so ridiculous I can’t bring myself to use it, plus it’s not really that much quicker.
The animation of the characters is occasionally a little stiff looking a little bit unnatural, this is especially noticeable in cutscenes.
Lastly there’s the lip sync, sometimes a cutscene will occur and the characters mouth will continue to move for a second or two after the voice actor has stopped. While this doesn’t happen every time its still jarring when it does occur.
Is it worth it? That’s the question I have to ask myself, and right now I think it is. BUT. as I mentioned at the start of the review this is only covering the first episode, for all I know the rest of them are utter trash. If you wish to take that risk then you can purchase the season pass from Humblebundle and Steam.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
