In recent years, graphic adventures have been experiencing a surge of pride, especially thanks to the indie scene. Italy also seems to have taken the rebirth of this genre particularly to heart, just think of titles like The Wardrobe or the imminent release of Hand of Glory. Among these titles, a big rooster beak peeped out: the español development team Footprints Games, in fact, led, with the publisher Adventure Productions, on PC and on console the irreverent point and click adventure of Detective Gallo, a colorful noir (a real oxymoron) starring a humanoid bird in search of truth.
A vegetable murder
Detective Gallo doesn't like company and certainly can't call himself a party guy. With his acting as a handsome dark one and the innate cynicism, thrives on cases to be solved and glasses always full of whiskey. It cannot be said that he is particularly esteemed in the city, indeed, he is banned from all bars and the locals never miss an opportunity to point out to him that he is a failed and unskilled investigator, a real chicken.
The only one who feels sincere affection for him is the candy seller, but he doesn't even give her back. His days go by without particular shocks, when one night he is hired by an eccentric character who instructs him to find the killers ... of its plants.
Well, better than nothing, it's still an investigation where Detective Gallo can show off his skills… more or less. The murder of the riccastro plants, however, does not seem to be an isolated case. The vegetables of the city are dying one by one. Who are the villains behind this bad business?
This is the incipit of the story of Detective Gallo, a plot that makes fun of the detective genre and that seems to come out of a special edition of a comic in the Ducks saga, illustrated by Don Rosa. Instead, the team that worked on the story and illustrations is all español: the brothers Francesco and Maurizio De Angelis, respectively programmer and story editor, Mauro Sorghienti, color artist, and composer of music Gennaro Nocerino.
Rooster humor
The story is based on a very straightforward humor that often tears apart fourth wall. The protagonist poses as a ... lived bird and puts a lot of hand on his own misanthropic nature. The various scenarios that make up the adventure are opportunities for funny curtains with other characters, with himself or with the players.
There are moments in which Gallo will refer to us in a sarcastic way during the investigation, especially if we try to solve puzzles in a very imaginative way. We will be mocked and our gray matter mocked for trying to put an object where it just has nothing to do with it.
These interactions are not annoying and annoying, on the contrary, they offer a good way to understand how to move forward in various situations. The humor of the title is triggered precisely by its wanting to be a true noir, but without taking yourself too seriously.
Wacky characters and a protagonist with a chutzpah, but mocked at every opportunity, are placed in a fictional context that is however plausible. Credit should also be given to the voice actors, thanks to which the dialogues are pleasant to listen to.
The only note we feel like making concerns the limits beyond which the team did not want to push the humor. The jokes are funny but misses sometimes a little mean, also free. We don't want to say that the game should have stocked up on politically incorrect situations, that wasn't the goal of the developers, but a more biting comedy would have given even more depth to the story.
A noir dai colorful brilliance
Plot and colors might seem to be headed on two different tracks in Detective Gallo, at least at first glance. The noir genre does not go well with the sparkling colors in cartoon style, but as we said previously, the game offers a comedy-detective story, whose balance tip tends more towards the first part of the binomial.
Graphically, Detective Gallo is a joy to behold with hand-illustrated environments and animations. Some scenarios are really rich in details: our favorite is the store that shows itself as an opulent bazaar from a chromatic point of view.
We learn from the official website that Sorghienti had proposed a black and white style, which was then rejected by the others. Well, we think the others were right.
Point and click
Okay, all good, but the gameplay? In this case there is little to say: Detective Gallo is a point and click that brings to our attention different scenarios in which look for objects with which to solve the puzzles. To move forward it is also necessary to talk to the characters and convince them to spill the beans, doing them favors that can range from finding an object for them or resolving an intricate circumstance by interacting here and there.
Taken as a whole, the puzzle part of the game works well with puzzles that are usually not frustrating but still force the player not to be arrogant and believe they can untangle the problem with their eyes closed. More than once we have gotten involved in phases of the game that are not difficult, but worthy of concentration.
To solve the puzzles you need to do some backtracking between them interconnected environments between them, but it is not boring because the scenarios that can be explored are quite few. This factor can be seen as both a virtue and a defect.
In Detective Gallo there are abstruse solutions, but, overall, nothing so absurd as to make us think: "What bastards, this was impossible to solve". To see the credits, about 2/3 hours are enough and left over.
