Point and click adventure titles have always had a spot in my heart. Since the ‘good old’ days of King’s Quest and Leisure Suit Larry, the genre has had decreasing appeal to me (aside from my continued Myst following of course) and it wasn’t until the mass eruption of mobile device gaming that I spent any time reflecting upon the genre and where it was best suited for me as a gamer.
In search of a stand above mobile device game, I stumbled across Hector: Badge of Carnage for the iphone. This title has the nuts and bolts of a point and click adventure, but modernized with the ‘slide’ functionalities of the device. Using the slide is not one of my personal fortes, but becoming comfortable playing a game with no buttons will not erase 28 years of engrained button mashing from my veins.
Initially Hector: Badge of Carnage got my attention due to the graphics. The visuals are clean, colourfully stylized and animated in a very familiar way. As I continued to give the game some attention I found that the story and plot line are what really compelled me through the game.
This game is not for children.
With a required age of 17 for download itunes warns players that this title contains:
Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content or Nudity
Frequent/Intense Mature/Suggestive Themes
Frequent/Intense Profanity or Crude Humour
Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
Frequent/Intense Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
And they aren’t kidding! Full of witty one liners, (most of which I do not understand due to the overt British colloquialisms) adult humour, and situations of a seedy nature, this game is as giggle worthy as toilet humour can be: that is to say you either giggle or you don’t.
Point in case: As the game begins we find ourselves with a nice little cut scene used to present some of the back story before our ‘hero’ is introduced. Our hero we find in a prison cell, pantless. Yes, he is without pants. Hector has a substantial hangover and he is locked away in this prison cell for partaking in some inebriated and torrid affairs the night before. Now it may not seem obvious at this point but Hector is a member of the local police force and as such needs to find his way to some pants and back to the location of our initial cut scene before the adventure part can truly begin.
If this is your brand of humour then you will laugh and laugh again. Hector is quite a character and his love for all that is creepy makes him an endearing character for an animated existence while the game sound is clean and clear, appropriate for the title and plays into the style of this cute/grit title.
Overall
Hector: Badge of Carnage is yet another iPhone game that is working towards bridging the gap between mobile devices and portable gaming device. As a gal who once spent hours and hours hooked to my computer playing Day of the Tentacle, this is a formable attempt at the point and click adventure genre that fits in my pocket!
