At the end of 2014 Rival Games Ltd released episode one of The Detail, a gritty police drama set in a failing American metropolis. The game follows a story of murder, gangs and drug crime, told through multiple perspectives: A veteran detective disillusioned by the realities of the job, a former small time criminal turned informant, a rookie police who’s still hoping to do some good. Episode two released in 2015 and on April 28th season one will be wrapping up with the release of episode 3, “Devil in the Detail”. In anticipation of the release we took a look at the first two entries of this dark tale.
Told primarily through distinctive comic book-like panels and with a little point-and-click adventure style, The Detail plays like a combination of a graphic novel and a Telltale-style interactive story. You will be put in difficult situations and given choices how to behave, often times with no ideal choices presented. Without giving anything away just yet, one thing I’ve enjoyed is that the freedom to take the “bad choice” without being relentlessly punished. You’re in a world of grays here, and sometimes the right thing to do may not always be the best option if you want to get things done.
The Detail enjoys a distinctive comic style, with most of the storytelling done with stills that enjoy a good mix of character and style. Other times you’re allowed to walk around and investigate crime scenes, search for clues and talk with others through some well-detailed locations. Candidly, sometimes the art style feels a little incongruous or just plain off (Dialogues are carried out through talking portraits which don’t seem to match and look just a little weird), but for the most part there’s a distinctive quality to the work that makes the game feel unique.
We’ll discuss the game more in our review, but for now I’ll say that at the end of chapter two I found myself pretty excited to know how this season closes out. Episode 3 of The Detail releases this week on April 28th. Check back here after the release for our full review, but for you can check out episodes one and two which are available now on Steam.
