Crime: Homicide; Victim: this game; Culprit: BlueJ33
This is a kinda cool little twist, but my first gripe with Insecticide is that it just never really goes anywhere with this very cool set-up. Aside from some insanely corny bug jokes that absolutely made me cringe, there's not much about the game that's unique and could only have been done with such a setting. Each bug of the Insecticide division has a mildly interesting personality, but every character in this game could have been made human and the game would not have suffered one bit.
The story itself is decent, though; you take control of detective Chrys Liszt who's been called on the job to investigate the mysterious murder of an employee of the soft drink company Nectarola. The problem? Well, it seems that this attempt was actually directed and Quinbee, the CEO of Nectarola itself. It's up to Chrys and her annoyingly lazy partner to uncover the mystery behind this murder as they plunge into the insect criminal underworld of Troi and attempt to reveal just what's going on here.
The game is divided up into chapters, which can are in turn one of two potential gameplay implementations: it will either be an action bit or an investigation bit. Sadly, both of them pretty much fail to impress, but the investigations are marginally better so I'll start with those. You'll snoop around, investigate crime scenes, and get stuff done at the precinct in this part of the game. It's very much a point-and-click style game, in that nearly all of the investigations are done with the touch screen. You can touch evidence to examine it, present it to people, investigate surroundings, and talk to your colleagues to get clues. You'll even question witnesses and solve puzzles, which is pretty cool. However, one pretty significant problem with the investigation sequenes is that far too often, the solution to overcoming an obstacle is far too obscure. For example, the game doesn't want you to push a crate off a ledge to break it open -- instead, they want you to use a freaking paper clip to freaking push out the freaking hinges of the crate. I'm open to thinking creatively, but when stuff like this is the sole solution to a puzzle, I can't help but feel a bit helpless and annoyed.
The fact that these investigations implement the touch screen generously brings up another significant problem -- for me, at least. Though the developers have made decent use of the touch screen, they failed to include a left-handed configuration. So people like me who are, in fact, left handed are going to have an unfairly tough time playing this game. I honestly can't believe that a game would be released with such an insanely huge oversight, and to me it speaks volumes about the attention to detail and level of care the dev team and publisher put into this game (that is, very little). And so the fact that I've got to go around with the stylus close at hand, then let go of the d-pad and pick up the stylus to investigate makes me full really ticked off at the dev team and completely negates any sense of pacing that this game may have had.
The second aspect of Insecticide is the action parts, and this is where the game really screws up in a big way. To begin with, the fact that southpaws such as myself cannot use the touch screen dictates the need for using the button configuration to control the game. And that, honestly, is not a lot of fun. Chrys controls very awkwardly and very slowly, which makes the combat even more boring. Tapping A initiates a lock and L fires one of Chrys' weapons. There's a stupidly long lag time in between shots, though, and strafing and generally moving around is done at a snail's pace. As a result, the "gunfights" with criminal underlings feel forced and stupid.
And then comes the platforming, which is probably even worse than the combat. Left and right on the d-pad allow Chrys to turn left and right, but this happens really slowly. As a result, just moving around requires way too much effort than it should. Also, the camera will occasionally start randomly screwing around and will suddenly switch to a first-person view without any warning. This is problem ting when navigating a tricky platforming section or just trying to take out some bad guys with one of Chrys' weapons. These action sequences are basically chase scenes (read: fetch quest) and as a result get really repetitive and boring. Jumping around is a clunky and bothersome task thanks to the erratic camera and tough-to-use controls. And then there's the fact that for a game so unpolished, Insecticide can be unfairly difficult. For example, there's a certain scene when you've got to cross some cable-car wires, with trains passing underneath them that have a big electric clamp that holds to the wire. If you get hit, you will fall and have to start all over, and there are only a few safe spots. This would be a decent platforming challenge if you could somehow control the camera. But you can't, so as a result you'll be rushing to the next safe spot when all of a sudden you'll be hit from behind by a train you had no way of seeing. Talk about a cheap shot.
Aside from annoying instances such as this one, however, Insecticide doesn't offer much of a challenge. There are health pick-ups scattered all over the place, which means that any damage you take in "battle" is pretty much meaningless. Combat is a simple process of tapping the L button over and over again and trying to move Chrys's stupidly slow but out of the way of their fire. And platforming, when it's not completing simple jumping tasks or just trying to get Chrys to move around the freaking corner, is often unfair. Additionally, there's not a lot of meat to Insecticide; sure, there are several levels, but most of them can be completed in 10 or 20 minutes. There's not much reason to replay this unless you think it's fun to be frustrated, so I think it's safe to say that Insecticide isn't much of a bargain.
Finally, the graphics and sound are lacking significantly. There are a few cutscenes throughout the game and these look fairly nice; however, the in-game visuals lack color or vibrancy and generally feel drab and boring. Additionally, in an attempt to contribute to the seedy atmosphere of the game, the lighting is fairly poor. And I know this sounds ridiculous, but it's true: there are some bang-your-head-against-a-wall frustrating parts where you're stuck just because you can't see that platform that you're supposed to jump on next. I enjoy playing a game with a rich atmosphere, but when it gets in the way of gameplay you know that you're going too far. There's also some voice-acting which is pretty well done, but the sound-effects that make up the rest of the game are unforgettable.
All told, I'm going to strongly advise that you stay away from Insecticide. If you're really interested, go ahead and rent it and beat it over the weekend (warning: you will get so stuck/frustrated that you might just not finish the game). But buying this game would not only be a waste of money; it would also be encouraging a dev team that has honestly botched what could have and should have been a great title. The investigation scenes show promise, but the rest of the game is pretty much the personification of frustration. I can only hope that Crackpot and Gamecock can get together and work out a good sequel, because until then hearing the two names leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.