Insecticide
Preview
Detectives have their work cut out for them
by Marcus Mulkins
previewed on PC
Something about this game is bugging me
Suppose there is a group of guys, experienced at designing Action/Adventure games. They are adept at mixing 'twitchy trigger finger' with 'point and click, find the widgets and solve the puzzles' gameplay. Their track record include classics such as Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, and Full Throttle, to name a few.
Suppose that, for one reason or another, they are no longer working with the Big Name Company and have decided to start for themselves. What kind of game would you expect them to produce first? Action/Adventure, right? So what kind of plot? Well, what kind action? Hmm. Something that really gets the blood pumping and the adrenaline flowing would be a good candidate. That suggests something like a shoot-first-or-get-shot type of game would be a good candidate. Now, what kind of adventure? Well, it has to be the kind that involves lots of shooting between stretches of hide-and-go-seek. That suggests some kind of investigation game. Unlike Agatha Christie type stuff, which doesn't have nearly enough opportunities for the bang-bang stuff (and would require paying royalties for using the characters), there is the fact that if the job became life-threatening, the private investigator could just quit. Unless he was trapped, like in a Cthulhu type environment.
So, that leaves the cop scenario. So, who's the cop going to be? Well, nobody that anybody knows because we don't want to plagiarize or pay royalties. So we've got Sgt Joe Nobody-knows-me-from-Adam. I'm a cop; I investigate crimes. Some people don't like that their crimes are being investigated. They tend to try to stop the investigation, usually by stopping the investigator. Naturally, I shoot back, and more accurately. That explains why I'm still on the job. Hmm. Not enough pizzazz. The character is too new to the genre; his career is just starting, or else everyone would know him already. Obvious Big Cases would go to the Joe Somebodies. Even if you start with a small case that snowballs, once it looks like Something Big, the equivalent of the Feds taking over the investigation would occur. So, we compensate by adding "atmosphere". Gritty. Seedy. Film noir type stuff. Something like, "I work at a third-rate precinct in a third-rate neighborhood. Life ain't nice here, and the inhabitants take it out on each other - which is a crime. Crimes against nobodies, committed by nobodies. But they're still crimes. Somebody has to investigate those crimes and put the slimeballs where they belong, behind bars. That's where I come in. Because I carry a badge."
Dang it! It still seems too familiar. Gotta come up with a twist. That means the kind of cop that people have never seen before. That means, not human. An alien cop? Even that has been done before in "Alien Nation", and even in most of the episodes of "Babylon 5". Ahh, but that was aliens AND humans! So, let's get rid of the humans entirely. Erm. But if there's no humans, why would the people care? There's got to still be a connection that the people can relate to. Hmm. So, human society without the humans. Why no humans? They wiped themselves out maybe? Hmm. More than likely, if we did, Earth would probably be a new asteroid belt. So, leave the planet be, but get rid of the people. World-wide 100% fatal epidemic maybe. Hmm. Really doesn't matter how, just so long as they're gone. And most likely all of the mammals. In fact, most of the "higher" life forms would likely make the trip to extinction along with the humans. Which leaves...
What life form is practically guaranteed to survive nuclear devastation or practically any other catastrophic event? Cockroaches perhaps? Insects, evolved to become THE intelligent species at the top of the food chain, taking over the social structure, complete with trappings left by the departed humans. Yeah. That's the ticket!
Now, I'm not saying that the scenario above describes the brainstorming that Crackpot Entertainment went through to arrive at the premise of Insecticide, but it certainly could have been the case. Crackpot Entertainment is populated by a whole lot of former LucasArts employees: Michael Levine, Larry Ahern, Peter Chan, Dave Grossman, Jacob Stevens, Anson Jew, Peter McConnell, Julian Kwasneski... it's a looong list of very talented people. Between them, they had a hand in developing nearly every major LucasArts game. From Sam & Max Hit The Road to Monkey Island to Grim Fandango to Day of the Tentacle. Seeing the samples on Insecticide, it might explain my reaction of, "Why does this remind me of a LucasArts game?" The art style, the sound, and especially the tongue-in-cheek humor are reminiscent of the best games LucasArts ever created.
