Chicken Police Review

Chicken Police is one of those titles that really stands out in a weird way, which isn’t bad. It stood out so much that I had to jump at the opportunity to play this game as soon as possible. From the characters, to the game’s artistic design and the atmosphere, Chicken Police proved itself to probably win the Most Unique Game of 2020 (if it was an award category). After spending hours engulfed in this visual novel it seemed clear to me that while this game may look a little weird and silly, don’t let that take away from the in-depth story, gameplay, and everything else that it has to offer for the player.

            Chicken Police is a crime-noir visual novel that feels very similar to other crime games such as L.A Noire, The Wolf Among Us, and even the Sam and Max series. The one thing that these games had in common that I found myself enjoying is that they are able to execute storytelling in the crime genre perfectly, and that’s what attached me to the titles in the first place. Chicken Police is no different here. You play as  Santino “Sonny” Featherland, a former detective of the Clawville Police Department who also is known throughout the city of Clawville as the “Chicken Police”. Clawville is a city where all animals can go free from being hunted regardless of being predators or prey, almost acting like a safe haven for their residents. Living in an abandoned hotel drinking his life away, Sonny feels as though there isn’t much left for him to do as a detective, until he gets a visit from a goat that goes by the name of Deborah Ibanez. Deborah drops a very intriguing and confusing case for Sonny to solve and tells him that her boss sent her because she thinks he’s the only person capable of finding the truth in this case. Sonny somewhat reluctantly accepts the case, bringing the “Chicken Police” out of his slump and back into some action.

            The mechanics of the game are somewhat similar to a point and click adventure game. You have a reticule to move around and investigate different objects, you can talk to and investigate different characters, and open your notes journal to look back at previous notes and information that proves itself to be useful down the road.

The way conversations/investigations work is that everything is multiple choice and you have to choose the correct answer to fit the characters and the current status of the person you are talking to. There’s a detective meter and it’s your job to make sure that it stays in the upper half of the bar. If it gets too low you fail the interrogation.

The one difficulty about conversing with people is that sometimes the options feel out of place, making you say something that you necessarily didn’t want to, causing confusion and misunderstandings to come about. During my playthrough, I encountered these circumstances only a few times but really didn’t affect me majorly and make me fail the investigation.

The way traveling scenes work is that you have three types; you have open scenes that you can freely traverse to at any given time, limited scenes that are only open for a short amount of time that has little secrets that help you in your quest to solve the case, and closed scenes that you can’t get to anymore and once they close they’re closed forever.

            The art style of Chicken Police nails the aesthetic for the crime genre. The design of the animals, while silly, are drawn out extremely well and fit in with the surroundings that they are put in. The voice acting in itself is outstanding and add a sort of uniqueness for every character you come across, and they all seem so different with different personalities. The music itself also coerces with it’s surroundings and adds suspense and a thriller vibe to the narrative.

Conclusion

Chicken Police is a must pick up title if you are heavily invested into the crime/suspense genre as much as I am. Even though the game has a unique set of characters and settings doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give it a shot. Well worth it in my opinion. 

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This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox One console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
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Good
  • Great noir styling
  • Interesting, well performed characters and stories
Bad
  • Some dialogue options don't quite go the way you'd think
8.3
Great
Gameplay - 9
Graphics - 9
Audio - 8
Longevity - 7
Written by
Even though his name is Varnell Harris, he also goes by Bubba. Bubba has been writing for gaming websites since he was sixteen years old and always had a passion for it. Bubba has attended Miami University and double majored in Journalism and Creative Writing. He also streams on Twitch and uploads YouTube videos whenever he has time. Not only is he into gaming, but he is also heavily into anime and has made it his goal to attend every con possible. His goal is to make it big in the gaming industry.

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