One of the perks to gaming is we’re able to unleash our dark sides without repercussions.
Lying, blackmailing, and cheating to climb up the corporate ladder are risky in real life but when you have a reset button, there isn’t a care for that anyway.
The Low Road is a witty point and click game around corporate espionage. It feels like Broken Age but with a 1970s flair. Comparing The Low Road to Broken Age is a very big compliment. I love that game a lot!
Reviewed: PC
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch
Developer: XGen Studios
Publisher: XGen Studios
Release Date: July 26, 2018
MSRP: $14.99
Review code provided by XGen Studios
To make a great point and click game, the story needs to be impressive, the art needs to be stunning, the music needs to be awesome and the mini games need to be engaging. If one of these things fail, any point and click game becomes really bland. The Low Road gets checks on all check boxes.
The game is made by XGen Studios, well known for “Defend your Castle” and “Super Motherload”. Unfortunately, the founder and CEO passed away while this game is in production. You will see dedication when the game is finished. His wife took over and they managed to release this game 2 years later.
When playing The Low Road, you play as Noomi Kovacs, a fresh graduate from detective school, LeCarre Institute for Exceptional Spies (L.I.E.S) and very excited to do field work. She gets a job in Penderbrook Motors’ Division of Outside Intelligence. Her dreams and aspirations instantly get shattered on her first day at work.
Her boss named Turn, makes it a point that detective work should be done through phones only and gathering information won’t be done on the field. Indignant about becoming an assistant, Noomi does unscrupulous things so that she can become a field agent. The more she snoops around, the more secrets unravel.
After finishing the game, I believe it’s called The Low Road because it’s a play on words about the whole game. Noomi has to make underhanded (lying, blackmail and all that good stuff) decisions in order to be the secret agent she wants to be. The game also focuses on automobiles which makes the title more amusing.
The art on The Low Road is absolutely delightful. They are digitally hand painted and look like something from the 1970s. While it does look pretty, I have to point out that there are times when I can’t seem to figure out where the pointer is because it’s a bit faded compared to the “hand”. It’s not a big deal but maneuvering while doing mini games can get a bit annoying.
Aside from that, the music is really great. The voice acting is great as well. The annoying characters rightfully have annoying voices (looking at you, Thornton!). Even the music at the title page is phenomenal.
If there is one thing that I don’t like is that they barely have any text regarding how the mini games work. The first mini game, I’ve seen people on Steam complain about it, that it’s bugged and it will probably make the players quit all together. It’s not bugged, there is just a problem of interpreting game mechanics. Instructions itself shouldn’t be a puzzle!
After finishing the story, I probably won’t play it again. While there are failed endings, once you get to the good end, there isn’t much to replay for.
Point and click games are definitely niche market, and I feel like the players who like puzzle games will be able to solve this one quickly. However, it’s a novel game and if you’ve been looking for a game like Broken Age, then you should definitely buy this.
