Red Johnson's Chronicles: One Against All Review
Story
You’re Red Johnson, the most talented young private detective in Metropolis, often hired by local cops but, being the best comes at a cost to Red. The local crime lord is more than aware that whatever he does will lead to him getting caught if Red has anything to do with it. With a price on his head and many failed assassination attempts Red decides to go into hiding. During a drinking session at the local bar, Red receives a locked box from “some guy” which forces him to leave his hideout and start an investigation.
Gameplay
Red Johnson’s Chronicles is a static point and click puzzle game and I say static because unlike “Monkey Island” and “The Walking Dead” you’re not able to walk around.
From the get go you encounter and question many (annoying) characters all of which seem to be suffering from some form of mental health illness and/or addiction. Meeting and questioning really got on my nerves because I knew it was going to be the weirdest most pointless conversation with only a small part of it being of any use to me.
Obviously some characters want to kill you because like I mentioned above, you have a price on your head. A little cut-scene happens and during it you will need to press button combinations in order to avoid being killed. I hate interactive cut-scenes when they consist of pressing “A” to dodge etc and I don’t feel it fits well with the game.
So as you know, Red Johnson’s Chronicles is all about solving puzzles and finding clues which lead you to the next objective but, getting there is another story. Due to the difficulty of the puzzles I often found myself frustrated and angry. Yes difficult puzzles are a good thing but anger and frustration are not. I sometimes felt that the outcome wouldn’t be worth the annoyance and I was mostly right. You have a friend named Saul who offers hints and tips for cash but to be honest, he is an annoying idiot that doesn’t always help in a way which allows you to continue on your tracks and his annoying, cocky voice will possibly lead you to self harming by means of banging your head against a wall!
In order to keep track of your findings you have a note book which contains maps, objectives, notes and people met. The notebook is a good way to go over evidence you may have forgot about or not properly taken on board but I often forgot I had it.
When you find something that is interactive you have a UV lamp and magnifying glass to help you go over them a little more thoroughly than the naked eye can and the likelihood is that you will find something whilst using these simple gadgets.
At your hideout you have an analysis computer and a telephone, both of which come in very helpful but it can be a pain going back and forth to make sure you have all the information needed to continue. A portable computer and a mobile phone would have eliminated this annoyance.
Visuals
The game looks good and is set in nicely detailed, unique areas but Compared to The Walking Dead’s cel-shade and Monkey Island’s sharp, bright colours there is nothing special about Red Johnson’s Chronicles.
Overall
There were a few things I liked about Red Johnson’s Chronicles but lots of things I didn’t. As point and click puzzle game it does what it is meant to do well but not well enough. If you want a really worthy point and click game you should definitely consider Monkey Island and The Walking Dead before even trying this one
5/10
Review By Wicket2961
