It’s a harsh world out there. In order to survive it’s kill or be killed. It’s even worse for a private investigator, someone who puts himself on the line for a few bucks to eat. The town eats away at your soul until you’re just another zombie on the streets. That’s pretty much film noir in a nutshell. And Pixel Noir looks to take on the tried and true tropes of the genre and turns it into an interesting turn based RPG.
Welcome to Pinnacle City, a place filled with rampant crime and violence where it’s always dog eat dog. You play as a PI who’s down on his luck and still struggling with what happened to him and his partner a decade ago. He lost his life and you were blamed for the carnage caused. A stint in prison later you’re released and decide to take on freelance work. And that’s how Pixel Noir starts.
As a detective, you do more than just get into firefights with gangs and mobsters. Explore the environment, meet and interrogate suspects, and search the area for clues. Then, when the fecal matter hits the proverbial fan you’re treated to traditional turn-based combat that is so prevalent in the genre. Level up, equip and upgrade your gear, and go out solving cases and taking down crime as any hardboiled dick would do.
Until Pixel Noir I had yet to see an RPG take on the film noir genre. Although, when you think about it, it makes sense. Noir pretty much needs a narrative style in order to successfully tell its story. And while, say, adventure is a better medium RPGs do have strong tales to weave on their own. I’m a fan of this type of storytelling, as well as the gameplay style, so I definitely want to keep an eye on this one. Plus, there’s a demo to try out as well.
Track the progress of the Pixel Noir Kickstarter in our Campaign Calendar.
