NoseBound Demo

It’s one thing to play a game for the fun of it just to fill some time, and it’s a whole other thing to immerse yourself in the storyline. Not all games are designed for immersion, but those that are need to hit a lot of checkboxes in order to obtain the desired result. The environments have to be in tune with the general atmosphere, the characters must look and behave like they belong in the said environments, and the gameplay has to at least not get in the way, even if it’s not brilliant.

NoseBound is a point-and-click adventure game that features a mature story and a predilection toward black and white. It draws inspiration from many sources, including film noir classics, Lovecraft novels and Aleister Crowley writings, which makes for a very creepy stew indeed. Most of the events are disturbing and graphic, but humor is also part of the deal, albeit maybe not the kind you would want to quote by the watercooler at work.

Story-wise, the demo is a bit fuzzy and obviously short for now, but it has all the right ingredients to get you interested and anxious for more. You play the role of an old investigator almost embalmed with whiskey and cigarettes, who receives a strange phone call in the middle of the night. After a bit of investigation, it turns out that a strange murder has occurred in someone’s apartment, sporting all the usual signs of the occult.

As far as the gameplay is concerned, every point-and-click aficionado should be familiar with how things work. Basically, you just have to investigate the environments and find certain items, which are them transferred to your inventory. Some can be used as they are, while others need to be combined in order to be helpful. On the other hand, the entire thing can turn into a boring pixel hunt if the level designers take a wrong turn somewhere, but except for a blasted pen, things appear to be fine in this regard.

Finally, the artwork and the general visual style are worth a shout-out as well, because the artists really came through in this regard. You basically feel the heavy atmosphere pressing on your shoulders whenever you enter a new location, thanks to the depressing environments that surround you. Film noise, various color filters and great post-processing effects make a difference as well, not to mention the moody soundtrack going at it in the background.

In the end, it is also worth noting that NoseBound plans on being an episodic drama, kind of like The Walking Dead. Hence, the story should get plenty of time to evolve and grow as many limbs as it wants, while suspense builds up around it after every iteration. As long as the developers and the designers keep doing exactly what they did until now, NoseBound is a sure hit with adventure fans and everyone who loves film noir flicks.