BROK the InvestiGator [Review]
BROK the InvestiGator is a cartoon-styled adventure point-and-click that follows our pun protagonist of Brok the Alligator. The game was developed and published by COWCAT Games. The most obvious detail of this game is its cartoon-inspired style, specifically late 80s and 90s style cartoons with animated expressions and exaggerated physical features. The game is very nice to look at and captures what older cartoons feel like.
Don’t be fooled by its cartoony nature as this game deals with heavy themes. It takes place in a dystopian timeline, where the air is so polluted that most everyone suffers the effects while the elite lives underneath a giant dome to protect them. They are waited on by malfunctioning and broken-down robots that seem to do more harm than good. Individuals on the streets turn to drugs to take away the pain from an untreatable disease that would warrant more pain than the drugs they consume. Brok himself has a broken memory that’s seemingly trying to keep him from remembering the pain of his ex-wife’s death, which left him to look after her son all by himself.
Haunted by nightmares, Brok takes one day at a time to try to make ends meet for his stepson. Eventually landing a job that requires him to go into the dome. But before we get into that, we need to understand how this game plays, which is a point-and-click adventure game with beat-'em-up elements. The story requires the player to search and click everything, and everyone has information that explains more and more about this messed-up world they all live in. During combat, the game turns itself into a beat-'em-up, with enemies coming at you from all angles. It’s a nice way to break up a monotonous gameplay style like point-and-click adventures.
Not only does the fighting set it apart from other point-and-click titles, but its inclusion of multiplayer is certainly not usually seen in this genre. The game supports up to four players; you can play as different characters or the same character if you have yet to meet all the playable characters. Each character has slightly different moves, but they all play the same. Everyone can explore, look for clues, and even take turns making decisions (if you have the option turned on). You can also turn off both friendly fire and player collision, which I recommend as you’ll be wildly swinging like in most beat-‘em-ups.
The game is fully voice-acted, and it’s done well. The characters have voices that match their cartoony selves, and it doesn’t feel annoying or overdone. Brok will even narrate anything and everything you investigate; you can even hear his internal dialogue when talking to individual characters. While not everything you look at is important to the story or the investigation, it shows the incredible amount of effort that every little detail gets. Coupled with the full voice-acting cast, the game also has an impressive set of accessibility features. While I did not personally use them, the game has options for visuals and text, which allow everything to be verbally described to the player. The game can also be put on a skippable fight mode, which allows the player to skip any beat-'em-up portions of the game and focus only on the point-and-click adventure aspects. This is all optional, of course, and is to help make it accessible for visually impaired or blind gamers.
The option to skip fights can also be a part of the story as well as just an accessibility feature. As in this game, your choices matter and can impact the story. Even something simple like choosing to allow Brok to tell one of his only friends about his memory issues, all the way to more violent things like choosing to break down the door to Brok’s stepson’s room. There are a surprising number of choices that are seemingly small but will affect the story in little ways. The most dangerous way to influence the story is by setting a time limit. Some things in the game are timed, and if you take too long, it can cause a butterfly effect. I recommend not worrying too much about looking at every little thing unless you are in a section of the game you know is safe. You can always go back to areas to search them for collectibles if you’d like to, but most things you look at don’t give much information other than a voice line. So, I wouldn’t worry too much if you feel like you’re running out of time.
BROK the InvestiGator is a beautifully drawn game that has many artworks and character models for you to look at in the settings. I love concept art and wish more games would include a section for it, so seeing it in this great-looking game was a treat. With or without friends, this game is a wonderful experience with good gameplay and a compelling story. Certainly deserving of a 10/10 score. The game is currently available on PlayStation 5, Switch, Steam, and Xbox Series.