Loco Motive Review
Brilliantly hilarious murder-mystery game Loco Motive evokes the golden age of LucasArts adventures without being irritating about it.
Loco Motive. Credit: Robust Games / Chucklefish
Loco Motive, a new adventure game from Robust Games and Chucklefish, is a murder mystery with multiple protagonists and a colorful supporting cast that recalls Agatha Christie classics such as Murder on the Orient Express and other works she’s inspired, like Rian Johnson’s Knives Out films. Its gorgeous pixel art presentation, fun puzzles, and top-notch comedy writing elevate it to the lofty level of golden-age LucasArts games such as Monkey Island, Sam and Max, and Full Throttle.
Brothers Adam and Joseph Riches initially developed Loco Motive as part of a two-week game jam using Dave Lloyd’s powerful adventure game toolkit for Unity, PowerQuest. After getting a positive reception, they pitched a fully featured version of the game and were funded by Chucklefish, where Adam previously worked as an artist. I never played the free version of Loco Motive available on itch.io, but the final commercial release is simply brilliant.
Loco Motive. Credit: Robust Games / Chucklefish
Lady Unterwald, a wealthy railroad baron, has gathered her family and other interested parties aboard the Reuss Express, her flagship luxury train, to reveal her plans for the future of her fortune. As she’s about to announce a landmark change to her will, she’s murdered, and it’s up to you to solve the crime. You’ll play as Arthur Ackerman, a bureaucracy-loving attorney; Herman Merman, a floundering mystery novelist turned amateur detective; and Diana Osterhagen, a rookie secret agent for the tax service.
The first thing I noticed about the game is the beautiful execution of its chunky pixel art. At a glance, you might think Loco Motive was a lost LucasArts classic from the early 1990s. Backgrounds are full of detail. The delightfully caricaturish characters are expressive and fully animated, including unique animations for the various things you’ll do in the game. The success of the game’s excellent slapstick visual comedy is a testament to the high quality of its sprite animation.
Loco Motive. Credit: Robust Games / Chucklefish
The game’s cartoonish slapstick is also effective because it’s paired with a hilarious, well-written, highly polished script. The writing is genuinely funny, rarely relying on outside references for its humor; when it does reference something, it’s subtle and not winkingly irritating. I was motivated to try every possible character and object interaction I could to experience the script fully. This is how you write a classic.
Thanks to the top-notch performances of the voice cast, the dialogue is not only a joy to read but also to hear. Characterization, emotion, and depth come through in the voice work. Timing between lines isn’t off like it is in many games like these that often suffer from stilted line delivery, something especially important in comedy. You won’t want to skip through it.
Loco Motive. Credit: Robust Games / Chucklefish
Gameplay is pretty standard for a modern point-and-click adventure. There isn’t anything novel here, but the game doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel because the stars of the show are the art, story, and characters; they get the spotlight. You can left-click to interact and right-click to look. Attempting to use items from your inventory in the environment is as easy as opening your inventory, clicking on an item, and then clicking on your target; combining items is similar. Talking to NPCs presents a menu of dialogue options. I appreciated the quality of life features, such as being able to toggle icon indicators on the interactive objects and double-clicking to run. Loco Motive also fully supports controllers; playing with one is as intuitive as using the mouse.
The game’s item-based puzzles sometimes fall into nonsensical territory, but for the most part, things were fairly intuitive. Solving the puzzles nearly always leads to rewardingly funny results. Puzzles involving switching between playable characters appear late in the game, just in time to add a new layer of variety. In case you’re stumped, Loco Motive helpfully includes a hint system you can use at almost any time, in the form of phones to call a hotline where ace detective Dirk Chiselton offers increasingly detailed tips for solving puzzles.
Loco Motive. Credit: Robust Games / Chucklefish
Loco Motive wears its inspirations on its sleeve. Despite feeling like some of my favorite classics, the game never feels unoriginal or derivative. The level of quality here sets a high bar for future games emulating this comedy adventure game style. I was in love with the game from start to finish, and I hope Robust Games brings us more of this magic. If they do, my only request is that they bring back Mr. Masson, my favorite minor character, who is essentially a grumpy, late-era Orson Welles.
Loco Motive is available now on PC (Steam/GOG) and Nintendo Switch.
Overall Score: 9/10
Played on: Steam Deck and PC
