Face Noir Review: Halfway There

Italian-based studio Mad Orange’s debut point-and-click adventure “Face Noir” is an entertaining story told in a lousy way. From beginning to end, this interesting tale about an ex-cop-gone-private-investigator working in New York City during the Great Depression era (1934 to be exact) is constantly overshadowed by lazy dialogue, poor voice acting and slow gameplay.

The game’s main plot is triggered when Jack Del Nero, the protagonist, after being falsely accused of murder, sets off on a journey to find the real killer and prove his innocence.

Each level kicks off with a short scene narrated by Jack, which is one of the games biggest mistakes. The scenes tell some of the most important and captivating parts of the story and Mad Orange relies way too heavily on Jack to tell it, failing to realize that no one can take his character seriously. Jack Del Nero is boring; he is lifeless, unexciting and downright one of the worst main characters in all of video games.

Despite the many drawbacks, “Face Noir” is still a fun game that requires you to do a lot of thinking outside the box – not every puzzle is as simple as clicking on whatever you can find. There will be plenty of times where you will need to take a moment (or two) to think about your next move. You will also have to make use of any items and materials that you find lying around, such as using a candy wrapper to fix a broken telephone line or scaring off an unwanted person with a bad weather report you read in the newspaper. However, the slow pace of the game often leaves you frustrated when figuring out a puzzle that requires you to search for something.

Visually — with the exception of character models — “Face Noir” is great. Its unique art style complements the point-and-click gameplay well and lessens the burden of its slow pace. All that you will need to progress to your next destination is usually within arms reach, though this takes away from the adventure by giving the game a linear path. In fact, it’s virtually impossible to get lost due to the games habit of blocking off certain areas that are not needed for your current task.

“Face Noir’s” character interactions are extremely dull and awkward. The people are poorly drawn, the lips trail seconds behind the voices, the dialogue is atrocious and the RPG-styled checklist of things to say is stale and repetitive. To top it off, most of the voice acting is just as bad as Jack’s.

Still, one can’t help but feel compelled to keep playing. A story of a framed PI in New York City during the ‘30s is one you can’t ignore and want to see completed. While the story may feel as if it were never finished, that won’t stop the feeling of satisfaction you will get when the credits start to roll.

It’s easy to see that Mad Orange’s heart was in the right place, unfortunately, “Face Noir” feels like an idea that never fully came into fruition. The recipe is there, but you can’t expect to bake a delicious cake if you don’t add all the ingredients. However, this game is a solid debut for a promising indie developer.