Discworld Noir is the third Discworld game, a series based on
the huge Terry Pratchett science fiction series set on a strange, flat planet.
This third title isn’t a sequel, however, standing completely separate from the
first two games. The Discworld has been very effectively used as the setting for
a wonderful pastiche of classic detective movies.

I should say at the outset
that this is one of the most ravishingly beautiful games I’ve ever seen. The moody,
rain-filled, rich colors of the game remind you of that greatest of all neo-noir
classics, Chinatown.

The
game takes place in the dark and corrupt city of Ankh-Morpork, a city populated
by all manner of humans, trolls, wizards, and other strange creatures. Picture
a collision of Raymond Chandler and J.R.R. Tolkien and you’ve got a pretty good
idea. Your character, Lewton, is a down-on-his-luck private detective (is there
any other kind in this kind of story?). At the top of the story, you guessed it,
a beautiful woman comes in and asks for Lewton’s help on a case. It seems her
lover was supposed to have been a passenger on a newly arrived ship, but he’s
missing.

This is the starting point for one of the wildest, most convoluted,
imaginative, and complex stories I’ve ever come across in an adventure game.

The
game’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: the dialog. There is more
dialog in this game than in any other I’ve ever played (with the possible exception
of The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo). Much
of it is simply fantastic–hilarious parodies of famous film noir lines (“He
was some sort of troll …”) … but still, there’s just plain too much
of it. The game could use a puzzle or two. Several times, in fact, it seemed as
if there was a completely organic puzzle just dying to express itself, only to
get glossed over by more dialog.

The game also comes with a handy notepad
that helps you keep track of the extremely complicated plot.

This third-person
point-and-click game moves through a series of beautifully rendered environments
around the dank city of Ankh-Morpork.

The
interface is not bad, but there were times when the game wouldn’t move forward
unless I did something quite nonintuitive, like pose a question to a scrawl on
a wall. Huh? Yeah, I’m not kidding.

However, these are small quibbles. It’s
not often a game comes along that’s this rich and involving. The graphics just
do not quit, and they are full of beautiful details, like a slightly swaying chandelier
hanging above a temple, or the constant, moody rainfall. The score is excellent,
as well, and is used very effectively to punctuate the character of the various
locales and personalities.

In the latter part of the game there’s a wonderful
twist that I don’t want to spoil for you. But it’s quite unexpected and imaginative
and helps keep up interest in what has, at that point, become a pretty long game.
This new aspect of your character introduces an entire new way of searching for
clues that’s a lot of fun.

I would recommend Discworld Noir to any
fan of detective games, conversation-driven games, and, obviously, fans of film
noir.

Final Grade: B

If you liked Discworld Noir:
Watch: Chinatown
Read: The Little Sister by Raymond
Chandler
Play: The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the
Rose Tattoo

PC System Requirements (minimum):
P166 or greater IBM-compatible computer
32 MB of RAM
Windows 95 or 98

8-speed CD-ROM drive
Sound card
Single hemisphere electro-colloidal brain
with cognitive functions