The Drifter

Nothing beats a good point-and-click mystery, especially one that’s gritty, dark, presented in pixel art glory, and is full of Australian charm. The Drifter is that gritty, dark Australian point-and-click adventure I never knew I wanted, but I'm surely glad I came across it.


What is The Drifter?

The Drifter brings us into the life of Mick Carter, a traveller, a man with no home, a drifter with nothing to gain. He’s been on the move for a while now, going from job to job, staying on friends’ sofas, and using a rundown box-car to travel back home to attend his mother’s funeral. Mick thinks he’ll come back to his old home, see some family, pay his respects and move on yet again. But after witnessing a violent murder, Mick falls into a bleak rabbit hole of conspiracy, death, and surrealistic nightmares come to life.

Chased by strange men in covert gear, unable to trust even the police, and worst of all, seeing visions of those he had ong lost coming back to haunt him. Using your wits, quick thinking, and any old tool or resource to escape the hellish reality and find out what the hell is going on. You point, click, chat, and react as quickly as possible as you solve lateral death puzzles, with the help of Mick’s newfound gift.


Drifting by, pixel by pixel

Pixel art has earned its place in the hearts of gamers, since really, most early games and up to the mid-90s were formed of pixels. But pixel art now has almost taken on another, God-like level of representation. With many games using a style that looks and feels like painted works of art from history's greats.

The Drifter feels and looks a little more on the lower end of the pixel art spectrum, akin to a 32-bit era game. But the artists have done a phenomenal job of setting the mood. Every scene is beautiful, with a great use of flickering lighting, rich and dream-like colours, captivating some surrealistic horizons, and creative scene framing which produces some stunning and nightmarish views. With one scene involving the burial of someone who is still alive being burned into my brain.

It's just incredible stuff to look at, and the variety of locations, NPCs, and the animation of the more sinister and otherworldly elements look sharp and fluent.

The Drifter also excels at boosting a top-notch voice cast, with everyone giving their most Australian-ness as possible, and delivering enriching gravitas that feels straight from an ultra-gritty 1970s mystery, like Marathon Man. Even the slightly odd monologuing out loud, what I can see happening had a charm to it, since the delivery of actor Adrian Vaughan is so strong, and honestly, this guy is so underrated as an actor.

I was mesmerised and captivated throughout by the stunning, gothic, and gritty pixel art, and the incredible voice talents that made me loath, love and hang on every word each character spoke, especially with Adrian Vaughan as Mick.


Falling into the rabbit hole

The Drifter packs plenty of punches in regards to its storytelling, never letting us for a prolonged quiet moment, but instead keeping the beats of violence, tension, and madness constantly going.

It’s a relentless beast of a narrative, and one that kept me hooked until the very end. We see Mick framed for murder, on the run, having to deal with the many ghosts of his past, and trying his best to survive and get the hell out of dodge.

However, he also realises he has a strange new gift, quite the blessing and curse, it appears. Mick is unable to die, well, he can die, and usually in the gruesome ways possible. Yet he comes back a few minutes before his death, allowing him to regroup his thoughts and figure out a way to survive this time around. But you can expect to fail, die, and be resurrected a few times before successfully resolving the problem.

As I said, the voice work is stellar, and Mick gives it his all to deliver a grimy, yet sympathetic character, who, after a short while, wants nothing more than the sweet release of death … yet that isn’t happening. It’s a cosmic nightmare, a living hell that only makes the mystery all the sweeter and intriguing.

While the plot itself and the various elements aren’t original, the frantic and constant pacing nails it in tension and hooks you in. The strange visuals complement the twisted plot, and all the small touches and details, from the guy in the yellow coat, to the covert ops guys and their Sam Fisher-like night vision, to the unnerving and creepy darker elements that warp your reality and leave you cold.

The narrative is fantastic, never letting up, nor feeling as though it was wasting my time with filler. Only a few point-and-click games do that, like Broken Sword, and The Drifter manages to accomplish this feat too in style. Even if there is a mountain of ideas and mystery concepts that never get fully fleshed out in new ways, everything did roll and flow together to keep my time in Mick’s world more gruelling and rewarding when the beating heart of the mystery was plucked out of the chest. Very much diving into the vibes and emotions of classic films from Brian De-Palma, such as The Fury.

Despite some hamminess, over the top-ness, and bat-sh** level of crazy can be a little overwhelming in the grand scheme of things, but the quirky, weird charm, energetic and gripping storytelling, and the voice work again are on the mark!


Point and click, death, repeat

Now, when I heard, saw and started playing The Drifter, I was expecting just a solid, gritty point and click adventure, and while it’s solid, much of it is straightforward. But then there is one very neat feature that works out quite well for the most part.

The Drifter is pretty much a classic 2d point and click adventure, with the pacing of action and story going a little quicker than most other games in the genre. It’s nowhere a slow burn, with long conversations, piecing together half a dozen items or so over and over, and frantic moon logic boiling the blood. Puzzles tend to be quite grounded, approachable and logical, even if some of them can be solved while in autopilot mode.

 Mick's a practical dude, one who will soak a cloth in moonshine, piss water, and use it with a lighter to create a makeshift torch, or a rusty piece of metal to cut his ties to free himself. Generally, puzzles are small problems that never outstay they’re welcome, weighing down on obtrusive, moon logic and often take place in singular areas. I did find in some moments certain items blended a little too well with the environment, or some logic with hiding in shadows, which I wasn’t 100% certain was correct. But overall, the lateral side to gameplay was entertaining, rewarding, and kept a good momentum throughout.

The standout dynamic is in key moments, Mick will face death, and when he dies will come back and retry the failure until he manages to accomplish escaping death. Be it escaping from drowning, being held at gunpoint, or outsmarting a corrupt cop trying to kill him. Some grand situations require all those lateral juices to flow to avoid death for just a little longer. All quite thrilling, brain-teasing, and gratifying when you resolve them. Some of the time limits are quite short, however, meaning the death toll can increase quite a bit.

But never did I get frustrated, even after a dozen deaths in one situation. This making for the most compelling point and click dynamics I’ve seen for quite some time.


Overall?

The Drifter is a bitter, bleak, and bloody brilliant conspiracy-filled noir-mystery that bites, frantically gets you into trouble, and demands blood, sweat, and more blood to get by. The story is gripping from start to finish, the voice acting is stellar, I love the art style and presentation, the mood, surrealistic tones, and beast-like pacing keep me invested throughout.

The point and click genre has had plenty of games which are great, but never leave a lasting impression like the greats (Broken Sword), but The Drifter will stay with me, and has become one of my favourite neo-noir, grindhouse, 1970s mystery thrillers in game form!

++ Enthralling mystery, with great presentation and voice acting
++ Stunning pixel art that captures mood, and an enriching atmosphere
++ Great pacing for lateral gameplay and interesting death mechanic
+ Top voice acting from Adrian Vaughan

- Some puzzles which are too simple
- Frantic moments in death puzzles can be a little irritating


The publisher kindly provided a review key for The Drifter