[Yixian]

Anyone know any good, serious detective or noir style adventure games? 2D and hand illustrated preferably - SCUMMVM compatible would be divine.

I'm not thinking Discworld Noir tbh, because while I've heard it's a great game, I'm after more or less a direct translation of films like Chinatown into an adventure game.

And good one's I'm hoping there is a classic or two I have overlooked.

[Fien]

CSI series - Nancy Drew series - Law&Order series - Black Dahlia - Mautpiti Island - Noir: A Shadowy Thriller - The X Files - The Dame Was Loaded - Tex Murphy series - In the 1st Degree - SFPD: Body in the Bay - The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo - The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Serrated Scalpel - Ripper - Conspiracies - The Elk Moon Murder - Cruise for a Corpse - In the Dead of Night - Fascination - Byzantine: The Betrayal

[Jelena]

Still Life is a detective story set both in modern time Chicago as well as in Prague in the late 20s.

[Josho]

The forthcoming INSECTICIDE, while it has both action- and adventure-oriented sequences, is a noir detective game. It's scheduled to be on the DS and the PC, later this year.

--Josh

[Toefur]

Originally Posted by Josho

The forthcoming INSECTICIDE, while it has both action- and adventure-oriented sequences, is a noir detective game. It's scheduled to be on the DS and the PC, later this year.

--Josh

Haven't heard of this, might need to look into it.

I love, love, LOVE noir. Man, did I mention that I love Noir? It's so fun! I don't know much either though, sadly. I only know of your usual stuff: Blade Runner, Tex Murphy, Discworld Noir as you mentioned. One or two others that don't spring to mind at the moment.

Hotel Dusk feels kinda noirish as well.

I am waiting here for suggestions from anyone else as well, please come forth.

[marshal99]

He's asking for Noir , i think the most obvious game would be the PC FMV game "Noir : A Shadowy thriller".

In black and white , early los angeles , detective cases , old jazzy music. It got the whole noir lot.

[Sciere]

Fedora Spade: Prologue
Fedora Spade: The Red Ring

Best of all, completely free!

[maladroid]

Whoa, Fienepien's list seems pretty thorough. I can only think of one game that's missing from there: Private Eye

The graphics kind of remind me of the Last Express approach to cartooney characters.
Can't swear about its quality though as I have never laid a finger on it myself. I still feel bad for missing it back then and not bothering to look for it later on.

[sue3737]

I liked Jack Orlando, an oldie but a goodie! Tex murphy is my absolute favourite detective tho!

[friarphil]

Dont forget the Nick Bounty games at www.pinheadgames.com

A Case of the Crabs- AG Review



The Goat in the Grey Fedora - AG Review

[Trader]

not sure but was Black Dahlia come under this. I havent played it.

[jimsta]

Black Dahlia is definitely noir. Also, don't forget Discworld Noir (which i can't play because it runs at warp speed on my cpu )

[Terramax]

Am I right in saying that there is no known way to play Noir : A Shadowy thriller on XP? This is what I've heard and why I haven't bought it.

Thumbs up for Nick Bounty: The Grey Fedora. hilarious - I'd more than happily pay £30 for a 10-15 hour Nick Bounty. MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I also agree with Still Life. If you want serious, mature, it doesn't get much more mature than Still Life. Even my none-adventure gaming friends were glued to the game.

[Yixian]

Thanks for the suggestions guys I will give them all a look.

But do there exist any 3rd person adventures? I much prefer them for first person. I know there's Cruise for Corpse but I recently read the review for that and they were terrible.

[Lee in Limbo]

Putting in a second vote for Black Dahlia. It's not third person, and it's FMV, but it's really a fantastic and suspenseful game that hits just about every noir tone I can think of except that it isn't in black and white like Noir was. Not having a copy of Noir, I can only conjecture how good that was.

Sadly, the pulp noir genre has largely been used as spoof or as an influence for sci-fi settings in most detective games (Still Live, Grim Fandango, Bladerunner, etc). That said, I'd love to see a modern third person noir thriller AG. The genre has been overdone in TV and movies, but I think video games are still pretty fresh country for a few hardboiled detective stories.

[Yixian]

Sam & Max too is an example of how it only seems to be used comically.

In fact I'd love to see any non-comical non-fantasy adventure games. Jesus, it seems like that's all we get, at least on PC, the DS seems to be home to most of the innovation these days.

I'm on the brink of buying one purely for Phoenix Wright and Hotel Dusk...

Imagine a high res PC version of those games, or an HD PS3/360 version. Damn..

[Terramax]

I know it's not Noir, but if you want a serious adventure (3rd person) have you played the Moment of Silence?

And I know you don't really want 1st person but I should have mentioned Post Mortem, the prequel to Still Life. Despite its drawbacks, this is the most fun I had in ages. The story and atmosphere is top notch. I just got into De Allepin's house and it's beautifully eerie. I was slightly tense as I went up the stairs.

BTW what is it that people like from Noir stories so much? They're usually so cliched. Many are fun but I couldn't play/ watch/ read too many of them.

[Marian]

Originally Posted by Terramax

Am I right in saying that there is no known way to play Noir : A Shadowy thriller on XP? This is what I've heard and why I haven't bought it.

You are correct. Unless you want to install Virtual PC and run it through that. You'd need to install Windows 95 or Windows 98 in Virtual PC, though, first, before it would run.

[Orange Brat]

In addition to what's been said...also some of these might be in production, as well as might not be pure adventures:

Grim Fandango
L.A. Noire - consoles - in development
Sadness - Nintendo Wii - in development
Hotel Dusk - Nintendo DS - brilliant game
The Disenfranchised - my own game, I haven't announced it yet but it's a black and white non-comic Noir game - PC only
Adventures in Purgatory - in development and made with Torque: http://www.garagegames.com/mg/snapsh...w.php?qid=1040
The Late Call - in development and made with Unity: http://www.bydesigngames.com/tlc/index.html

There's also a new Phillip Marlowe film set in the 40s (starring Clive Owen and complete with narration) and a TV series set in modern times. There's supposedly some movement on the games with the Marlowe character, and it's perfect for a series of games ala Nancy Drew or Agatha Christie. That might be a potential one to look out for.

[rtrooney]

The two "Noir-est" I've ever played are Black Dahlia and Still Life. The former is much more puzzle oriented, and, at times will drive you to distraction. There is an excellent WT for BD. At times it is necessary just to move on.

SL is very good, but a bit easier on the puzzles. And let's not forget Scratches, which I think fits the genre as well.