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Review of Voodoo Detective by Doom

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Rating by Doom posted on Jun 14, 2022 | edit | delete


A Guybrush-inspired casual adventure about detectives and voodoo


Voodoo Detective is a very charming comedy game that could’ve been so much more. Having finished it in two sits, I got stuck only once on a surreal puzzle and then a bit more on a parody mini-game of sorts, also strangely out of place. This inconsistency could be seen in everything, from story to jokes to the general tone of the game, you can never be sure which direction it will take next.

At it’s core Voodoo Detective plays as a casual adventure, albeit heavily influenced by the LucasArts catalogue. The goals are clear, the puzzles are mostly straightforward and inventory-based. The one-button point-n-click interface and the lack of hot spots make it even easier to solve. It breaks my heart to think how criminally underused are those detailed locations reminiscent of Curse of Monkey Island which could’ve been stuffed with interactive objects and puzzles. Instead the local tavern or a graveyard, for example, are used only once or twice to solve a fetch quest or cast a spell.

Still I applause some unorthodox uses of items and voodoo spells in particular. Speaking of which, the Grammy’s book of Voodoo was a neat idea, a mix of potion cooking from Kyrandia 2 and voodoo doll making from Monkey Island 2. The spells vary from simple sleeping/love potions to a spell that frees our soul and moves it to another dimension. Alas, the game allows us to make each spell only once and only when it serves our current goal (then again, Kyrandia 2 had similar design and nobody blamed it for that).

I also found the game quite amusing, and some moments felt so silly that just thinking of them makes me smile again, like the - already infamous - toilet handle puzzle along with the toilet boy who takes his job too seriously. Or the captain of the ship where the most influential locals conduct their meetings who looks and acts like the most cliched stereotypical dirty pirate they could’ve come up with. Or a scene inside one of the hotel rooms… Those sort of “Wait, what?” moments worked better on me than many visual gags - and there’s no shortage of those, they are just too childish.

Detective himself was a solid and pretty unique character, and the music numbers that involved him were wonderful. That’s right, he is carrying a harmonica in his pocket and he is not afraid to use it. Always wanted a hero who can play musical instrument on occasions, and here it is even an essential part of some puzzles! Music in general and voice acting in particular are of very high standards, it’s always great to find so much quality in a modern adventure. The game feels like it could use a sequel or two, I just wish more effort will be put into the game design next time around.


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Time Played: 5-10 hours
Difficulty: Easy

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