Buck Bradley: Comic Adventure

I have a curious relationship with point and click adventure games. On the one hand, I find the narrative puzzling to be quite intriguing and oftentimes genuinely rather fun. However, many fall into the trap of being obnoxiously obtuse. It doesn’t matter how fantastic your world is, getting a moustache from a donkey or stuffing a pulley into a rubber chicken will always be infuriating.

It’s nice to see a point and click game that contains some interesting puzzles that don’t require moon logic to work out – all wrapped up in a rather wonderful comic book artstyle.

Many thanks to RedDeerGames for the review code.

COMICS ZONE
Buck Bradley puts you in control of the titular hero, who is questing across a post apocalyptic world looking for a way to make his girlfriend Ciroki human again, after an unfortunate incident resulted in her transforming into a mutant by a toxic cloud.

You see, pollution reached such high levels that the toxicity started not only destroying the environment, but also turning various creatures and people into monsters. Whilst the game is set in the fictional Terrastramba, it’s quite clearly holding a mirror up to our own world. Much like Pendula Swing (also published by RedDeerGames), it deals with these important issues quite well. Whilst it’s hardly subtle, it also doesn’t feel preachy either.

The story progresses at a nice steady rate until you reach the credits, although unfortunately this is where you realise that the game doesn’t tell the complete tale. There’s a clear final destination to the story arc, yet the game never gets anywhere close to it, instead just ending out of the blue with a ‘to be continued screen’. It’s rather disappointing, especially as there is a second part on Steam, which I had assumed would be part of the overall Switch package.

BUCKING THE TREND
As a point and click adventure, you’ll be doing everything you’d expect to do from the genre: picking up and using items from your inventory, talking to people, and wandering around various locations wondering what the hell to do next. Navigation is done by either double clicking parts of the screen, which will then lead to new areas, or by using the arrows that can appear on the sides of some frames. The former works pretty well, even if some areas aren’t very clear; although the latter can be problematic at times. The arrows aren’t labelled, so I often found myself moving to unintended areas.

Where Buck Bradley sets itself apart from the rest is with its comic book presentation, with each area being presented in a central ‘window’. Whilst it may seem disappointing that the game screen has been limited to a portion of the screen, it actually helps sell the feeling that you are playing an interactive comic book – especially during cutscenes that flip between the different images. Everything looks really good too, with everything having a very cohesive art style that makes you wonder if it’s based on a real comic. Even the accompanying music is all very whimsical, adding to the lighthearted feel.

One area where the game does stumble is with the writing. The story itself is pretty solid, but the dialogue tends to be rather questionable at times. Part of it is due to the constant humour that tends to be more miss than hit, but the real `problem is that Buck is just so damn unlikeable. It’s not that he’s quite cowardly – in fact, that’s actually a common trope for the genre – but he actually has some quite questionable morals. From hitting on every woman he sees (in front of the girlfriend that he’s trying to save), to frequently wanting to leave people in trouble, you never really seem to like the guy. On top of that, some of the conversations only have a few possible things to say, making it seem like interacting with people was more of an afterthought.

Despite those issues, the world really does have its charm as you keep playing, and the puzzles are really well designed, as they all have their own reasonable logic to them. Need a tooth? That guy with the pristine teeth seems like a good candidate. How about breaking his teeth somehow? That strapping cowboy who has the hots for his girlfriend seems like he could also prove handy. Things tend to fit well, and rarely have you thinking ‘how the heck was I supposed to figure that out?’. There are exceptions, particularly when trying to converse with the mutant dolphins, but overall the puzzles are what kept me interested in seeing the game through. If you do get stuck, there’s a ‘hint’ system; however, it’s not quite perfect as it tends to just tell you what to do instead of nudging you in the right direction. Unfortunate, perhaps, but at least it will help you overcome any roadblocks you may encounter.

But then we arrive back at the problem mentioned at the start of the review: this is not a game, but only part of one. Not only does the game end suddenly before it even feels like it has begun, but there are sequences and characters that seem important but appear only fleetingly. One notable example is a woman whose car you load with gas, only for him to comment that he’s sure he’ll meet her again… only he never does. I’m sure these characters will make an appearance in subsequent parts, but they give you the impression that the developers ran out of either time or money and had to cut the game short. If the game had its own arc as part of a larger story, and if it lasted longer than an hour, the experience would be worthy in its own right. As it stands though, it leaves you wanting the rest. Sure, you can purchase the next part on other platforms, but if you want to experience the story on the Switch then you could be waiting a while.

Buck Bradley: Comic Adventure nails the puzzle part of the genre, but stumbles a little on the writing. An unlikeable protagonist and an unfinished story let down what is otherwise a fun experience in an intriguing world. I certainly am eager to continue the story in part two, so hopefully it arrives before I forget what happened in this first part. Fans of the genre should enjoy their time with the game, but they may want to wait until they have access to the full story.