Loco Motive Review
It feels a bit rote to compare modern point-and-click games to the pantheon of releases that was LucasArts’ output in the 90s. Yes, the pixel art is there and so are the obtuse item puzzles – and yet I can’t help but feel like of all the modern point-and-click adventures I’ve played, Loco Motive genuinely feels like it could’ve been conceived and created sometime in the era of Full Throttle and Grim Fandango.
Loco Motive is the rollicking tale of three souls on a luxury train, who become embroiled in the investigation of a high-profile murder. We start the game with the dorky himbo Arthur before moving on to the other characters – haughty and slightly annoying detective novel writer Herman, and the mysterious yet resourceful lady in white, Diana.
I’m making an effort here to not give away the narrative structure of the game. It has been carefully put together, combining the stories of the three protagonists, and revealing any more than I already have would reduce the charm and surprise that comes with peeling back the many mysteries Loco Motive offers.
Contrary to the innovative and ambitious storytelling, the gameplay in Loco Motive is as classic point-and-click as it gets. You must solve puzzles to progress, which come as a combination of talking to characters, picking up and combining items, and using items or giving them to characters. The interface to do all this is streamlined, leaving you to think about how best to take advantage of the game’s cartoon logic.
In the eternal pendulum swing between ‘easy’ intuitive puzzles and ‘difficult’ obtuse puzzles, Loco Motive firmly latches onto the latter side. While much of the game is sensible and satisfying to solve, a handful of puzzles do require out-of-the-box thinking, and for one or two puzzles, you’d might as well take a train ride as far away from the box as you can.
Of course, we’re no longer in the 1990s now. Being stuck on a puzzle in a point-and-click adventure no longer means racking your brain for weeks or consulting other players. Walkthroughs outside the game abound, but what’s even better is that the game includes a diegetic helpline that your characters can consult to get ideas on how to solve puzzles.
My playthrough of Loco Motive’s release build was peppered with bugs that affected the visuals and environment, and even some story continuity. I imagine these are being fixed as I write this, and perhaps many have already been fixed since release. I only bring up these technical bugs to contrast Robust Games’ expertise in presentation and design for their debut title.
Once the bugs have been fixed, though (or even before then!), it will be apparent that Loco Motive is a modern classic in its point-and-click niche. It’s a little longer than many other games of its ilk, but its many characters and delightfully charming pixel art animations held my interest throughout without any pacing issues to mention. While its humour wasn’t as laugh-out-loud as I expected, it certainly keeps up a baseline of pleasant bonhomie that is accentuated by several highs in the latter half of the game.
It might take a while to get going, but if you keep on with this train-set adventure, you’re likely to finish on a high note, with adoration for its trio of protagonists, and the satisfaction of a mystery well-solved.
Developer: Robust Games
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Publisher: Chucklefish
Release Date: November 21, 2024 (PC, Switch)
This review is based on a copy of the game provided by the publisher. The PC version of Loco Motive was played for this review.
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