Hector: Badge of Carnage
Encyclopedia
Hector: Badge of Carnage is a trilogy of point-and-click adventure games
produced by Straandlooper
, an animation studio / developer based in Northern Ireland
, and Telltale Games
. It is based on the adventures of the character Hector: Fat Arse of the Law, a hard-nosed and soft-bellied Detective Inspector with the Clapper's Wreake Police Service. Episode 1 of the trilogy is entitled 'We Negotiate with Terrorists' and was released for Apple's iPhone
and iPod Touch
devices in June 3, 2010, Windows and Mac OS X
on April 27, 2011, and the Apple iPad
on May 12, 2011.
After completing the errands, Hector returns to find the terrorist rejoicing over his success in fixing the town - and continuing his list of demands, much to the force's chagrin. Hector then attempts to infiltrate the building by taking the job of delivering food for the hostages. Upon entering the building, he finds nothing but a laptop connected to a sniper rifle, which promptly turns around and aims at him. The first episode ends with a cliffhanger as the police outside only hear a gunshot coming from the building.
wearing a device turning it into a ravaging beast upon hearing a simple five-note bell jingle. After deducing that Barnsley probably wants to strike the town with a bio-chemical attack (using a chemical called Arsenol, which turns creatures feral), they quickly fix a nearby combine harvester
to hitch a ride back to town. Upon arriving to "Clapfest", the local fair, and entering Lambert to the weirdo-contest to gain access to the stage PA, they're told that the town clock's new jingle will be unveiled at 10 o'clock: the same 5 note jingle (B-A-D-G-E, which causes Hector to realise the "Who Cares?" badges the entire town is wearing are the chemical bombs) that triggered the badger kill-crazy. Hector infiltrates the clock tower and corners Barnsley, who has a dead man's switch
on the detonator, and reveals that he forced Hector to blow up the local porn shop (in Episode 1) to be able to utilize a large vibrator
which he uses to amplify the bell sound. After distracting Barnsley, Hector plants an explosive extracted from the clockmaster's skull to blow the clocktower up before the last note is played. Barnsley, however, reveals an enormous inflatable castle
filled with Arsenol, which Hector eventually fills with helium and sets free to keep it far away from town. When Barnsley escapes by riding the flying castle, and takes Lambert hostage, Hector takes the giant vibrator and shoots the castle down with it utilizing a giant pair of underpants. The Arsenol in the castle turns Lambert into a giant raging monster, while Barnsley swallows the antidote, which Hector recovers after forcing Barnsley to regurgitate it. Hector then turns Lambert back into his normal self, and launches Barnsley out of a carousel, after which he's devoured by the psycho-badger Hector encountered earlier.
, and released for multiple platforms. The first episode was converted to the Telltale Tool and released for PC and Mac on April 27, 2011. An iPad release followed on May 12, 2011. The remaining two episodes were released in the fall.
Graphic adventure game
A graphic adventure game is a form of adventure game. They are distinct from text adventures. Whereas a player must actively observe using commands such as "look" in a text-based adventure, graphic adventures revolutionized gameplay by making use of natural human perception...
produced by Straandlooper
Straandlooper
Straandlooper is an animation studio and video game developer based in Northern Ireland. They developed the episodic video game for iPhone, Hector: Badge of Carnage which is based on their character Hector: Fat Arse of the Law. Straandlooper is notable for being the first company where Telltale...
, an animation studio / developer based in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, and Telltale Games
Telltale Games
Telltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
. It is based on the adventures of the character Hector: Fat Arse of the Law, a hard-nosed and soft-bellied Detective Inspector with the Clapper's Wreake Police Service. Episode 1 of the trilogy is entitled 'We Negotiate with Terrorists' and was released for Apple's iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
devices in June 3, 2010, Windows and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
on April 27, 2011, and the Apple iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
on May 12, 2011.
Characters
- Hector : Fat Arse of the Law, is a hard nosed and soft bellied Detective Inspector with the Clappers Wreake Police Department. Violent, drunken, vulgar, with an unhealthy taste for all things criminal, corrupt or smothered in curry sauce. His philosophy is 'Everyone is Guilty'. Hector struggles to eliminate the plague of warped, perverse killers infesting the damp, sweaty corners of Clappers Wreake, crime capital of England, and the town that took the 'Great' out of Britain.
- Lambert, is a enduring, thick as a stick assistant to DI Hector.
- Meeks, Chief SuperintendentChief SuperintendentChief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces organised on the British model.- United Kingdom :In the British police, a chief superintendent is senior to a superintendent and junior to an assistant chief constable .The highest rank below Chief Officer level, chief...
and Hector's boss.
- Jarvis, Assistant to Meeks.
Episode 1: We Negotiate with Terrorists
Hector is an overweight, crude, alcoholic cop, who gets called for duty one day after a terrorist has taken hostages in a building of a small Midlands town of Clappers Wreake, and proceeded to kill off a number of hostage negotiators with a sniper rifle. After freeing himself from a holding cell with a hangover and resurrecting his bucket-of-bolts duty vehicle, he arrives on the scene and enters negotiations with the perpetrator: The terrorist, apparently appalled by the depths Clappers Wreake has sunk to, blames the police for the dismal state of the town, and wants Hector to run errands in attempt to polish the neighborhood up. These errands include fixing the town clock, providing a large sum of donation to the Clappers Wreake Preservation Society tourist information desk, and shutting down a pornography store. Hector reluctantly agrees, after finding out that after the Policeman's Ball budget has eaten into the hostage negotiation funds, the police can no longer fund ransoms.After completing the errands, Hector returns to find the terrorist rejoicing over his success in fixing the town - and continuing his list of demands, much to the force's chagrin. Hector then attempts to infiltrate the building by taking the job of delivering food for the hostages. Upon entering the building, he finds nothing but a laptop connected to a sniper rifle, which promptly turns around and aims at him. The first episode ends with a cliffhanger as the police outside only hear a gunshot coming from the building.
Episode 2: Senseless Acts of Justice
Hector, having survived the sentry sniper rifle's shot, quickly tricks the rifle into shooting the laptop, hence disarming it. However, when leaving the room, he encounters copious amounts of explosives which immediately blow the building up. The armed forces outside briefly commemorate him, and promptly leave. Lambert, refusing to give up, gets in contact with Hector and the two proceed to blow the building's sewage pipe up to get Hector out of the rubble. After collecting a variety of physical evidence, Hector sets off to track down his clues, during which process he burns down a church-turned-strip-club and slips an entire restaurant the roofies. He eventually finds a postal slip in the supposed terrorist's home with the initials B.N., and when opening a package that contains a shipment of Clappers Wreake Preservation Society "Who Cares?" badges, finally realizes the identity of the terrorist: Barnsley Noble, the founder of the Clappers Wreake Preservation Society, who he had to help out financially in the previous episode. When Lambert and Hector arrive to Barnsley's previous location outside the park, they find an open manhole cover. After they descend, they find Barnsley secret plans and a ringing phone. Upon answering the phone, Barnsley knocks both of them out cold from behind.Episode 3: Beyond Reasonable Doom
Hector and Lambert wake up in a large septic-tank-turned-death-trap set by Barnsley. After escaping, they come upon a laboratory, where they observe a common badgerBadger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
wearing a device turning it into a ravaging beast upon hearing a simple five-note bell jingle. After deducing that Barnsley probably wants to strike the town with a bio-chemical attack (using a chemical called Arsenol, which turns creatures feral), they quickly fix a nearby combine harvester
Combine harvester
The combine harvester, or simply combine, is a machine that harvests grain crops. The name derives from the fact that it combines three separate operations, reaping, threshing, and winnowing, into a single process. Among the crops harvested with a combine are wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn ,...
to hitch a ride back to town. Upon arriving to "Clapfest", the local fair, and entering Lambert to the weirdo-contest to gain access to the stage PA, they're told that the town clock's new jingle will be unveiled at 10 o'clock: the same 5 note jingle (B-A-D-G-E, which causes Hector to realise the "Who Cares?" badges the entire town is wearing are the chemical bombs) that triggered the badger kill-crazy. Hector infiltrates the clock tower and corners Barnsley, who has a dead man's switch
Dead man's switch
A dead man's switch is a switch that is automatically operated in case the human operator becomes incapacitated, such as through death or loss of consciousness....
on the detonator, and reveals that he forced Hector to blow up the local porn shop (in Episode 1) to be able to utilize a large vibrator
Vibrator (sex toy)
Vibrators are devices for the body and skin, to stimulate the nerves for a relaxing and pleasurable feeling. Some vibrators are designed to ergonomically stimulate erogenous zones for erotic stimulation.-History:...
which he uses to amplify the bell sound. After distracting Barnsley, Hector plants an explosive extracted from the clockmaster's skull to blow the clocktower up before the last note is played. Barnsley, however, reveals an enormous inflatable castle
Inflatable castle
Inflatable castles are temporary inflatable structures and buildings and similar items that are rented for functions, school and church festivals and village fetes and used for recreational purposes, mainly used by children. The growth in popularity of moonwalks has led to an inflatable rental...
filled with Arsenol, which Hector eventually fills with helium and sets free to keep it far away from town. When Barnsley escapes by riding the flying castle, and takes Lambert hostage, Hector takes the giant vibrator and shoots the castle down with it utilizing a giant pair of underpants. The Arsenol in the castle turns Lambert into a giant raging monster, while Barnsley swallows the antidote, which Hector recovers after forcing Barnsley to regurgitate it. Hector then turns Lambert back into his normal self, and launches Barnsley out of a carousel, after which he's devoured by the psycho-badger Hector encountered earlier.
Reviews
The response to the first instalment of the Hector : Badge of Carnage trilogy of games has been extremely positive. The game has consistently been one of the best selling adventure games on the App Store and has an average customer rating of 4.5 Stars with over 500 reviews to date. The response from gaming review sites has also been very positive. Andrew Podolsky from SlideToPlay said: 'Stellar cutscenes; witty dialogue; edgy and original adventure game',. AppSafari gave the game 5 out of 5 in their review, commenting that “Hector is the gleefully unrefined anti-hero of one of the best point-and-click adventure games in the App Store.”. AdventureGamers.com also reviewed the game - “Stylish art and animation; fun puzzles; excellent production qualities all around; genuinely funny.". AppModo continued the praise by saying that Hector : Badge of Carnage was: “A game that physically cannot be missed to iPod and iPhone users. It is puzzling, one of the funniest games on the App Store.” . However, non-English players complain about the subtitles in the first episode, as they are not present in the intro and cutscenes but only during the game. The characters speak with an accent which is difficult to understand without subtitiles in case English is not the main language of the player.Development
The game was developed by Dean Burke and Kevin Beimers at Straandlooper Animation studios in Northern Ireland. All voices in the game are provided by producer Richard Morss.Future development
In February 2011, it was revealed that the trilogy would be completed by Telltale GamesTelltale Games
Telltale Games is a leading independent digital first publisher and game developer founded in June 2004 as Telltale, Incorporated. Based in San Rafael, California, the studio includes designers formerly employed by LucasArts...
, and released for multiple platforms. The first episode was converted to the Telltale Tool and released for PC and Mac on April 27, 2011. An iPad release followed on May 12, 2011. The remaining two episodes were released in the fall.