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Insecticide (video game)
Encyclopedia
Insecticide is a story-driven action-adventure
game by Crackpot Entertainment and published by Gamecock Media Group
for Nintendo DS
, and Windows
. The game takes place in the crime-ridden city of Troi in a world where insects have evolved into the dominate life form and humans have degenerated into "hominids." The story follows two police officer
s from the Insecticide
Division (a pun on homicide
) as they try to solve the murder at the Nectarola soft drink
company. The game incorporates fast shooter elements as well as being able to conduct investigations and interrogation
s.
The game was the brainchild of Mike Levine and Larry Ahern, two former and longtime employees of LucasArts
best known for their contributions to that company's library of classic graphic adventure titles. They are among many LucasArts adventure alumni, including artists, designers, sound engineers and composers, that comprise the game's team. The LucasArts legacy is clearly evident in Insecticide's detective missions, which are designed as miniature graphic adventures complete with inventory puzzles and dialog trees. Much of the writing and design for these segments of the game are credited to Josh Mandel, veteran of Sierra Entertainment
who worked on the King's Quest, Police Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry series among others.
The PC version was to be released as two downloadable episodes with a retail version following soon afterward, but the second episode never materialized due to Gamecock being acquired by SouthPeak Games in 2008 and the latter deciding to cancel the inherited title. "Part 1" had been released by Gamecock through digital distribution channels like Steam, Gametap and Direct2Drive, with Part 2 well into development. Southpeak did, however, publish a retail version of the first episode as part of their "PC Classics" budget line in early 2010.
By comparison to the heavily scaled down Nintendo DS port, the PC version features full in-game voice acting and all of the FMV cinematics, some of which had to be transformed into captioned "slide show" format or removed altogether for the handheld counterpart. In order to complete the story for PC gamers, Crackpot expressed a desire to upload the cinematics for Part 2 on their official Youtube page, but so far only the cutscenes from Part 1 are up.
Prior to the game's troubled release, Crackpot stated that they were interested in developing a sequel and even expanding the Insecticide franchise to another medium such as an animated series.
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
game by Crackpot Entertainment and published by Gamecock Media Group
Gamecock Media Group
Gamecock Media Group was a video game publisher based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2007 by video game industry veterans Mike Wilson, Harry Miller, and Rick Stults, original founders of Gathering of Developers. They used a more hands-off approach and allowed developers creative freedom with...
for Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. The game takes place in the crime-ridden city of Troi in a world where insects have evolved into the dominate life form and humans have degenerated into "hominids." The story follows two police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
s from the Insecticide
Insecticide
An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind...
Division (a pun on homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
) as they try to solve the murder at the Nectarola soft drink
Soft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
company. The game incorporates fast shooter elements as well as being able to conduct investigations and interrogation
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
s.
The game was the brainchild of Mike Levine and Larry Ahern, two former and longtime employees of LucasArts
LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
best known for their contributions to that company's library of classic graphic adventure titles. They are among many LucasArts adventure alumni, including artists, designers, sound engineers and composers, that comprise the game's team. The LucasArts legacy is clearly evident in Insecticide's detective missions, which are designed as miniature graphic adventures complete with inventory puzzles and dialog trees. Much of the writing and design for these segments of the game are credited to Josh Mandel, veteran of Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
who worked on the King's Quest, Police Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry series among others.
The PC version was to be released as two downloadable episodes with a retail version following soon afterward, but the second episode never materialized due to Gamecock being acquired by SouthPeak Games in 2008 and the latter deciding to cancel the inherited title. "Part 1" had been released by Gamecock through digital distribution channels like Steam, Gametap and Direct2Drive, with Part 2 well into development. Southpeak did, however, publish a retail version of the first episode as part of their "PC Classics" budget line in early 2010.
By comparison to the heavily scaled down Nintendo DS port, the PC version features full in-game voice acting and all of the FMV cinematics, some of which had to be transformed into captioned "slide show" format or removed altogether for the handheld counterpart. In order to complete the story for PC gamers, Crackpot expressed a desire to upload the cinematics for Part 2 on their official Youtube page, but so far only the cutscenes from Part 1 are up.
Prior to the game's troubled release, Crackpot stated that they were interested in developing a sequel and even expanding the Insecticide franchise to another medium such as an animated series.
Characters
- Detective Chrys Liszt: The protagonist and playable character of the game. She is Roachy's partner. She regards everyone with suspicion after a hard life on the streets, relying on her street-smarts, grit, and intelligence. Her name is a pun on chrysalis.
- Detective Roachy Caruthers: Chrys's partner. Roachy has served on the police department for 30 years, and is one of the veterans of the department. He's been shot 47 times in the line of duty.
- Chief Chigger: He's described as the typical screaming, over the top, always-upset police chief, but with a few more limbs to wave around. He has been on the force longer than anyone can remember, and got Roachy to recruit new officers.
- Detective Eugene Grubbowski
- Detective Hexelrod Bloombug