Chicken Police: Into the Hive!

Chicken Police: Into the HIVE! lets you lead a thrilling police investigation—and what’s more, it sets it against colorful backdrops and within its own unique world. At the same time, it piles one bearded cliché on top of another, but it does so so consistently and with such passion that you’ll want to turn off your inner critic and simply enjoy the well-told story… because this is a damn good detective story.

You won’t soon forget the story and the way it’s told, and “Into the HIVE!” is one of the best narrative games I’ve played, bar none. It’s a dense game with a pretty sizable playtime (more than 10 hours) and you’ll get a heaping serving of story with a side of gameplay.

Chicken Police: Into the Hive has some particularly charming characters and great visuals, but is slightly let down by the overall story.

The game itself costs £21. Would I buy it? No. I actually think the price point is a bit high for what it is. Yes, it is a fully voice-acted point-and-click game. But when I think of games such as Stray Gods, that have simple mechanics but a phenomenal voice cast, that isn’t enough. In terms of being a story driven, film-noir detective point-and-click adventure, Chicken Police: Into The HIVE! does just that. Perhaps too much by the book. I wanted to have fun with this game. Come on it’s animals doing people things, of course I did! I had visions of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Zootropolis mixed together into a perfect point-and-click game. But that’s not what I got. In forming their vision, I feel as though the developers lost their sense of fun along the way. I award Chicken Police: Into The HIVE! a Thumb Culture Silver Award.

In the end, Chicken Police: Into the Hive is a thrilling sequel to Chicken Police: Paint it Red. If you play the game without playing the original, there are some key moments referenced that will leave you feeling confused, however, the game does a decent enough job quickly glancing over it to not take you out of the overall experience.

Chicken Police: Into the HIVE! is one of the games that those who love detective games should check out. Those who like the first game will definitely like this one. Those who have not played the first game can also step into the World of Wilderness universe with this game. It seems like we will see more games set in Wilderness.

With a grim mystery, vividly violent world, interesting side quests and minigames, impressively real animal characters, and multiple endings to experience, you’ll struggle to put Into the Hive down once you pick it up. The story of Into the Hive is fresh enough to stand on its own, but with endless ties back to the first game between characters and references, the experience of playing both weaves together a horrifically beautiful story of inequality, crime, and style that sticks with you long past the ending.

A grim, depressing noir story about Chickens and Insects that you wish would never end.

Chicken Police: Into the HIVE! (title drop) is just like its predecessor a very successful point & click. The atmosphere, the world and the humor are fantastic and the mystery is captivating enough to keep you glued to the screen for the almost eight hours. I enjoyed myself immensely with the antics of Santino and Martin. If developer The Wild Gentlemen makes a sequel, I will once again be at the front of the line.

With Chicken Police: Into the HIVE!, The Wild Gentlemen once again masterfully deliver a film-noir detective experience with intriguing animal-headed characters, and while the game is relatively short at five to six hours with limited interrogation opportunities, it’s a must-play—even if you don’t usually go for visual novels—thanks to its fantastic music and superb voice acting that draw you into the story, making it hard to stop until the credits roll.