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BORN PUNK (PC)
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Publisher: Insert Disk 22.
Developer: Insert Disk 22. Released: June 2022. Genre: Point 'n' Click. Posted 2nd August 2022. By Tom Clare © 2022 |
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Pixel art cyberpunk adventures have become an increasingly common sight over the last few years. Blurry cityscapes and dreamy, pink neons populate what are often-merciless societies, typically characterised by a corporate dictatorship. The style has come to embody a curiously specific gaming niche, an alluring mix of danger and nostalgia. There can be no denying that Born Punk walks a very familiar path with its themes and its inspirations. However, when a point ‘n’ click manages to fuse so effective its story and its setting, that’s nothing to grumble about.
It isn’t perfect, there are a small handful of puzzles that demand obscure trains of logic and consequently don’t quite click. Otherwise, there’s little to fault Insert Disk 22’s stellar point ‘n’ click offering. It gets the basics right and does more or less everything to a very decent standard. Born Punk sells its aesthetic through excellent art design. It brings its characters to life with strong writing and top-notch voicing. It succeeds in its storytelling by joining together a likeably dysfunctional trio of protagonists, successfully uniting the threads of their disparate endeavours.
Every location will feel incredibly inviting for point 'n' click fans, there's loads of detail and a number of neat references too
Playing initially as Eevi, things begin in Snatcher territory, with the bleary-eyed cyber rebel shaking off a hangover at her apartment. Granted, it takes a couple of scenes to warm to her: a borderline obsession with boozing is nothing too ill-fitting for such a figure, but it rather drowns out anything enlightening she has to offer as you comb over her apartment. Things pick up very quickly, however. Eevi can be insightful at times, but it's her oddball observations and unpredictable behaviour that regularly raise a smile. Linsay Rousseau’s voicing is a big plus, able to draw out empathetic, humourous and relatable aspects in Eevi.
As the story expands, she’s joined by Mariposa, a high-flying CEO within the Mitsotomo organisation and an android known as Grand Master Flashdrive. Eevi and Mariposa are an ideal foil for one another: opposites in circumstance, yet a mirror of one another’s stubborn belligerence. GMF is the wildcard in the pack. There’s no one like him in gaming. An android afflicted with the vocal patterns, dress sense and general demeanour of a nineties wannabee gangsta, he’s pure gaming gold. Though Flash is entirely disdained by more or less every entity he happens across, his hilarious observations and brilliant voicing make for a character who’s almost impossible not to like. As such, he’s the perfect light-relief amongst heavier themes.
As the story expands, she’s joined by Mariposa, a high-flying CEO within the Mitsotomo organisation and an android known as Grand Master Flashdrive. Eevi and Mariposa are an ideal foil for one another: opposites in circumstance, yet a mirror of one another’s stubborn belligerence. GMF is the wildcard in the pack. There’s no one like him in gaming. An android afflicted with the vocal patterns, dress sense and general demeanour of a nineties wannabee gangsta, he’s pure gaming gold. Though Flash is entirely disdained by more or less every entity he happens across, his hilarious observations and brilliant voicing make for a character who’s almost impossible not to like. As such, he’s the perfect light-relief amongst heavier themes.
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The controls are compact and intuitive. It’s all on the mouse: left-click to interact with objects, right-click to look at them. Rolling the middle-mouse presents either an inventory bar or a detailed compendium of Born Punk’s universe, which can be expanded upon with new tidbits, by combing through each area thoroughly.
One of the game’s biggest triumphs is its graphics. Insert Disk 22 have captured the essence of a nineties point ‘n’ click to a tee. Born Punk’s colourful text and the plethora of neat animations that accompany every scene, evoke comparisons with The Secret of Monkey Island. Every screen is a pleasure to explore, whether it’s the grubby sewers, the highly-exclusive Glashuset restaurant with its concurrent anime convention, or the trippy cyberspace sequences. A swathe of little details proves instrumental in bringing Bornholm to life and whilst each location has its own vibe, the depth of quality doesn’t fluctuate. The junk floating along the glass walls in Free Finland’s sewer hideout; the human-hating cleaning bots found around the streets and sewers; wildlife that roams the foregrounds and the flying vehicles and blimps seen off in the distance. There’s tonnes to pour over and at times, Born Punk is a joy to explore.
One of the game’s biggest triumphs is its graphics. Insert Disk 22 have captured the essence of a nineties point ‘n’ click to a tee. Born Punk’s colourful text and the plethora of neat animations that accompany every scene, evoke comparisons with The Secret of Monkey Island. Every screen is a pleasure to explore, whether it’s the grubby sewers, the highly-exclusive Glashuset restaurant with its concurrent anime convention, or the trippy cyberspace sequences. A swathe of little details proves instrumental in bringing Bornholm to life and whilst each location has its own vibe, the depth of quality doesn’t fluctuate. The junk floating along the glass walls in Free Finland’s sewer hideout; the human-hating cleaning bots found around the streets and sewers; wildlife that roams the foregrounds and the flying vehicles and blimps seen off in the distance. There’s tonnes to pour over and at times, Born Punk is a joy to explore.
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The more you play, the more you get sucked in. One or two puzzles do act as a bit of a roadblock, though. To help work out a six-digit code for a safe within the On the Ragnarocks bar, you’re given a clue that appears to read “Sigma 37”. Cue a great deal of skimming through the encyclopedia of Bornholm, checking and double-checking scenery to find something to link to either symbol or numbers. The problem is, Sigma also represents “sum” in mathematics. Having recently finished a university maths module, this was still beyond my understanding. Towards the end of the adventure, there’s a creative puzzle that sees GMF assembling a multi-track beat to match an AI entity’s descriptions. This is a very clever idea, though far more awkward in practice than it perhaps seemed in theory.
These are not game-breaking issues, however, and it’s worth noting that a few scenarios offer alternative means for beating them. The aforementioned safe code, for example, can be bypassed with Eevi’s hacking tool, should she end up bricking the system with incorrect guesses. She can also opt to confront corporate guards at the bar, or flee via the roof, leading to some alternative cut-scenes. These branching possibilities, alongside a sizeable range of dialogue options, mean the game has a surprising degree of replay value up its sleeve.
These are not game-breaking issues, however, and it’s worth noting that a few scenarios offer alternative means for beating them. The aforementioned safe code, for example, can be bypassed with Eevi’s hacking tool, should she end up bricking the system with incorrect guesses. She can also opt to confront corporate guards at the bar, or flee via the roof, leading to some alternative cut-scenes. These branching possibilities, alongside a sizeable range of dialogue options, mean the game has a surprising degree of replay value up its sleeve.
There are so many interactions to be found and they're well worth it, thanks to the depth of the script and the accompanying voice performances
A couple of sticky moments aside, Born Punk comes together as a high-quality adventure. Fans of nineties point ‘n’ clicks will adore the creativity of its puzzles and the vivacity with which Bornholm is realised. It’s refreshing to see a multi-strand story come together so tidily in time for an excellent final act. As a consequence, it all comes together in a satisfying narrative and gameplay experience, one that’s well worth seeking out. Born Punk offers compelling evidence the point ‘n’ click genre still has a place at gaming’s top table.
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VERDICT
"there’s little to fault Insert Disk 22’s stellar point 'n' click offering... An excellent setting, likeable characters and consistent, high-quality design means it's one that's well worth seeking out." OVERALL: 8/10 |