Duck Approved
If you’re hunting for a game about a hard-boiled detective, with addiction problems, trying to crack a sinister case while on holiday, that also happens to have a dedicated quack button. You are going to love Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping
If you ever wondered what Disney’s Police Squad would be like, then Happy Broccoli’s Duck Detective series is probably the closest you’re likely to get.
After solving the case of The Secret Salami, players are once again placed in the fashonably webbed feet of Eugene McQuacklin, the notorious Duck Detective. After being dragged on a mini break to play wingman to his long-suffering roommate Feddie, our hapless hero is soon faced with the herculean task of tracking down, ummm. Three missing camp chairs and a table, and finding out who in their right kind would date Freddie voluntarily!
This being Duck Detective, though, things escalate quickly, and before our pond-loving PI can quack (by pressing Y), he runs afoul of a far greater mystery involving stolen state secrets, blackmail, and a brush with the supernatural.
To get to the bottom of the ghastly goings-on at this ghoulish glamping site, McQuacklin springs into action by interviewing subjects, gathering clues, and making Deducktions in his handy journal.
It’s then just a simple case of fill in the blanks with a list of words gained by talking to other characters and examining evidence. There’s a little bit of trial and error involved sometimes, but most aren’t too hard to put together once you’ve figured out the thread of McQuacklin’s thoughts.
There is a hint system available too for if you’re completely stumped, and you can also flick between story and sleuth mode, with the former telling exactly which words you haven;t got right, while the latter is more vague stating you have two or three (or more) words incorrect somewhere in the passage.
But like I said, most aren’t that hard to solve, especially if you’re paying attention, the overarching mystery, although sometimes telegraphed a bit too much, does do a great job of drawing you in over the Ghost of Glamping’s fairly brief run time, and it manages to ride a fine line between handing out little surprises and making you feel clever for figuring out where the plot is going ahead of time.
The simple yet effective gameplay is backed by a razor-sharp script and charming presentation. The whole cast is rendered in Paper Mario-style cut-out sprites hopping around the environment to the sounds of a smooth jazz soundtrack, which perfectly accompanies McQuacklin’s rampant monologing and interactions with a group of campers who never asked for his help.
Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping is an evening well spent. It’s a charming little mystery that doesn’t take itself too seriously (even if its protagonist does) with simple, effective gameplay, an endearing art style, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments (even the loading screens are funny).
If you’ve ever wanted to “throw bread into the fine beak of Lady Justice” Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping is one Anseriformian adventure you wont want to miss.