BROK the InvestiGator

BROK the InvestiGator is a story-driven and choice-based adventure game where players are placed in a futuristic world overrun by animal citizens. As a private detective and boxer, you embark on a journey to uncover the truth behind your wife's mysterious death. You'll face numerous challenges and traps, using your wits or strength to solve problems and overcome enemies. Make choices during various story events that will influence the subsequent developments and your fate. Will you ultimately uncover the truth? The game supports a hint system; if you make too many mistakes while solving puzzles, you can use the hint function to easily pass levels, making your gaming experience more relaxed.

Gameplay of BROK the InvestiGator:

The title takes place in a futuristic dystopian cyberpunk world that is divided into two different societies. We are talking about animals / people. Some live under a glass dome and are protected from the environmental pollution prevailing outside. The less privileged have to fight their way outside the dome. We slip into the role of Brok, who is our main protagonist. We used to make our money boxing. Today we earn it as a private investigator. As in Sherlock Holmes, we have an assistant who is at our side. But his name is not Watson, but Graff, who is the son of his late wife. She died in an accident, the case was never fully resolved. But as luck would have it, the latest events can shed some light on the darkness and are being rolled out again. Events can either be resolved with brains or the matter can be tackled with brute force and muscle strength to move forward in the story. The graphic is in the comic look, which was implemented and selected very well. The smaller puzzles have been integrated well and round off the whole thing and give that certain something.

Features of BROK the InvestiGator:

Deep Narrative Experience: Brok features a rich storyline that resonates with the emotional depth found in classic 80s and 90s cartoons. Players will encounter deeply developed characters and face moral dilemmas that affect how the story unfolds.

Innovative Gameplay Mechanics: This game uniquely combines classic adventure elements with beat 'em up and RPG features. Players can choose between using their wits for puzzles or engaging in hand-to-hand combat, allowing for diverse play styles.

Accessibility for All: BROK is pioneering in its accessibility, fully playable by blind or visually impaired players. It includes auditory descriptions, adapted puzzles, and various settings to ensure an inclusive experience for everyone.

Multiplayer Fun: Players can enjoy the adventure with friends, allowing up to four players to join in. Each player can partake in fights, collect items, and experience the story together using their controllers.

Multiple Endings: With choices that significantly impact the narrative, players can explore different storylines leading to multiple distinct endings. This encourages replayability as players seek to discover all outcomes.

Highlights of BROK the InvestiGator:

Character-driven Plot: The plot is driven by BROK’s quest for justice, as well as his personal journey. As you progress, you’ll learn more about his past, uncover the mysteries of his world, and deal with the moral complexities of the cases you take on. The game delves into themes of morality, power, and what it means to be a detective in a world full of corruption.

Environmental Puzzles: Many puzzles are integrated directly into the world design. To progress through a crime scene or unlock a new area, players may need to manipulate the environment, find hidden clues, or solve complex riddles. These puzzles often have a direct impact on the story, pushing the narrative forward while providing a satisfying challenge.

Logical Challenges: Some puzzles test your deductive reasoning and ability to make connections. You’ll need to analyze the evidence you’ve gathered and use it to piece together the mystery, whether it’s finding the culprit or uncovering the truth behind a crime.

RPG Elements: Just like in a traditional RPG, BROK can level up and improve his stats, gaining new skills and abilities that make him more effective in combat and investigation. From improving his health and stamina to unlocking new combat moves, the RPG elements give players the flexibility to shape BROK’s development based on their preferred playstyle.

Player Comments of BROK the InvestiGator:

So far this is a promising game! although it's just the Prologue aka the first chapter of the game, it has a lot going for with the interesting narrative, charismatic main character, solid Adventure and Beat em Up gameplay, and really nice music. Voice acting is also surprisingly good which gives the narrative and dialogue more life to it.

The game is a bit iffy. While the concept is very cool and I'd love to see it more, the combat is very basic and a tad bit boring. No interesting movement or variety in attacks, it doesn't feel smooth to fight, and it feels stiff. The gameplay for the beat-em up sections need some more polish and variety. I can at least say that the point and click aspect (up to the point I stopped playing at) was typical gameplay and that is completely fine.I wish I could say the best for the story and writing, however it seems very interesting but it feels misplaced when the game features Disney-esqe animal characters involved in a story with more serious topics. That is not to say it can't be done, but it feels very odd, at least to me, though it could be chalked to preference. But I will say the dialogue does get a bit boring when its only this one guy describing stuff around him. Its been done before but it always offered a joke or told us more about the character (ie Guybrush Threepwood, Sam and Max). But unlike those titles, Brok's character and dialogue comes off as uninteresting. Not that his character is bad, its very nice actually - a middle-aged alligator that means well and will put everything aside to help someone else while still facing the struggle that his life has on him. But I feel his dialogue is boring and uninteresting, and arguably that can be applied to the rest of the prologue.

It's just amazing, a pure joy! First of all, it's really vast: lots of locations, fightings, puzzles! It's so cool that developer is so generous. Secondly, "BROK" is an unusual mix of genres: inventory-based adventure, beat'em up with jumps, cluedo-style puzzle! You can earn money in different ways, you can gain experience and raise levels, there's a health bar - you loose health when you hit, you restore it when sleeping, eating or drinking. Some puzzles have different solutions: you can enter a PIN code to a lock or just frigging smash it! And the game has really interesting sci-fi setting (something like cyberpunk for sentient animals: rich quarters, slums, robots, corruption, etc). And, of course, there are very beautiful and stylish backgrounds! Also I feel a very strong Deponia vibe and certainly I'm recommending it!

Final words:

Brok the InvestiGator gives you the chance to discover the new frontier of gaming where the line between justice and crime is indistinct. Set in a dystopian “cyber-noir” world where the characters are all animals, you are Brok, an investigative journalist and underground boxing champion. Brok is on the hunt for the conspiracy that has the potential to kill him. In this world, the elite citizens live in a dome and the rest of the population are forced to live in a world covered in pollution. Brok is about to discover the truth about his family, his past, and the two worlds that he needs to navigate through.