Summer 2016 (Part 11) - Pocatello
Pocatello
Pocatello is a cinematic/mystery/action title published by Activision and published by Skytree Games, an original TTL studio consisting of a mix of programmers/writers from OTL's Telltale and Naughty Dog companies, along with a few young developers who didn't work in games IOTL. The game is a murder mystery centered around the city of Pocatello, Idaho, consisting of investigation and cinematic scenes punctuated by occasional scenes of action gameplay. Inspired by titles such as Terror Trip, The Lobotomized, Crime Stories, and even games like Dick, Pocatello is intended to be a big budget mystery game in which the player is encouraged to explore and take in the game's sights while getting sucked into the story. There's a good deal of lore for the player to find if they dick into every nook and cranny, while it's also possible to build relationships and explore quest lines with people who are only peripherally attached to the game's mystery storyline. You play as a man named Robert Caldwell who's visiting the city on business, only to get caught up in a mystery after his intended contact is murdered, followed by the grisly murder of three young students at the nearby college campus. Caldwell must work to solve the mystery, while the town's police force hones in on him as the primary suspect. The mystery is connected to a long-buried incident that occurred 30 years ago, an incident Caldwell must get to the bottom to if he is to stop the current string of murders. The game is divided into eight chapters, and the player will spent most of their time looking around and talking to people, though at times, Caldwell will need to flee or fight, depending on what's happening. These action moments play out like a typical third person shooter, though the game's controls are a bit more stiff, owing to the fact that Caldwell isn't trained in any kind of fighting or combat (fortunately, his foes are for the most part equally untrained, and the player is encouraged to flee from anyone who poses too much of a threat, like cops or the killer themselves). The game allows for mostly open exploration, in both the city itself and the surrounding wilderness areas, and a good portion of the real city of Pocatello has been digitally recreated within the game itself. There's not a lot of music in Pocatello, save for a few short leitmotifs to set a certain mood, a few licensed tracks, and two original lyrical songs. As for the game's voice acting, Activision has brought on a fairly strong cast of veteran character actors and talented voice artists to play the game's main characters, while a lot of side characters are voiced by the "usual suspects" in terms of LA-area voiceover talent. The cast isn't nearly as stacked as the cast of Time Cop for example, but there are some decently known people, with Eddie McClintock starring as Robert Caldwell, Dean Norris as Tom Sykes, the lead detective assigned to the murder case, Cissy Jones as Willa Anderson, a rookie officer who disagrees with Sykes' handling of the case and begins feeding information to Caldwell to help him out, and Laura Bailey as Amy Morrell, the best friend of one of the murdered students, who thinks she might have been the real target and starts looking for the killer on her own.
After Caldwell arrives in Pocatello, the game gives the player a chance to explore a bit on their own before the actual murders begin taking place, as a way to get the player acquainted with some of the people they'll be meeting during the course of the game. After the first murder, Caldwell initially isn't suspected, and at first, the player isn't really looking for evidence, just finding information as a curiosity. However, once Caldwell begins digging a little deeper, and the college murders take place, events accelerate quickly. Caldwell is brought in for questioning by Sykes (and this is the first time Willa notices him). Eventually, after Caldwell is released, he ends up meeting Amy, who is investigating things on her own, and soon has to chase her down after she causes some problems for one of the investigators and gets herself into trouble. Amy confides in Caldwell at first, but after she learns he may have been involved in the crimes, she turns on him, and people become more reluctant to cooperate with him. Eventually, Caldwell is forced to investigate on his own, and gets into some run-ins with wild animals, and some of the locals, including a dangerous drug addict that Caldwell has to kill in self defense. This latest killing is blamed on the murderer as well, causing the finger to be pointed at Caldwell even more (though the police can't conclusively connect him to the killing of the druggie). At this point, pretty much the only person who trusts Caldwell, and the only person he can trust, is Willa, who begins surreptitiously helping him. This next portion of the game sees Caldwell trying to keep a low profile... he's not officially wanted yet, but he knows most people in town hate him, so he has to be very careful about where he goes or who he talks to, creating an atmosphere of tension and suspicion around the player. We meet a number of other characters at this time, all of whom could be potential suspects, though the game also indicates that Sykes could be the killer, and Willa also has some suspicious mannerisms that indicate her as a potential suspect... we also learn of the incident from 30 years ago, in which a boy was kidnapped several times by someone who eventually killed him (based on a real life incident from Pocatello in the 1970s). This boy was Sykes' younger brother, and the incident is what spurred Sykes to become a detective, though the kidnapper/murderer himself was never caught. Caldwell eventually learns that his business contact, the one whose murder kicked off everything in the first place, was the man responsible for killing Sykes' younger brother back in the 1980s, and that it's likely that Sykes killed him for revenge (Willa strongly suspects this), though this would also mean that the first killing and the killing of the college students are actually two separate incidents, meaning that not only is Sykes a murderer, but that there's a serial killer going around. We then learn that Amy's boyfriend Cameron (voiced by Ryan Guzman) is also the son of Caldwell's murdered business contact, and when Caldwell manages to get Amy to talk to him again, she learns that Cameron was abused by his father for many years. Eventually, Caldwell ties everything together: Cameron killed his father for revenge, but unfortunately, he too is a deranged killer, and killing his father wasn't enough, so he's begun killing other people in town. A series of confrontations marks the game's final two chapters: Caldwell and Sykes try to kill each other but eventually realize that they're both going after the same guy, Amy tries to kill Cameron herself but is nearly killed in the attempt, but is saved by Caldwell, who battles it out with Cameron. He's nearly killed by Cameron as well (after their fight), but Willa shows up and saves the day by shooting Cameron just before he can kill Caldwell. The mystery is solved and the city's state of fear ends, Caldwell gets an official apology, Willa gets a promotion, Sykes takes a sabbatical from the force, and Amy recovers emotionally and physically at the hospital.
Released on September 6, 2016 for the Reality, Virtua, and Nexus, Pocatello gets high praise from critics and fans alike, for its cinematic graphics and cutscenes, its mystery solving gameplay, and its voice cast, which is hailed as perhaps the best ensemble voiceover cast of the year. It's not QUITE the revolutionary Game of the Year shoo-in that some expected it to be, with some critics even considering it a disappointment, but it gets review scores in the high 8s and is generally considered one of the better games of 2016 and one of the best ever in its genre. It would contend for a few overall Game of the Year awards, while doing better in the writing, animation, and voice acting categories. Meanwhile, sales would be excellent, thanks to the game's pre-release hype and strong word of mouth (fans were never hyping it up as much as critics were, so there's little disappointment from fans). It would become the fastest selling game in its genre ever, and one of September 2016's best selling games overall. It helps to set a new standard for cinematic storytelling, progressing the "artistic" side of the medium, and while it would fail to stand out in a very crowded year, it would be more appreciated down the road as a landmark example of storytelling in games.
Pocatello is a cinematic/mystery/action title published by Activision and published by Skytree Games, an original TTL studio consisting of a mix of programmers/writers from OTL's Telltale and Naughty Dog companies, along with a few young developers who didn't work in games IOTL. The game is a murder mystery centered around the city of Pocatello, Idaho, consisting of investigation and cinematic scenes punctuated by occasional scenes of action gameplay. Inspired by titles such as Terror Trip, The Lobotomized, Crime Stories, and even games like Dick, Pocatello is intended to be a big budget mystery game in which the player is encouraged to explore and take in the game's sights while getting sucked into the story. There's a good deal of lore for the player to find if they dick into every nook and cranny, while it's also possible to build relationships and explore quest lines with people who are only peripherally attached to the game's mystery storyline. You play as a man named Robert Caldwell who's visiting the city on business, only to get caught up in a mystery after his intended contact is murdered, followed by the grisly murder of three young students at the nearby college campus. Caldwell must work to solve the mystery, while the town's police force hones in on him as the primary suspect. The mystery is connected to a long-buried incident that occurred 30 years ago, an incident Caldwell must get to the bottom to if he is to stop the current string of murders. The game is divided into eight chapters, and the player will spent most of their time looking around and talking to people, though at times, Caldwell will need to flee or fight, depending on what's happening. These action moments play out like a typical third person shooter, though the game's controls are a bit more stiff, owing to the fact that Caldwell isn't trained in any kind of fighting or combat (fortunately, his foes are for the most part equally untrained, and the player is encouraged to flee from anyone who poses too much of a threat, like cops or the killer themselves). The game allows for mostly open exploration, in both the city itself and the surrounding wilderness areas, and a good portion of the real city of Pocatello has been digitally recreated within the game itself. There's not a lot of music in Pocatello, save for a few short leitmotifs to set a certain mood, a few licensed tracks, and two original lyrical songs. As for the game's voice acting, Activision has brought on a fairly strong cast of veteran character actors and talented voice artists to play the game's main characters, while a lot of side characters are voiced by the "usual suspects" in terms of LA-area voiceover talent. The cast isn't nearly as stacked as the cast of Time Cop for example, but there are some decently known people, with Eddie McClintock starring as Robert Caldwell, Dean Norris as Tom Sykes, the lead detective assigned to the murder case, Cissy Jones as Willa Anderson, a rookie officer who disagrees with Sykes' handling of the case and begins feeding information to Caldwell to help him out, and Laura Bailey as Amy Morrell, the best friend of one of the murdered students, who thinks she might have been the real target and starts looking for the killer on her own.
After Caldwell arrives in Pocatello, the game gives the player a chance to explore a bit on their own before the actual murders begin taking place, as a way to get the player acquainted with some of the people they'll be meeting during the course of the game. After the first murder, Caldwell initially isn't suspected, and at first, the player isn't really looking for evidence, just finding information as a curiosity. However, once Caldwell begins digging a little deeper, and the college murders take place, events accelerate quickly. Caldwell is brought in for questioning by Sykes (and this is the first time Willa notices him). Eventually, after Caldwell is released, he ends up meeting Amy, who is investigating things on her own, and soon has to chase her down after she causes some problems for one of the investigators and gets herself into trouble. Amy confides in Caldwell at first, but after she learns he may have been involved in the crimes, she turns on him, and people become more reluctant to cooperate with him. Eventually, Caldwell is forced to investigate on his own, and gets into some run-ins with wild animals, and some of the locals, including a dangerous drug addict that Caldwell has to kill in self defense. This latest killing is blamed on the murderer as well, causing the finger to be pointed at Caldwell even more (though the police can't conclusively connect him to the killing of the druggie). At this point, pretty much the only person who trusts Caldwell, and the only person he can trust, is Willa, who begins surreptitiously helping him. This next portion of the game sees Caldwell trying to keep a low profile... he's not officially wanted yet, but he knows most people in town hate him, so he has to be very careful about where he goes or who he talks to, creating an atmosphere of tension and suspicion around the player. We meet a number of other characters at this time, all of whom could be potential suspects, though the game also indicates that Sykes could be the killer, and Willa also has some suspicious mannerisms that indicate her as a potential suspect... we also learn of the incident from 30 years ago, in which a boy was kidnapped several times by someone who eventually killed him (based on a real life incident from Pocatello in the 1970s). This boy was Sykes' younger brother, and the incident is what spurred Sykes to become a detective, though the kidnapper/murderer himself was never caught. Caldwell eventually learns that his business contact, the one whose murder kicked off everything in the first place, was the man responsible for killing Sykes' younger brother back in the 1980s, and that it's likely that Sykes killed him for revenge (Willa strongly suspects this), though this would also mean that the first killing and the killing of the college students are actually two separate incidents, meaning that not only is Sykes a murderer, but that there's a serial killer going around. We then learn that Amy's boyfriend Cameron (voiced by Ryan Guzman) is also the son of Caldwell's murdered business contact, and when Caldwell manages to get Amy to talk to him again, she learns that Cameron was abused by his father for many years. Eventually, Caldwell ties everything together: Cameron killed his father for revenge, but unfortunately, he too is a deranged killer, and killing his father wasn't enough, so he's begun killing other people in town. A series of confrontations marks the game's final two chapters: Caldwell and Sykes try to kill each other but eventually realize that they're both going after the same guy, Amy tries to kill Cameron herself but is nearly killed in the attempt, but is saved by Caldwell, who battles it out with Cameron. He's nearly killed by Cameron as well (after their fight), but Willa shows up and saves the day by shooting Cameron just before he can kill Caldwell. The mystery is solved and the city's state of fear ends, Caldwell gets an official apology, Willa gets a promotion, Sykes takes a sabbatical from the force, and Amy recovers emotionally and physically at the hospital.
Released on September 6, 2016 for the Reality, Virtua, and Nexus, Pocatello gets high praise from critics and fans alike, for its cinematic graphics and cutscenes, its mystery solving gameplay, and its voice cast, which is hailed as perhaps the best ensemble voiceover cast of the year. It's not QUITE the revolutionary Game of the Year shoo-in that some expected it to be, with some critics even considering it a disappointment, but it gets review scores in the high 8s and is generally considered one of the better games of 2016 and one of the best ever in its genre. It would contend for a few overall Game of the Year awards, while doing better in the writing, animation, and voice acting categories. Meanwhile, sales would be excellent, thanks to the game's pre-release hype and strong word of mouth (fans were never hyping it up as much as critics were, so there's little disappointment from fans). It would become the fastest selling game in its genre ever, and one of September 2016's best selling games overall. It helps to set a new standard for cinematic storytelling, progressing the "artistic" side of the medium, and while it would fail to stand out in a very crowded year, it would be more appreciated down the road as a landmark example of storytelling in games.
