Review for Loco Motive

Adventurers should consider buying a ticket for Robust Games’ Loco Motive. The purchase rewards the player with a superb experience. Published through Chucklefish, this point-and click whodunit moves through a world of handsomely drawn graphics and expertly composed sound design with the speed of a bullet train. The player helps three main protagonists clear their names by interrogating suspects and solving inventory-related puzzles. The lack of a task list and a slightly difficult “save/load” utility may hinder some gamers from easily tracking their progress. Aside from that small imperfection, however, Loco Motive is a great ride.

There’s mayhem, mystery, and murder most foul, as heiress Lady Unterwald gathers her family and friends aboard her train, The Reuss Express, for a reading of her will. It becomes apparent that someone wants to kill her. The three protagonists – Diana, Arthur, and Herman – must work together to find the guilty party and clear their own names. 

The evil perpetrator’s despicable plan unfolds in a visually stimulating world of pixel-art graphics with an overall Disney-esque vibe. Vibrant colors leap off the screen to envelop players and draw them into the story. My favorite location – the roomy mansion – can be sinister in certain places, with dark and muted colors. It’s the perfect place for the mysterious finale.

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The characters who inhabit the various settings move smoothly and with purpose. The animation of their actions is effective: walking, running, or grabbing items. Running is quick and fluid, which speeds things up nicely. Sometimes there’s a quick, comical animation when a character adds or removes an item in their jacket/inventory. 

Loco Motive boasts great sound design. The varied, often jazzy music is the perfect instrument for manipulating players’ feelings. In the mansion basement, for example, the background tune is fast and slightly sinister. It gives the impression that time is running out. The sound effects add to the overall atmosphere. The train whistle, for another example, sounds quite authentic. Doors creak or clank, railway wheels churn, and a tasty cocktail is downed with gulps and a belch. The soundscape’s crowning achievements are the spectacular voice-overs, bringing engaging and comedic dialogs to life. Loco Motive features some of the best voice acting I’ve heard in an adventure game. My favorite character, Herman Merman, is especially amusing because his voice occasionally moves up an octave halfway through his sentences, making me laugh out loud.

The point-and-click interface is powerfully streamlined. Pressing the Tab key highlights all the hotspots on the current screen. Hovering over them with the mouse introduces a context-sensitive menu. It informs the player what will happen if they press the left or right mouse buttons – a much-appreciated feature. Players spend their time gathering objects and talking to characters. After selecting an item from the open inventory, players must click outside the inventory to close it before activating the hotspot of their choice. Left-clicking on a character brings up a topic list at the bottom of the screen with multiple dialog options, helping players discover more about the story and challenges they must solve.

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Entertaining puzzles with creative solutions abound in this quick-moving, witty and engaging tale. My favorite involved using toilets to share items between the three protagonists (referencing a LucasArts classic from the ‘90s). It’s a unique way to keep things moving and a reminder that adventure game puzzles are flush with possibilities.

Slight foibles disrupt the otherwise smooth Loco Motive experience. Players may find it difficult to remember where they left off after taking a break. This problem would be ameliorated if they could name their saved games instead of having to rely solely on the date and time labels generated by the autosave feature. There is a hint system that assists somewhat with keeping players on track, but allowing them to create their own descriptive saved game labels would be an improvement. The addition of a task list or journal would also help players reacclimate after taking breaks. 

Aside from the issues mentioned above, Loco Motive provides an exceptional adventure experience that deserves to stand among the classics of the genre. All aboard adventurers!