Discworld NOIR
Created | Updated Oct 23, 2013
Discworld Noir is the seemingly last Discworld game as 'Terry Pratchett's Discworld' was brought out in 1995, with 'Discworld II- Missing, Presumed...!?' in 1996, and 'Noir' was brought out on PC and Playstation in 1999...
Apart from the Discworld names themselves, there's very little to do with the previous games. There's a new story, new style, and new characters.
Eric Idle is gone, and therefore so is Rincewind. The producers decided to revert back to keeping the story confined in Ankh-Morpork alone, losing the geography trekking of the second game.
More importantly, a new story was written. It wasn't by Terry Pratchett [in fact his name is only mentioned in copyright], but it sticks faithfully to the humour that made the books/games successful (such as the sailor only doing a pirate style accent for the tourists).
The game takes a new direction as with the evolution of technology the game is presented in a third-person 3D style as opposed to the 2D animation.
The programmers also give the puzzle format a tweak since now instead of finding out what items DO, You find out HOW and WHY they are used plus they are items of evidence and not there to simply get another object until the game is completed.
The talking aspect has also been given an upgrade as it has Lewton trying to collect important facts that will get written down in his notebook which can be used again against suspicious characters all with ultimate goal of finding a missing man.
However, unlike the first two games, the change between scenes can't be skipped as you slowly walk from room to room which can cause irritation when you moving on a hunch.
The game points out many movie references and puns (not wishing to point many out for fear of spoilers) all faithful to the Discworld spirit.
The story plays out as a detective story where you get to feel like you're investigating whereas the first twos' stories were more predictable as they were based on existing books.
Yet NOIR flows constantly and creates sub-plot after sub-plot eventually bringing connections to each.
The story's star is Lewton, the Discworld's first private investigator and the last. He's a recovering alcoholic who hit the bottle hard many years hence, having been thrown out of the City Watch for taking a bribe and being abandoned by love-of-his-life Ilsa.
The story is black for a reason (noir). The first act of the game is Lewton reciting the events that led to his death (on a cold and wet Sektober morning) as the first line is "I had never woken up dead before [actually this is a lie. the first line is "Arrghhh...!"]"
Due to his past, Lewton is cold and uncaring. He is hired by Carlotta von Uberwald to find her husband, a man called Mundy, who disappeared after his arrival from Tsort on a ship known as the Milka. And thus Lewton sets off in the direction of his only clue: The Milka...
There is a cast of 70 characters, some of the more noticible ones being voiced by Robert Llewellyn (Kryten from 'Red Dwarf'), and returning cast Rob Brydon (of 'Marion and Geoff') and Nigel Planer.
Though Rincewind is gone, Lewton takes his place admirably as he drags himself through Ankh-Morpork's dark underside [darker than most dark parts of the city] with the pixelised introductions of novel characters including;
Commander Vimes,
Nobby Nobbs,
Mrs. Whitlow,
Leornard da Quirm,
and Gaspode The Wonder-Dog...
There's the return of the Patrician, Death and Detruitus with new additions including:
Lewton,
Carlotta,
Ilsa,
Samaul,
Two-Conkers,
Malaclypse,
Mankin,
Malachite,
Al Khali,
Jasper Horst,
and for the acknowledgement of the PC/Playstation- Larado Cronk, a Tomb Excavator who desires a tips book to get to a ledge..
The game is the strongest of the three Discworld games even without Eric Idle as Rincewind as the programmers weren't held back by following the conventions of an established character and instead created someone new and gave the series more freshness and originality.
