Insecticide: Episode One (PC) review "Well, that leaves you stuck playing half a game with a lot of unsolved mysteries. To be fair, however, it’s not too bad of a ride while it lasts."

To Not Be Continued
Let’s start at the end. This game leaves you hanging with a lot of unresolved plot points promising the future release of “Part 2 of 2” in the Summer of 2008. It’s now 2014 and I’ll save you the suspense by letting you know that it will never be released. The game’s original publisher was acquired by SouthPeak Games who decided to cancel Part 2. So where does that leave you? Well, that leaves you stuck playing half a game with a lot of unsolved mysteries. To be fair, however, it’s not too bad of a ride while it lasts.

A Bug’s Life
Insecticide introduces a world where bugs are the dominant form of intelligent life and “hominids” (humans) have devolved into bumbling buffoons who have to live in protective suits due to the toxic environment. The game follows Chrys Liszt and her partner, Roachy (guess what kind of bug he is...) while they try to solve an “insecticide” (murder of another bug) involving a high level executive at the principle soft drink corporation in their world. The story isn’t bad, and the way it is told is probably the strongest point in the game. The voice acting is pretty good and the dialogue is filled with bug puns. This goes well with the satirical take on crime dramas that the game uses.

The game features two distinct gameplay modes, 3rd person action and adventure, while the 6-limbed duo tries to solve the caper. The gameplay is simplistic in both the action and adventure modes and won’t challenge most players. It really gives the player the strong feel of a budget title with the game lacking all but the most basic of gameplay elements for its modes. For instance, in the action segments you won’t do anything but run and jump. There isn’t any sneaking around, differentiation between a headshot or arm shot, and not really a lot of variety in weapons either. The adventure segments aren’t much better, but at least feature much more of the game’s tongue-in-cheek humor. Overall, even if the gameplay is pretty barebones, it isn’t so mind-numbing as to be totally unenjoyable.



Bug Splat
Some people think this game is extremely boring to playthrough, but I found it enjoyable. The game’s strong voice acting and atmosphere really make an otherwise average game seem pretty decent. However, I give Insecticide a 4/10...the fact that you can only play half the game just kills any sort of good side to be found. On the other hand, the bad sides of being short (~4 hours of playtime) and simplistic are really pronounced. I’d only recommend this game to people who find it on sale and really enjoy adventure games. I got it for $0.29 and am satisfied...but would feel really cheated if I paid much more.

Community review by Never3ndr (June 22, 2014) Retro-Gaming Enthusiast!