The Drifter is a fantastic pulp thriller point and click adventure where a drifter finds himself embroiled in a dark conspiracy that involves a shadowy organisation, the brutal murder of homeless men and his own death.
Currently in development by Powerhoof, creators of The inanimate Mr. Coatrack and Peridium, The Drifter follows a drifter called Mike Carter as he returns to his hometown for the funeral of his recently deceased mother. He plans to meet up with his sister, but before he even gets off the train he is witness to the violent murder of his (slightly deranged) travelling companion and soon finds himself neck-deep in trouble. His hometown has changed for the worse, people are going crazy, there are rumors of a shadowy organisation abducting and murdering homeless people, he really needs a phone charger and there’s also the small issue that he dies…
The demo build of The Drifter features the entire first chapter of the game and takes around 30 minutes to play through. As you’d expect from Powerhoof, the quality of the pixel art animation and voice acting is absolutely superb, creating a very stylish and atmospheric adventure. The pulp thriller narrative is also very well told and very intriguing, with the whole thing going at a good pace, thanks to the intuitive and unobtrusive puzzle design.
Most modern pixel art point and click adventures still get compared to the Lucasarts classics of the 90’s, but The Drifter has a style all of its own and it feels like a real evolution of the genre. There are no ridiculously obtuse puzzles, the pixel art animation is excellent, the user interface is intuitive (even using a control pad), the voicework is fantastic and the narrative is riveting. The Drifter really raises the bar for point and click adventures. Highly recommended.
Check Out a Gameplay Video Here
Download The Beta Demo Here (Only Available Until Tomorrow)