PC Gamer - UK (2021-12)

Frank and Drake

PREVIEW

Althoughtheexacttimeandplaceofthe

setting is unclear, it’s a grounded, prosaic

world. The demo opens with ‘Frank’,

clutching a bag of groceries to his chest,

slowly making his way to his apartment via

striking rotoscoped animation. Before

long he’s sharing the apartment with

‘Drake’, although they will apparently

never meet. Frank works days and

Drake works nights – they

communicate only via notes.

Frank and Drake is pleasingly

difficult to kick into a genre pigeonhole.

There are elements of visual novel,

point-and-click and narrative choice-

driven adventure that take turns to drive

the experience. Sometimes, you’re doing

nothing more than advancing text, or

holding a button to move your character

along. Other times, you’re solving puzzles

or making a choice which will have

consequences for the other character.

Some choices are locked in the demo,

but how I choose to spend my time as

Frank – who helps maintain the apartment

block – affects what I find as Drake when

he moves in. For example, he requested a

room with no windows (totally normal

request, no alarm bells to be rung there).

As Frank, I decide to fix the water blockage

in the roof, but don’t have time to see to

the room. Drake therefore doesn’t find a

leaky ceiling, but he has to block the

window himself, and the room is a mess.

VAMP IT UP

It’s not a story concerned only with

humdrum experiences, though even the

most tame of events feels otherworldly.

The combination of comic book art and

the laid-back, melancholy (for Frank) or

jazzy (for Drake) music is mesmerising,

fitting the nature of the game well. Drake

having visions while out on a walk feels no

less suited to this world than Frank trying

to fix an exercise bike in the basement.

As Frank and Drake still seems to be

some distance from release, I hope that

some of this time is spent on accessibility.

Both characters keep a diary, which

contains important story and background

details not provided anywhere else. The

faux-handwriting font used is difficult to

read even before taking into account the

small size of the text.

The full game will take place across

seven days, and I’ve experienced just

some of the first. It’s not nearly

enough room to understand how the

two characters will affect one

another – or themselves, as choices

also seem to determine what sort of

person each becomes – but I’m

fascinated to find out. I’m also keen to see

how far the game takes the supernatural

elements that are hinted at. Does Drake

really see ghosts or are they, as he

speculates, just hallucinations? How

vampiric is he? What’s the significance

of Frank’s amnesia?

Hopefully, the full game will have more

consistent puzzle design to smooth the

path to my finding out. I loved finding that

there was a crossword lying on a table I

could actually fill in, but most of the demo

puzzles were overly simple (such as a

memory card game, connecting dots

around and under other dots, and finding

objects hidden behind or in something

else). The infuriating exception was a

zoetrope which demanded that I arrange

animation images in the correct order,

which saw me use some – ahem –

monstrous language. Nonetheless, I look

forward to getting my teeth into more.

Luke Kemp

Y

ou would not, perhaps, expect a game

inspired by the legendary novels

Frankenstein and Dracula to feature a

David Hasselhoff mural and the ghost of

Marvin Gaye. It’s already clear that this is a game

keen to defy any expectations you may have, and

the results are truly unique.

Shelley you can’t be serious?

FRANK AND DRAKE

FRANK AND DRAKE IS

PLEASINGLY DIFFICULT TO KICK

INTO A GENRE PIGEONHOLE

RELEASE

TBC

DEVELOPER

Appnormals Team

PUBLISHER

Chorus Worldwide Games

LINK

bit.ly/2WyjxPw

NEED TO KNOW

PLAYED

IT

“Yeah, their music is really

good, but you wouldn’t

have heard of them.”