the voice of Lewton and other
characters including Nobby Nobbs,
who Discworld fans will recognise,
Welsh comedian Rob Brydon was
hired. At the time Brydon hadn’t
done much besides voice work, but
has since made a name for himself in
popular UK sitcom Gavin & Stacey,
and with Steve Coogan in the
magnificent The Trip. The cast also
includes Robert Llewellyn (perhaps
best known for playing the robot
Kryten in Red Dwarf ), Nigel Planer
and Kate Robbins.
Robbins, who plays every female
character inDiscworld Noir,
recorded her parts in a day, while
Brydon, according to Bateman,
endured a “gruelling week” to
complete his. But the result is a
brilliantly acted game, with Brydon
really throwing himself into Lewton’scomically overwrought monologues.
“The troll stepped out of the shadows
like light was too intimidated to
illuminate him,” he says in the tough,
clipped style of an old Hollywood
movie detective. Later, “I like my
whisky straight up, with a whisky
chaser.” I also particularly enjoyed
his rant to a former lover in a bar,
where he laments, pathetically:
“You don’t know what it’s like to go
into a restaurant and ask for a table
for one.”TALKING POINT
Compared to some other detective
games, you don’t have to do much
actual legwork in Discworld Noir.
There’s no manually piecing clues
together as in Frogwares’ brilliant
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes &
Punishments, no tense L. A. Noire-
style interrogations. But as the clues
pile up in your notebook, knowing
which threads to pull makes you,
very occasionally, feel like you’re
doing some real detecting. There are
a lot of characters in Ankh-Morpork,
and a lot of conversation topics,
which means it’s easy to venture
down the wrong path and waste time
chasing phantom leads.It’s always raining
in the city.A bar is a good place
to find a lead.THE BIG SLEEP
The sad story behind Discworld Noir
In 1999, the year Discworld Noir was
released, its London-based developer
Perfect Entertainment was permanently shut
down. A costly legal dispute with Psygnosis
over unpaid royalties was instrumental in its
demise, and the final year of the game’s
development was plagued by staff shortages,
rescheduled deadlines and late salary
payments. To make matters worse, its
publisher, GT Interactive, was having
financial troubles of its own, with losses of
$90 million leading to the company being
massively downsized and sold to French
publisher Infogrames. As a result, Discworld
Noir was never released outside of Europe
and eventually faded into obscurity.OLD GAMES, NEW PERSPECTIVES
REINSTALL
Lewton pays
Carlotta a visit.