owner of a local boxing club, Joe
Dunn, is found hanged and his prime
fighter, the up-and-coming Bobby
Yale who was just about to enter the
ring and take on the most important
fight of his career, has gone missing.
This prompts Joe’s daughter, Sofia,
who has taken over the club and is
now swimming in debt, to seek outBlacksad to uncover the truth and
find Yale – if only to get him back in
the ring, as a whole lot of money is
riding on the fight.
The graphic novel series is known
for taking on adult themes, such as
racial segregation, sexual assault,
drug addiction and child abuse,
among others. After watching the
trailer, however, it remains to be seen
if the developers will be so bold as to
tackle the heavier subject matters of
the source material in the game.Art of purr-suasion
Like any great narrative adventure
game, you’ll meet a host of
characters that will influence the
story. Depending of your actions, the
outcome of the game may be different
for you than it might be for others.
One thing that’s refreshing to know
is that Blacksad will be launching as
a complete story, going against the
trend of modern narrative adventure
games being released over a long
period of time episodically.
The graphic novel series is
almost 20 years old, but this is the
first videogame adaptation of the
franchise. The developers have
realised the world in a way that has
never been seen before. In a press
release Pendulo Studios’ game
designer Josue Monchan says, “We
want the player to discover all sides of
John Blacksad’s complex personality
and choose the one he wants to be.”
Fans of the graphic novels will finally
be able to hear the official voice of
John Blacksad, and they will surely
be looking forward to busting heads
in the noir streets of New York City.
Expect conspiracies, corruption and
double-crosses. Lovely. QDon’t let the anthropomorphic animals
fool you, this game is as mature as
hard-boiled detective stories come.
It’s based on the graphic novel of
the same name by Juan Diaz Canales
and Juanma Guarnido, in which
feline investigator John Blacksad
undertakes various gruelling cases.
For Under The Skin, rather than
just adapt an existing story, the
developers are creating a brand-new
tale that features a host of new and
familiar characters, and in which
Blacksad finds himself in the middle of
conspiracy, corruption and murder.
The game was announced back
in 2017 but now it has a new story
trailer, giving us a better look at what
Blacksad is getting mixed up in this
time. Set in ’50s New York City, theThe personalities of each character in Blacksad are represented by the type of animal they are
BELOW Looks like
Blacksad isn’t
kitten around
with this guy...
we’ll show
ourselves out.
Blacksad:
Under The Skin
Jazz, cats and trench coats,
this noir adventure game might
be right up your alley
Adam Bryant
PUBLISHER MICROÏDS
DEVELOPER PENDULO STUDIOS/YS INTERACTIVE
ETA 26 SEPTEMBER“We want
the player to
discover all sides
of Blacksad’s
personality”
038 THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE
PREVIEW