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Blacksad: Under the Skin

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Blacksad: Under the Skin
European PC box art
Developer(s)Pendulo Studios
YS Interactive (assistance)
Publisher(s)Microïds
Director(s)Ramón Hernáez
Writer(s)Ramón Hernáez
Josué Monchán
Composer(s)Inon Zur
SeriesBlacksad
EngineUnity Engine
Platform(s)Windows
macOS
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Nintendo Switch
ReleaseNovember 5, 2019 (limited release)
November 14, 2019
Nintendo Switch
December 10, 2019
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Blacksad: Under the Skin is a 2019 adventure video game developed by the Spanish company Pendulo Studios and published by Microïds. It is an adaptation of the Spanish comic series Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido. The game follows John Blacksad as he investigates the suspicious death of a boxing club owner.

Blacksad is Pendulo's first game based on a license and its first to use fully 3D graphics. The project began in late 2016 at the suggestion of Microïds, part of the same media conglomerate that owns Blacksad publisher Dargaud. It was released on November 14, 2019, although a technical error caused an unfinished version of the game to launch in Europe on November 5. A Nintendo Switch port of the game was released on December 10, 2019.

Gameplay

Blacksad: Under the Skin is an adventure game that takes place in a three-dimensional game world. Its gameplay has been compared to the work of Telltale Games,[1] as well as Team Bondi's L.A. Noire and Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter.[2][1] Blacksad does not feature an inventory,[3] and, unlike in Pendulo Studios' past games, it forgoes a point-and-click interface in favor of direct character control.[4] Gameplay is choice-based and the player's actions alter the player character's alignment with other characters in the world.[1] The direction of the story changes based on the player's decisions. Blacksad features quick-time events,[3] timed conversation sequences and scenes where the player must search for clues in the environment.[1]

During investigations, John Blacksad's heightened feline senses allow the player to slow down time and perceive visual clues in their surroundings, which are then added to the player's clue index. From here, the player may combine clues to form conclusions,[5] both to progress the main story and to solve optional side-quests.[6]

Plot

Blacksad: Under the Skin is set in New York City during the 1950s,[7] and takes place chronologically between Blacksad: Arctic Nation and Red Soul.[6][5] Its story begins when protagonist John Blacksad is approached by Sonia Dunn, daughter of boxing club owner Joe Dunn who has died suspiciously. She asks Blacksad to investigate the situation and locate the club's star fighter Booby Yale, who has been missing since Dunn's death. According to Pendulo Studios, the game contains 30 unique characters and five previously from the Blacksad comic series: John Blacksad, Commissioner Smirnov, Jake Ostiombe, Paulie and Weekly.[7] The game contains six possible endings.[8]

Development

Blacksad: Under the Skin was developed by the Spanish company Pendulo Studios,[9] the country's longest-running game developer by 2019.[8] It had previously been responsible for games such as the Runaway and Hollywood Monsters franchises.[10] YS Interactive initially assisted the team on Blacksad.[4][11] According to Pendulo, the idea of adapting the Blacksad comic series into a game was first proposed by Pendulo's publisher Microïds, directly after the two companies had completed Yesterday Origins in November 2016. Microïds was owned by the same media conglomerate as Blacksad publisher Dargaud.[4] Although Pendulo had never worked with a license before,[3] the developer's Josué Monchán noted that the team had "been Blacksad fans for a long time" and agreed to the idea immediately.[7] The team then storyboarded a pitch and submitted it to Dargaud and Blacksad's authors, who approved it.[12] The project was unexpectedly announced in June 2017 and was initially scheduled for a late 2018 release.[13] Giada Zavarise of Rock, Paper, Shotgun wrote of the announcement, "In the world of games, the news was received with a shrug. But in the comics scene, people were screaming incoherently."[14] Gameblog's Vincent Elmer-Haerrig called the plan a "gamble" for Pendulo, as Under the Skin is aimed at "a fringe of players who are both comic-philes and video game lovers."[15]

Blacksad writer Juan Díaz Canales (left) and artist Juanjo Guarnido served as consultants on Blacksad: Under the Skin, and offered feedback on the visuals, story, voice direction and other aspects of the production.

Pendulo collaborated with Blacksad creators Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido on Under the Skin.[4][16] The developer described the pair as consultants,[4] while Canales said that Pendulo "ask[ed] us about the plot and the visuals concepts."[16] According to Monchán, adapting Guarnido's visual style was the team's "biggest challenge" during production.[7] Guarnido expressed his desire for accuracy to the Blacksad comic's aesthetic,[12] and Monchán called his help and approval "fundamental" to the team's efforts.[7] The authors reviewed each stage of the 2D concept art and 3D visuals.[6] Pendulo hoped to balance faithfulness to the comics' art with realism regarding budget and scheduling, as Monchán noted that it was impossible to perfectly recreate the comics' style given the restrictions of game development.[7] Blacksad's authors also offered input on the game's voice direction.[6] Canales requested a deep voice for John Blacksad because of the character's heavy smoking; the team hired Barry Johnson of Detroit: Become Human for the English version, and Gabriel Jiménez—voice of Hugh Jackman in Spanish film dubs—for the Spanish version.[17]

With help from the comic's authors, Pendulo opted to create an original story not based on any particular Blacksad installment, but which still takes influence and inspiration from the existing series.[4] Guarnido said that "the narrative is strong and we took care that it does not interfere with the stories of the comic series".[12] The game's story is officially considered non-canonical.[1] Its focus on sports-related corruption and the impact of television on sports in the 1950s came, according to Monchán, because Pendulo "wanted to address a topic that Guarnido and Canales have not yet touched".[7] Pendulo's Felipe Gómez Pinilla said that the theme of corruption emerged from the team's research into the era. It became a central theme in the game; according to GameSpot's Jordan Ramée, the team intended player decisions to hinge on their interaction with corruption in society, either through acceptance or rejection.[6]

Blacksad was Pendulo's first game to use fully 3D visuals. Lead animator Carlos Hernández told Mundo Deportivo that the game's production was "a great difficulty" for the team, particularly because of Pendulo's small size. The company numbered 17 members by 2019.[3] Pendulo was similarly challenged by the game design: Pinilla noted that the team sought to recreate the feeling of the Blacksad comics in an interactive form, and to "find the mechanics that make you feel like [you are] investigating something" rather than simply observing an investigation. John Blacksad's heightened feline senses were an attempt to make Under the Skin's detective work unique to the Blacksad universe. Easter eggs that reference the Blacksad books were included as well.[5] The game's direct control scheme replaced traditional point-and-click controls because the team wanted Under the Skin to suit game consoles, a concern that started during the creation of Yesterday Origins.[17]

Under the Skin's first teaser trailer was revealed in August 2018,[18] around the time of its showing at Gamescom.[19] It proceeded to appear at the 3D Wire festival in Spain that October.[20] By February 2019, the game had been in production for over two years.[4] In April of that year, Blacksad was given a release date of September 26, 2019.[21] Mundo Deportivo reported at the time that Blacksad was "in the final phase of development".[3] However, in July, the game was delayed to November 5, 2019.[22] Microïds attributed the delay to a desire for increased polish in the final product.[23] Although the game received a subsequent delay to November 14, its European Xbox Marketplace and PlayStation Store versions nevertheless appeared due to a technical error on November 5.[24] Microïds advised buyers not to play the game before the release of its planned "day-one patch", set to coincide with Under the Skin's wider release on November 14. According to Microïds, the patch will add more sound effects to the game, fix "major bugs" and heavily increase the frame rate, among other improvements.[25] Discussing the situation at the time, Destructoid's Chris Moyse wrote, "You have to feel for the developers in what must be a very stressful and unfortunate situation."[26] While the game met its planned November 14 release date, Jorge Cano of Vandal characterized Under the Skin's overall rollout as "simply disastrous" and as "an example of how to do things wrong when it comes to putting a game on sale". Patches soon followed to fix some of the game's bugs and instabilities at launch.[27]

Reception

Pre-release coverage

During 2018, MeriStation placed Blacksad: Under the Skin among the year's "10 most promising" adventure games,[28] while La Vanguardia and VidaExtra listed the game's debut trailer as one of the best to appear at Gamescom 2018.[29][30] The following year, HobbyConsolas declared Under the Skin one of 2019's "most anticipated Spanish video games",[31] and IGN España highlighted the game as one of the top graphic adventures scheduled for 2019.[32] The editors of 3DJuegos similarly named it their 44th-most-anticipated title of 2019 across all genres and platforms,[33] and one of their 20 most anticipated indie games of the year.[34] According to Laura Cress of Adventure Gamers, Blacksad's display at Gamescom 2019 was "a popular draw at the annual Adventure-Treff party".[35] The game netted a "Best Action Adventure Game" prize in the annual Gamescom Awards; The Hollywood Reporter cited it as one of the few non-sequels to win an award that year, alongside Sony's Concrete Genie and Dreams.[36]

Reviews and awards

Blacksad received mixed reviews from Metacritic across the various platforms.[38][39][40] Luke Kemp of PC Gamer docked Blacksad: Under the Skin points for being "unaware of its absurdity", arguing that its combination of animal characters with realistic and sexual imagery undermined the game's serious tone. He wrote, "The two obvious options with this game were to either play everything for laughs, or double down on the noir aspect ... Pendulo Studios appears to have chosen the latter, but it doesn't quite work."[46] In Vandal, Jorge Cano offered strong praise to Under the Skin's story, which he found "very interesting ... from beginning to end, and quite well written". He also enjoyed the game's use of decision points and the deduction system. Cano criticized its technical problems, quick-time events, control system, visuals and high system requirements, but nevertheless said that "the charismatic universe on which it is based and its narrative virtues manage to sustain [Under the Skin], despite all the problems it has."[27] GameSpot praised the protagonist, deduction system and the "progress" comic book styled menu, but critzed how the game was slow to play, as well as the "lack of style in the visual direction".[43]

Reviewing the game for 3DJuegos, Alejandro Pascual found Under the Skin overly slow-paced and, before its planned patch, rife with bugs. While he praised its storytelling, atmosphere and faithful adaptation of the Blacksad comics, he found its quick-time events flawed and the game in general unpolished.[47] The reviewer for Jeuxvideo.com similarly lauded the game's story, writing and faithfulness to the Blacksad comics, and added praise for its music and puzzles. However, she lambasted its "amazing palette of technical flaws and bugs" and found fault with its reliance on backtracking and the "illusion of choice".[44] GameStar's Elena Schulz continued the praise for Under the Skin's story, which she called "definitely the [game's] highlight". Echoing the other reviewers, her primary complaints were with its controls, quick-time events, graphics and technical issues. She summarized, "Blacksad has technical and gameplay weaknesses, but delivers a gripping adventure story full of interesting characters."[42]

In a more positive review, Maja Verfondem of 4Players wrote, "Blacksad is—after the installation of the Day One patch—my adventure highlight of 2019, which makes you want to read the comics again." Her primary criticisms related to the quick-time events, and to "minor graphics bugs and performance issues that even the Day One patch was unable to completely eliminate".[41]

The game was nominated for "Best Spanish Development" and "Best Spanish Performance" with Gabriel Jiménez at the 2019 Titanium Awards.[48] The game was also nominated for "Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel" at the 2020 Harvey Awards.[49]

Sales

In November 2020, Pendulo reported that "the impact [Blacksad] has had on the market has been much greater" than Pendulo's other recent titles. The company attributed its success to the project's "more narrative, modern adventure" style, which brought it to a larger audience than Pendulo's traditional adventure game format.[50]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Preview : Blacksad: Under the Skin - Pendulo (Runaway, Yesterday...) s'essaye au jeu narratif - gamescom 2018". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). August 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  2. ^ Schulz, Elena (April 28, 2019). "Blacksad: Under the Skin - Eine klassische Noir-Detektivgeschichte... Wenn da nicht die schwarze Katze wäre!". GameStar (in German). Archived from the original on April 28, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e Amores, Marina (April 15, 2019). "Corrupción, fama, boxeo y detectives: Blacksad pasa del papel al videojuego". Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 12, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Yago Lago (February 28, 2019). "La Mansión Maníaca #3: Entrevista a Pendulo sobre Blacksad y mucho más". MeriStation (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 29, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c McCarthy, Caty (July 19, 2019). "Blacksad: Under the Skin Stars a Feline as a Detective, But It's No Kid-Friendly Zootopia". USgamer. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e Ramée, Jordan (July 19, 2019). "Blacksad: Under The Skin Is All About Corruption, A New Theme For The Mystery Series". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019.
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  8. ^ a b Arroyo, David (July 19, 2019). "Blacksad: Under The Skin, impresiones; una carta de amor a los cómics". MeriStation (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 19, 2019.
  9. ^ Croft, Paula (March 28, 2019). "Blacksad: Under the Skin llegará a PC y consolas en septiembre". MeriStation (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  10. ^ Frankie MB (June 26, 2018). "Blacksad: el aclamado cómic español dará el salto a los videojuegos en 2019 de la mano de Pendulo Studios". VidaExtra (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
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  21. ^ Varela, Ramón (April 25, 2019). "Blacksad: Under the Skin se lanza el 26 de septiembre". Vandal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  22. ^ Marchetto, Claudia (July 22, 2019). "L'uscita di Blacksad: Under the Skin è stata posticipata, pubblicato un filmato che mostra lo sviluppo del gioco". Eurogamer Italia (in Italian). Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
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  26. ^ Moyse, Chris (November 6, 2019). "Blacksad: Under the Skin launches early due a technical hiccup". Destructoid. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  27. ^ a b c Cano, Jorge (November 19, 2019). "Análisis Blacksad: Under the Skin, puro cine negro (PS4, Switch, PC, Xbox One)". Vandal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on November 19, 2019.
  28. ^ Yago Lago (February 19, 2018). "Las 10 Aventuras Gráficas más prometedoras de 2018". MeriStation (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
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  31. ^ Ortega, José L. (January 9, 2019). "Los videojuegos españoles más esperados de 2019". HobbyConsolas (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  32. ^ Barriocanal, Inés (July 18, 2019). "Las aventuras gráficas más prometedoras que nos llegarán este año". IGN España (in Spanish). Archived from the original on July 20, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
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  36. ^ Roxborough, Scott (August 19, 2019). "Sony's 'Dreams' and 'Concrete Genie' Top Gamescom Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019.
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  38. ^ a b "Blacksad: Under the Skin for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  39. ^ a b "Blacksad: Under the Skin for PS4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
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  41. ^ a b Verfondem, Maja (November 15, 2019). "Test: Blacksad: Under the Skin". 4Players (in German). Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  42. ^ a b Schulz, Elena (November 19, 2019). "Blacksad: Under the Skin ist die ideale Telltale-Alternative". GameStar (in German). Archived from the original on November 19, 2019.
  43. ^ a b Wildgoose, David (November 26, 2019). "Blacksad: Under The Skin Review - Dog Days". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  44. ^ a b Tiraxa (November 18, 2019). "Test : Blacksad : Under the Skin, un polar noir grisant mais teinté de défauts". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Archived from the original on November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  45. ^ Arroyo, David (December 3, 2019). "Blacksad: Under the Skin, análisis". MeriStation (in Spanish). Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  46. ^ a b Kemp, Luke (November 13, 2019). "Blacksad: Under the Skin Review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  47. ^ a b Pascual, Alejandro (November 12, 2019). "Análisis de Blacksad: Under the Skin, la nueva aventura gráfica de Pendulo". 3DJuegos (in Spanish). Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  48. ^ "Titanium Awards 2019". Fun & Serious Game Festival. 9 March 2017. Archived from the original on November 21, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  49. ^ "2020 Winners & Nominees". www.harveyawards.com. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  50. ^ Oller, Martin (November 28, 2020). "Pendulo Studios, los españoles que quisieron competir con LucasArts". MeriStation (in Spanish). Archived from the original on November 28, 2020.
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