‘Hector: Badge of Carnage’ Episode 2: Senseless Acts of Justice Review

Game Rant’s Trung Bui reviews Hector: Badge of Carnage Episode 2: Senseless Acts of Justice

Telltale Games has been on a great roll when it comes to bringing quirky, humorous, and generally great adventure titles to the gaming public. Hector: Badge of Carnage Episode 2: Senseless Acts of Justice continues the story as previously seen in Hector Episode 1, following our porky protagonist as he starts investigating the identity of the terrorist of Clapper’s Wreake.

What is there to expect? Laughs, a few grotesque things, and definitely a satisfying time.

Our review of the first episode did leave us yearning for more of the fat, English detective and Episode 2 delivers a bit more in-depth gameplay that’s not too tough and not too easy. After all, an adventure game is nothing without some puzzle solving and Hector: Badge of Carnage Episode 2 is full of it. Puzzles are presented in the usual fashion: Hector needs something and must take the long, roundabout way to procure the item. The puzzle presentation is organic and for the intuitive minds of some folks, the answers will fall into place. For others who don’t belong to the school of lateral thinking, head scratching may occur.

The story of Episode 2 follows immediately after the cliffhanger ending of Episode 1. If you HAVEN’T PLAYED EPISODE 1 SPOILERS follow: Hector, after discovering the building sniper is really a laptop controlled sniper rifle, must escape the building and find the terrorist who is responsible for killing 30+ policemen. His investigation takes him all over the town of Clapper’s Wreake, doing things he doesn’t want to do – in order to discover the terrorist’s identity.

Hector‘s writing is definitely one of the shining things about the game. It’s great. Pure and simple. A mix between vulgar pop culture and general wit creates off-the-wall exchanges between Hector and the civilians around town. Writing like this is enough to justify the purchase alone. Think of it this way, you’ll be paying less than the amount of a movie ticket for a game that will last longer and be more enjoyable. Definitely a winning scenario.

New in Senseless Acts of Justice is the ability to control (for a brief time) Hector’s partner, Lambert. Hector and Lambert must work in concert in the beginning of the game to solve a problem, but after that, the game’s focus shifts back to the slobby cop. Should you find yourself in need of an occasional hint or two (I know I did a few times), Hector can speak to Lambert, who also doubles as the game’s hint system. Talking to Lambert offers some advice that might put you on the right track – but, if he’s too vague, the game’s regular old hint system (complete with a step-by-step walkthrough of portions of the game) will also be available.

Improved from Episode 1 are the animations. While not everything is animated in crisp fluidity, the improvements add a more complimentary cartoon feel to the game. It is important to note that the game is designed for iOS, as well as PC, so a system-eating graphics engine that churns out amazing animations would be over the top. Straandlooper did a great job on the animations – and the result adds quite a bit to the offbeat feel of Hector.

All in all, if you have played the original Hector, enjoy some great written humor, or like adventure games at all, you will probably enjoy Episode 2: Senseless Acts of Justice. It’s definitely worth investigating.

Hector: Badge of Carnage Episode 2: Senseless Acts of Justice is available now for PC and iPad for $9.99. A season pass for all 3 episodes is available for $19.99.

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