From the very beginning, The Darkside Detective: Backside of the Moon doesn’t take itself that seriously. I mean, with a name like that, you wouldn’t expect it to either. This third entry to the The Darkside Detective series sees Detective McQueen and Officer Dooley once again solving crimes in Twin Lakes using some classic point and click adventure logic.
The preview case for The Darkside Detective: Backside of the Moon is titled Honey I Shrunk The Detective, and you don’t have to be a superintendent to work out what the premise will be. The case opens with Detective McQueen completing paperwork while Officer Dooley complains about paperwork, and his job. The opening dialogue between the two sets the tone for this comedy, and it does have funny banter between the two characters. While McQueen gets on with work, while Dooley’s boredom leads him to mess around with an artifact that sees them both get shrunk.
Being a detective is tough enough already, so being the size of a pen really makes things difficult. So McQueen and Dooley naturally begin a quest to get back to their right size. In the opening parts of the case, the pair meet another couple smaller couple that take things to furnish their little home (but don’t call them Borrowers), and a rat who just wants his shower fixed. If you ignore the preposterousness of the situation, fixing a shower and climbing up something are normal things to do. Being a point and click adventure game, the solutions are not the most straightforward.
In this part of The Darkside Detective: Backside of the Moon, you need to climb back to McQueen’s desk, fix the plumbing, and find a way to unshrink yourselves. The solutions for each of the puzzles while absurd to fit with the theme are very straightforward, so much so that the demo was over in 15 minutes. If the opening speaks for what to expect in the full release, then Backside of the Moon should be a fun adventure game without too much frustration when figuring out puzzle solutions.
I haven’t played the previous The Darkside Detective games, but just going by the demo for The Darkside Detective: Backside of the Moon, I think I have been missing out. The humour is well written with fourth wall breaking moments, the characters already seem very likeable, and the puzzle elements are fun to figure out. Definitely one to keep an eye of for you point and click adventure fans.
