In Chicken Police, you play as an almost retired rooster named Sonny Featherland, hired by an elegant feline woman, Natasha Catzekno, to find out who sent him evil ultimatums. When asked for information, Natasha is not as innocent as she seems; she is not only the mistress of a bandit leader, the hamster Ibn Wessler, but she also has a Magical past that she continues to make fun of. You can easily see how these two can be the reasons why she is in trouble.
Sonny enlists the help of his ex-partner Marty MacChicken, both of whom have formed the legendary chicken police in the past. There is a story between the two, but fortunately this does not interfere much with the investigation. You get parts of the story, and it involves and intertwines with Sonny’s Ex-wife, but it’s not fully fleshed out if you only do the Minimum to complete the game. Even the game’s secret ending suggests that Sonny’s past could be explored further in a sequel or prequel.
To investigate Natasha’s crazy situation, Sonny and Marty have to interview an eccentric cast of characters. I’m talking about owls, dogs, bears, crocodiles… pretty much what makes a local Zoo. Most of the gameplay in Chicken Police is about asking the right questions. That’s right. There are certain characters that serve as blocks for the progress of the game, and the only way to get past them is to get a Passing Grade when you question them.
When Sonny questions these characters, he often gives an indication of that character’s eccentricities to ask the right questions. For example, a character’s arrogant self-confidence can be used to let down his guard of the truth. Although this type of Gameplay may seem fun, for most people who do not understand the intricacies of choosing which question to ask, it can be a puzzle. It may be that an average player needs several attempts (that is, repeating the game from the very beginning) or even following a step-by-step solution to find the optimal solution for the game.
In addition to the main interrogation Gameplay, the chicken police also uses mini-games like a shooter (of course, a detective game should have one) for a simple crime map. The Crime Board Map mini-game specifically summarizes what Sonny and Marty have learned so far and serves as a good Break in the chapters of the story.
Chicken Police is a relatively short game. It takes about a few hours if you focus only on completing the main story, and another two to three hours if you want to completely immerse yourself in the other things to see in the game. The game uses full voice output with every interaction, which is great considering this is from an indie developer.
As a side note, the end credits show all the animal species used to cast Chicken Police. Interestingly, the developers claim that these creatures are currently extinct. It’s kind of cool (and at the same time sad) to pay homage to animals that we may never see again.
