Blacksad: Under the Skin (2019) - Great Atmosphere, Characters and Story but Plagued by Numerous Bugs - 7/10 (07/01/22)

Blacksad: Under the Skin is an investigative action-adventure video game based upon the Spanish comic series of the same title. In this video game, you play an anthropomorphized cat who is investigating the suicide of a boxing gym owner and the simultaneous disappearance of a promising young athlete. The game brings to life New York City of the fifties and has an intriguing neo noir atmosphere. Players will be looking for clues, interrogating suspects and witnesses and try to survive numerous assaults.

On the positive side, this video game convinces with an excellent plot that fleshes out its numerous characters and comes around with several stunning twists. The story is the main reason to purchase this game and play it until the very end. The characters are complex, diversified and intriguing which helps creating a truly stunning reality for this game. The video game has an addictive neo noir atmosphere that gives it a gloomy but not scary tone, especially when investigating fitting locations such as shady bars, sinister crime scenes and hidden laboratories.

However, this video game also has its massive downsides. The original version features more bugs than GameBoy games from the late eighties. Graphics are blurry, information is revealed in the notes before the associated events even occur in the game, loading times are excessively long, character movements are painfully slow and sound sequences are all over the place. It's unacceptable that the game was published in such poor condition as the release date should have been pushed back in order to fix those enormous mistakes. The game is only playable with its heavy update patch and even that won't correct all its flaws at all times.

Other than those significant ups and downs, Blacksad: Under the Skin is a decently entertaining investigative action-adeventure video game for genre fans and those familiar with the comic series. If you are really fast, this game can be completed in about eight hours. If you really take your time to discover every single detail, the running time can increase up to fifteen hours. Occasional video game players should be able to complete the game in ten to twelve hours.

If you want to purchase this game, make sure to buy it for a reduced price of about thirty American dollars or Euros. If you pay more for it, you won't get enough for your hard-earned money. Make sure to grab a physical version of the game however, since its special edition comes along with a beautiful lenticular cover artwork and four character cards that are truly nicely done. It would have been an even better idea to release this game with an associated comic book however to promote this intriguing comic book series in overseas markets in particular.

Fans of the comic series, neo noir atmosphere and investigative action-adventure games will get a game that can be described as decent to good once its bugs have been fixed but it can't be considered a great game or even a masterpiece. The atmosphere, plot and reality are however unique enough to justify the release of a potential sequel that should however be developed with more care, organization and time. This video game might also inspire newcomers to actually check out the Spanish comic book series that has been around since the early years of the millennium. Five volumes have been released so far as we speak.