I’ve been patiently anticipating Hen Police: Into the Hive since its announcement final June. I cherished 2020’s Hen Police: Paint it RED, and was looking forward to a continuation. I bought an early look on the demo, and it’s a fairly bland style, nevertheless it’s not essentially indicative of an issue.

I believe it’s tough to construct a demo of any narrative-centric sport. Normally, these kinds of titles have a gradual construct with character introductions, and so they could not start any meaty twisting till later within the sport. Making an attempt to suit each the context and the hook right into a demo with out giving freely an excessive amount of of the general runtime may be tough, and Hen Police: Into the Hive isn’t essentially the most spectacular try.

It doesn’t do something to sully my pleasure for the total story, nevertheless it doesn’t actually heighten it, both.

I do wish to be aware that, as I performed the demo, it was nonetheless present process some last-minute improvement, so some issues that I be aware won’t be within the expertise you play.

The demo of Hen Police: Into the Hive form of skips the preliminary setup. Sonny Featherland has already been visited by somebody and given a case to work on. If you happen to’re informed what the case was, it should’ve glided by so quick that I initially missed it. I figured it out afterward, however we’re lacking the motivation. The case is a harmful and weird one, so how Sonny was satisfied to take it on isn’t actually defined right here.

As an alternative, Into the Hive begins with Sonny monitoring his companion, Marty MacChicken, right down to his house, the place his spouse is throwing his drunken ass out. What led to this isn’t defined, both, however that’s intentional. Sonny even requested him in the course of the demo if he bought drunk and was thrown out or if being thrown out was the reason for his getting drunk.

Afterward, it’s to the police station the place Marty and Sonny run into their foils, Plato and Moses. Moses was launched within the Zipp’s Cafe prologue sport, however the vital particulars revealed there are lined right here. They’re star detectives attempting to flee the shadow of the Hen Police. Clearly, they hate one another, however they’re arrange in such a means that it looks as if they’ll must cooperate in some unspecified time in the future.

Lastly, Monica, the receptionist on the Police Station, makes a reappearance on the taking pictures vary. One thing clearly has her pissed off, and he or she’s venting it with a hand cannon, however she received’t inform the chickens what it’s.

Then, the chickens got down to the Hive, which is a fenced-off Ghetto on the fringe of Clawville the place all of the bugs of the town reside. It’s, uh, uncomfortably topical, however I doubt that was intentional.

The Hive was glimpsed within the first Hen Police title, the place Marty and Sonny state their sympathy for the bugs, however their stance is extra that Clawville is a corrupt, rotting husk to start with, and that is one more injustice towards its inhabitants.

Oh, proper. The case that they’re on. Because it seems, the physique of a murdered insect went lacking, and so they’re looking for out why. Once more, the half the place we be taught the importance of that is minimize from the demo, so it’s a bit complicated.

Nonetheless, we do get a really feel for the (very mild) puzzle-solving at this level. There’s additionally a drunken chicken within the Distant Mild Bar, the place you possibly can play a fairly amusing minigame towards. Lastly, you meet the Spider Queen, who apparently guidelines over the Hive. That’s it. The demo ends there, teasing you with an interrogation occasion after which snatching it away.

As I acknowledged on the hop, this doesn’t counsel something is amiss with the event of Hen Police: Into the Hive. It simply doesn’t actually inform us a lot. I really feel like, by reducing out the introduction and interrogation with the queen, the Wild Gents may need trimmed out what is likely to be wanted hooks. As an alternative, we get various character introductions, and that’s about it. We don’t even actually get to listen to the motivation of the central characters.

That’s to not say the demo doesn’t have any worth. If you happen to didn’t partake in Zipp’s Cafe, it’s at the least an introduction to the plot and characters of Into the Hive. The superb picture manipulation is demonstrated to have returned. It’s nonetheless nice, however I observed that it appears a bit extra out of focus when performed in 4K in comparison with the crispness of the primary sport. I worth that crispness.

An addition for the reason that first sport is the power to play it in colour. I choose the previous noir look of black-and-white, however I don’t see a purpose to not have the selection to play in colour. All of the photographs they needed to take would have in all probability been in colour initially. It even brings its personal stylistic touches, as lots of the colours have a hanging garishness to them. It may be modified with the press of a button, so it’s an excellent addition.

The mini-game within the bar was enjoyable, as properly. You flick peanuts and attempt to financial institution them towards the glasses to get the opposite individual to drink. Paint it RED had some good diversions between all of the dialogue, and that appears prefer it’s going to be the case right here.

I’m going to repeat myself right here and say that I’m not much less excited to play the total launch of Hen Police: Into the Hive, however I’m additionally not extra excited. It’s a little bit of a wierd demo the by some means doesn’t actually current something distinctive to essentially hook you. At finest, it’s reassurance that this will likely be extra Hen Police. In that case, I’d simply advocate taking part in the primary sport to see in case you’d be into the second.

Alternatively, at the least it doesn’t make my anticipation any extra insufferable. I can simply return to doing… no matter it’s I do.