After playing video games for several decades, I’m beginning to learn some truths about myself. Apparently, I’m a sucker for anthropomorphic, noir detective games. That might seem a bit random and incredibly niche, but after realizing in the past few years I’ve played Blacksad: Under the Skin, Backbone, Chicken Police: Paint it Red!, Tails: The Backbone Preludes, and Duck Detective: The Secret Salami, well, the evidence is fairly damning. So it came as no surprise to our team when I leapt at the chance to review Cat Detective Albert Wilde from indie developer beyondthosehills.

Taking place in a fictional version of 1930s New York, we follow our protagonist, Albert Wilde, a detective who’s down on his luck. Alone, jobless, penniless, and banned from the only bar in town, Albert is desperate for some good fortune. When attempting to beg his bookie for more money, he finds a promising new case that might give him a big enough payday to put a small dent in his mountain of debt. What starts off as a relatively simple job, evolves into a complicated web of lies, betrayals, secrets, and… quantum theory? Trust me, Cat Detective Albert Wilde has more twists and turns than snakes during mating season.

For the most part, Cat Detective Albert Wilde is a point-and-click adventure. It’s somewhere in-between a visual novel and a walking sim. Players can move Albert in first-person around several different locations. At any given time, points of interest can be highlighted that you can (and should), click on to inspect or interact with. Don’t worry about scouring every inch of each area; objects and people of interest are highlighted and nearly impossible to miss. This is not a difficult game by any means, and I was able to obtain all fourteen achievements on my playthrough without any outside assistance. 

There’s also no need to stress over which dialogue options to pick. I spent a lot of time in the beginning carefully contemplating the best response to each interaction before eventually realizing that no matter what you choose, the game will guide you towards the same outcome. You can’t ruin interrogations or cut-off contacts. Cat Detective Albert Wilde doesn’t have multiple endings either, so you can feel free to select whichever dialogue tickles your fancy. Seriously, go wild with it. Cat Detective Albert Wilde is a comedic game that offers an outrageous response to whichever option you choose.

Truth be told, Cat Detective Albert Wilde would have faired much better if it were strictly a narrative-driven, point-and-click adventure. The biggest issues with the game are when it breaks away from this gameplay and tries to do something different. There are two sections of the game that are particularly aggravating.

The first is when you’re suddenly thrust into a fight against three different crocodile gangsters. This is the only time you’ll ever have to fight in Cat Detective Albert Wilde. You’re thrown into the fighting section with very minimal instruction against enemies who can end you in a couple of hits. Blocking is basically useless and dodging is unreliable at best. What’s worse is that their hit detection boxes are nowhere near where you’d think they’d be, meaning you have to almost clip into their character models in order to have your attacks register. Then when you die (and you will, often), you have to start the entire section again from the beginning. It doesn’t help that this section doesn’t work with a controller or Steam Deck, so you’ll have to rely solely on a mouse and keyboard.

The second offender is near the end when you have to escape via a chase sequence. Not only are you being chased, but you have to successfully navigate a maze while doing so. Surprisingly, the maze aspect isn’t the toughest thing about this segment. Once again, just like with the fighting section, the worst part is the controls. Even though you might know exactly which way to go, there’s only about a 50/50 chance that your directional input will register in time. If it doesn’t, then Albert runs head-first into a wall and you’ll have to start the entire ordeal over again. It’s maddening and brings the whole climax to a screeching halt.

This brings me to my last, and lesser issue with Cat Detective Albert Wilde: the framerate. No matter which visual/performance settings you choose, the framerate will frequently plummet into the single digits. In fact, I found that changing my settings to the highest resolution made the game unplayable. It would freeze altogether, forcing me to reload my save and then struggle to change the graphics settings back to medium. So just be aware that there are framerate drops, and the sides and backgrounds can look blurry. That said, the character models are well done, and are reminiscent of those found in Chicken Police. I also really enjoyed the numerous cinematic cutscenes.

Thankfully, the sound design is pretty decent all around. There’s not much voice acting aside from Albert and the narrator, and both give a solid performance. Albert sounds a little robotic in the very beginning, but that dissipates after the first chapter. The music is appropriately moody for the noir 1930s setting and sets the tone well for each scene. 

I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed Cat Detective Albert Wilde. At first I thought it was going to be a knock-off of Chicken Police, but it turned out to be something completely different. I don’t want to get into spoilers, so let me just say that goes in directions I never saw coming. This game is absolutely bonkers, in the best of ways. It’s also laced with humor that worked much better than I was expecting, and I found myself giggling quite often throughout my playthrough. If you’re like me and have a soft spot for anthropomorphic, noir detective games, or you just like short, weird, indie games, then you should call upon Cat Detective Albert Wilde.

 

Graphics: 6.5 The character models were great, but the framerate struggled and plummeted regardless of what visual/performance setting was selected.	Gameplay: 6.0 A classic point-and-click adventure for the majority of the game, which is what it should have stuck with. The fighting and chase sequences were incredibly frustrating.
Sound: 8.0 There’s not much spoken dialogue other than Albert and the narrator. Al’s voice actor can sound a bit robotic at times, especially in the beginning. The music is appropriately moody for the noir 1930s setting.	Fun Factor: 7.5 Aside from frustrations with the deviations from the point-and-click formula, the mystery, characters, and humor were more than enough to make the experience worthwhile. This game goes in directions you won’t see coming.
Final Verdict: 7.0

Cat Detective Albert Wilde is available now on PC.

Reviewed on PC and Steam Deck.

A copy of Cat Detective Albert Wilde was provided by the publisher.