Software:Chicken Police: Paint It Red!

From HandWiki
Short description: 2020 video game
Chicken Police: Paint it Red!
Developer(s)The Wild Gentlemen
Publisher(s)HandyGames
Director(s)Bálint Bánk Varga
Producer(s)Tamás Bakó
Designer(s)Bálint Bánk Varga
Tamás Bakó
Péter Nádas
Programmer(s)Péter Nádas
Zsolt Várady
Artist(s)Alex Johannes Kuster
Zoltán Ludas
Titanilla Pizvor
István Lovász
Writer(s)Bálint Bánk Varga
Composer(s)László Vincze
SeriesWorld of Wilderness
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
ReleaseWindows, NS, PS4, XBO
  • WW: November 5, 2020
Android, iOS
  • WW: June 29, 2021
macOS
  • WW: November 4, 2021
Stadia
  • WW: December 6, 2021
PS5, XSX
  • WW: March 30, 2022
Amazon Luna
  • WW: October 20, 2022
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Chicken Police: Paint it Red! (stylized as Chicken Police: Paint it RED!) is a point-and-click adventure game developed by The Wild Gentlemen. It was released by HandyGames on November 5, 2020 for multiple platforms. Players control a burnt-out cop who is investigating a crime in a city of anthropomorphic animals.

A sequel, subtitled Into the HIVE!, launched on November 7, 2024 on Windows[1] and was published by Joystick Ventures. The sequel will eventually launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch as well.[2] This game continues after the events of the first game and follow Sonny and Marty on a new case.

Gameplay

Chicken Police is set in an alternate world populated by anthropomorphic animals that are generally depicted as humans with animal heads. Players control Sonny Featherland, a burnt-out cop with the head of a rooster. Sonny was formerly a celebrated hero but has become an alcoholic and is estranged from his former partner, Marty MacChicken. After being approached by a distraught woman, Sonny reunites with Marty to solve one last case before his retirement. The game is a point-and-click adventure game styled after 1940s film noir.[3] Most of the game is in a stylistic monochrome, but colors are used sparingly for emphasis.[4] Players look for clues, interview suspects, and eventually perform interrogations. When interrogating a suspect, a minigame determines their success. After being informed of personality quirks, players attempt to find a line of questioning that will exploit that suspect's personality.[3] Poorly-chosen lines of interrogation can close off dialogue options and reduce how much of the story's background players learn, but this does not put the game in an unwinnable state.[4]

Development

The premise was inspired by a YouTube video in which two chickens appear to break up a fight between rabbits.[5] To create the characters, The Wild Gentlemen started with human models in a studio and used Adobe Photoshop to change the heads to animals. Initially, the animal heads came from stock photography, but the developers found the images could be made more realistic-looking by taking their own photographs at wildlife parks and zoos. Some details were hand-drawn, and they made accessories, such as Bubo the owl's glasses, from scratch.[6] The resulting images were then broken into textures and animated in Unity.[7] Both classic adventure games and films noir were influences on the game. The relationship between the two cops is influenced by buddy cop films.[8][9] The team often worked remotely and were spread across multiple countries.[10]

Chicken Police was released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One on November 5, 2020, iOS and Android on June 29, 2021,[11] macOS on November 4[12] and Google Stadia in December 6 of the same year.[13] Next-gen ports were released on March 30, 2022[14] and it was also released on Amazon Luna on October 20 of the same year.[15]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
iOSNSPCPS4Xbox One
Adventure Gamers3.5/5
Hardcore Gamer4/5
Nintendo Life9/10
Aggregate score
MetacriticN/A83/100[18]82/100[16]84/100[17]83/100[19]

Laura Cress of Adventure Gamers praised the game's voice acting, graphics, and story, though she said it has "too many unnecessary mini-games".[3] Hardcore Gamer's reviewer, Chris Shive, similarly criticized the minigames while praising the noir atmosphere.[20] Writing for Nintendo Life, Stuart Gipp called it "a polished, captivating experience" and said it was one of the best adventure games on the Switch.[21] Luke Kemp of PC Gamer called it "one of the most surreal experiences of my life" and praised the writing and acting.[4] Caitlin Argyros wrote in her review for RPGfan that the mystery has an "abrupt and not quite satisfying" conclusion, but she enjoyed the writing nonetheless.[22] Christopher Byrd wrote in The Washington Post, "In my tiny pantheon of visual novel/adventure games, Chicken Police - Paint it Red has a spot."[23]

Sequel

In June 2023, The Wild Gentlemen announced its sequel, titled Chicken Police: Into the HIVE!, for Microsoft Windows.[24] Published by Joystick Ventures, the sequel was released on November 7, 2024.[1]

Building upon the foundation of the first game, Chicken Police: Into the HIVE! promised to delve deeper into the world of Chicken Police by venturing into the enigmatic and seedy Hive.

Speedrunning

Chicken Police: Paint It RED! has a small speedrunning community with leaderboards hosted on Speedrun.com.[25][26] Categories listed include Any% with and without skips; as of February 2026, the fastest verified Any% (Skips) time shown is 12:49 on PC by blathersheart, and the fastest verified Any% (No skips) time shown is 19:47 on PC.[27][28] Notably, the username AdamAlexChicken4Eva is credited by the community with “starting” the game’s speedrunning scene by submitting the first recorded run and kicking off wider participation. A verified PlayStation 4 Any% (No skips) run of 45:20 was submitted under the username AdamAlexChicken4Eva.[29]


References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Chicken Police: Into the Hive! - Official Release Date Trailer". October 3, 2024. https://www.ign.com/videos/chicken-police-into-the-hive-official-release-date-trailer. Retrieved October 3, 2024. 
  2. ↑ Cook, Adam (October 3, 2024). "Chicken Police: Into the HIVE! release date confirmed, coming to consoles later". https://www.godisageek.com/2024/10/chicken-police-into-the-hive-release-date-confirmed-coming-to-consoles-later/. Retrieved October 3, 2024. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cress, Laura (2020-11-16). "Review for Chicken Police: Paint It RED!". Adventure Gamers. https://adventuregamers.com/articles/view/chicken-police. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Kemp, Luke (2021-09-15). "Flapping the long wing of the law in Chicken Police: Paint it Red! - Luke Kemp". PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/pc-gamer-plays-blackwell-rogue-book-final-fantasy-14-chicken-police/. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  5. ↑ Hawkins, Josh (2019-04-19). "Interview: Chicken Police was inspired by a YouTube video". Shacknews. https://www.shacknews.com/article/111329/interview-chicken-police-was-inspired-by-a-youtube-video. Retrieved 2022-04-29. 
  6. ↑ "Chicken Police - THE DEV DIARIES #1". IndieDB. 2019-06-11. https://www.indiedb.com/games/chicken-police/news/chicken-police-the-dev-diaries-1. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  7. ↑ "THE DEV DIARIES #3 - Character animation". IndieDB. 2019-06-18. https://www.indiedb.com/games/chicken-police/news/the-dev-diaries-3-character-animation. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  8. ↑ "THE DEV DIARIES #4 - How NOIR shaped everything". IndieDB. 2019-06-22. https://www.indiedb.com/games/chicken-police/news/the-dev-diaries-4-how-noir-shaped-everything. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  9. ↑ "THE DEV DIARIES #2 - Games That Made Us". IndieDB. 2019-06-15. https://www.indiedb.com/games/chicken-police/news/the-dev-diaries-2-games-that-made-us. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  10. ↑ "THE DEV DIARIES #5 - Does the code have a soul?". IndieDB. 2019-06-26. https://www.indiedb.com/games/chicken-police/news/the-dev-diaries-5-does-the-code-have-a-soul. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  11. ↑ Madnani, Mikhail (2021-06-29). "Noir Adventure Chicken Police: Paint It Red from Handy Games Is Out Now on iOS and Android Following Its Debut on Consoles and PC Last Year". TouchArcade. https://toucharcade.com/2021/06/29/chicken-police-paint-it-red-iphone-android-out-now-mobile-price-release-date/. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  12. ↑ "Steam :: Chicken Police :: 1st Anniversary & MacOS" (in en). 2021-11-04. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1084640/view/3104663180631022188. 
  13. ↑ Fuchs, Consti (2021-12-06). ""Chicken Police - Paint it RED!" is out on Stadia! Now!" (in en-GB). https://press.handy-games.com/chicken-police-paint-it-red-is-out-on-stadia-now. 
  14. ↑ Fuchs, Consti (2022-03-30). "Chicken Police out on Next Generation consoles!" (in en-GB). https://press.handy-games.com/chicken-police-out-on-next-generation-consoles. 
  15. ↑ Amazon Luna (2022-10-20). New on Luna+: Chicken Police - Paint it RED!. Retrieved 2026-08-04 – via YouTube.
  16. ↑ "Chicken Police - Paint it RED! (PC)". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/chicken-police-paint-it-red/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. Retrieved 2022-04-30. 
  17. ↑ "Chicken Police - Paint it RED! (PlayStation 4)". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/chicken-police-paint-it-red/critic-reviews/?platform=playstation-4. Retrieved 2022-04-30. 
  18. ↑ "Chicken Police - Paint it RED! (Nintendo Switch)". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/chicken-police-paint-it-red/critic-reviews/?platform=nintendo-switch. Retrieved 2022-04-30. 
  19. ↑ "Chicken Police - Paint it RED! (Xbox One)". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/chicken-police-paint-it-red/critic-reviews/?platform=xbox-one. Retrieved 2022-04-30. 
  20. ↑ Shive, Chris (2020-11-23). "Review: Chicken Police – Paint it RED!". Hardcore Gamer. https://hardcoregamer.com/reviews/review-chicken-police-paint-it-red/392720/. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  21. ↑ Gipp, Stuart (2020-11-21). "Chicken Police - Paint it RED! Review". Nintendo Life. https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/chicken_police_-_paint_it_red. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  22. ↑ Argyros, Caitlin (2021-09-05). "Chicken Police – Paint it RED!". RPGFan. https://www.rpgfan.com/review/chicken-police-paint-it-red/. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  23. ↑ Byrd, Christopher (2021-05-21). "'Chicken Police - Paint it Red': A dryly-comedic rooster in a trench coat is only half the fun". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/05/21/chicken-police-paint-it-red-game-review/. Retrieved 2022-04-28. 
  24. ↑ Handley, Zoey (2023-06-22). "Chicken Police: Into the Hive brings the partners back for another finger-lickin' mystery". https://www.destructoid.com/chicken-police-into-the-hive-brings-the-partners-back-for-another-finger-lickin-mystery/. 
  25. ↑ "Chicken Police: Paint It RED! (leaderboards)". https://www.speedrun.com/chicken_police_paint_it_red. 
  26. ↑ "Chicken Police: Paint It RED! – Game stats". https://www.speedrun.com/chicken_police_paint_it_red/stats. 
  27. ↑ "Any% in 12:49 by blathersheart (Chicken Police: Paint It RED!)". https://www.speedrun.com/chicken_police_paint_it_red/runs/zxwk928m. 
  28. ↑ "Any% in 19:47 by blathersheart (Chicken Police: Paint It RED!)". https://www.speedrun.com/chicken_police_paint_it_red/runs/yvpx094y. 
  29. ↑ "Any% in 45:20 by AdamAlexChicken4Eva (Chicken Police: Paint It RED!)". https://www.speedrun.com/chicken_police_paint_it_red/runs/y80723dm. 



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