The Drifter Review (PC) – Neither Here Nor There
As I shut down my Steam Deck after finishing the third chapter of The Drifter, I found myself asking a peculiar question: “Am I… having fun with a point-and-click adventure game?!”. The answer was a resounding yes, astonishingly. I was hooked like a whale spotting a swarm of krill. Less than 15 minutes after hitting the power button, I was mashing it again to launch myself back into this devilishly addictive pulp-noir tale.
If you know me, then you know that outside of Grim Fandango, my appreciation of point-and-click games can be multiplied to the square root of nil. I’ve always left them to the aficionados, Ross and Sean. The Drifter, however, is one of those special cases where I’m pleased to branch out of my typical wheelhouse. So, what makes this pixel-art story adventure about a homeless Australian returning to his old stomping ground so compelling? Well, for that, we’ll have to hitch a ride on a boxcar and see where the mystery takes us.
Are You Taking The Mick?
The Drifter begins aboard a boxcar ferrying our protagonist – gruff, no-nonsense speaking Mick – back towards his home town. Only snag is, Mick hasn’t been back for five years. Returning to bury his mother after her passing, Mick loses contact with his straight-talking yet empathetic sister, with a hint that all was not well upon his departure five years ago. Especially when his sister alludes to how Mick still hasn’t spoken with his wife Sarah since then.
Familial bonds established right off the bat, you’ll scope out the box car, only to be assailed by gun-toting soldiers ripped straight out of the Sam Fisher fashion store. Green NVG goggles and everything. Why are the soldiers after Mick? What caused the acrimony in his family? Who is the Bucket Butcher that’s terrorising the town’s homeless population? All but a tipping point of questions, you and Mick will be desperately wondering. Oh, and Mick can seemingly resurrect from death and rewind time to just before his demise.
Did I mention all of this happens in the opening 20 minutes or so? The Drifter wastes no time setting up tantalising plot threads that are just begging you to throw yourself forward like a bull seeing red. Getting a game’s opening right is a tough ask, but developer Powerhoof smash it out of the park from the off. I was enthralled virtually immediately, and the steam train that is this game’s story simply continues to barrel on like a bat out of hell from there.
Can We Go Drift Shopping?
Obviously, I’m going to be very careful with what I discuss relating to the story and themes, as The Drifter is primarily a narrative-focused title. There are some massive themes involved, from the impact of grief to quantum cognition, you’ll be mentally tested in both your understanding but also your empathy. The cast of characters are nuanced and complex, each with likeable and unlikeable elements. For me, that’s a huge plus in the game’s favour.
Sure, there’s the detective who calls you “boss” at the end of every interaction, or the down-on-her-luck receptionist who’s miserly and sarcastic, but they work for the setting. The detective also looks and dresses like Elvis, and you can’t not applaud the sheer audacity of him. The core group of figures, including Mick, his sister Annie and his wife Sarah, are all brilliantly voiced. Mick’s voice actor delivers gruff despair and disinterest with an earnest undertone, while Sarah’s derisive attitude feels apt rather an grating.
It’s all handled with such care and craftsmanship, I’d often end my play sessions pondering what was coming next, or how I felt about these personalities. In terms of guessing the plot, I was wrong at *almost* every turn. Just when I’d thought I’d got to grips with it all, I’d discover I was very wrong. I also finished the game in three sittings, such was my investment in finding out how it all concluded.
Drifting Into View
If I had to sum it up neatly, I’d describe The Drifter’s story as an onion on steroids. There are layers and then even more layers to unpack. If you’re into deep and complex storytelling wrapped up in a pulp-noir setting with highbrow thematic strands, The Drifter could very well be one of your favourite experiences of the year. I’m sure there are some plot holes if you look hard enough, or the odd bit of dodgy writing, but quite honestly, they pale in comparison to the excellent.
Of course, in order to unravel all the mysteries he’s faced with, Mick will need to make great use of his (read: your) intuition skills. This is a point-and-click style adventure game, meaning you’ll be interacting with the environment to pick up objects, combine them into other objects, or use them to solve puzzles and uncover clues. As I’ve said before, typically I’m not a fan of this style, but The Drifter is both logically sound and easy to interact with.
Interactable items are highlighted by a reticle, and Mick can lock onto them when selected, eliminating arduous droning around missing that one thing on the floor, in a corner, out of sight. Locations and environments are kept relatively small, so everything moves along at a quick pace, with easily memorable rooms to reference back to, or remember where this thing you’ve just found may have helped you in that location.
Schrodinger’s Trinket
There are a handful of locations you’ll visit during The Drifter’s runtime, particularly in the middle chapters, where you’ll revisit 4-5 places. What they lack in size, they make up for in density. You’ll often need to rummage through every corner, try items on different people, then return with something new or a combined item to now progress. Thankfully for me, The Drifter is fairly logical in terms of puzzles and solutions.
I got stuck during one of the game’s more complicated chapters, but the roadblock was literally that I needed to leave and return to a location to make a new item spawn. Otherwise, I sailed through with the satisfaction of piecing it together with common sense, or occasionally brute forcing items. If overzealous puzzles have caused you to detest this genre in the past, I’d implore you to try this one out, as it may just change your mind.
In more tense moments, Mick may find himself needing to rapidly fulfil a set of steps, for fear of a swift end if he fails. Again, most of these events make sense, though I died more than a few times evading a creature in a crypt. One instance had me stuck in an office, desperately getting offed about a dozen times by the soldiers until I finally activated my one extra brain cell. The puzzles feel like a fair balance of challenging, but without becoming obstructive to progress.
Sifting Through The Trash
Put simply, I truly embraced and savoured gunning through The Drifter. As well as the aforementioned puzzle roadblocks, I had two instances of Mick’s controls locking up and refusing to budge, requiring a previous save reload. The selection reticle can sometimes go awry when objects are in close proximity, which lead to more than one panic-inducing moment if the threat of death was hanging over me. Relatively small problems, but they were annoying in places.
What wasn’t annoying, however, was the pixel-art style graphics. The Drifter is littered with noir charm, from rain-soaked alleyways to the grungy underside of an overpass, each locale has a certain atmosphere that radiates out as you play. Annie’s home, for example, has hints of a lived-in family home, like how the tape recorder is missing buttons. These details permeate through the game and really add to the sense of intricate detail it exudes.
The fact that The Drifter sits within a genre I don’t typically care for, and impresses with an art style I often don’t vibe with either, is testament to just how well developed it really is. Throw in how it has the propensity for some genuinely hilarious moments in all the serious drama, and you have a recipe for one especially gleaming indie gem.
Go Home, Mick
Suffice it to say, The Drifter was a rather pleasant surprise for me. It’s an exceptionally inventive title that hits far more than it misses. Playing it on Steam Deck, I found myself itching to dive right back in as soon as I quit out, with it constantly gnawing at me to figure out all of its mysteries. It may not have the complexity of point-and-click behemoths from yesteryear in terms of puzzling, but it more than makes up for that with a stellar narrative and exceptionally voiced cast of characters.
Be prepared should you decide to take the plunge into this fast-paced, conspiracy-ridden epic. If it can win over even me, it’s surely doing something right. It has the odd issue and stumbling moment, but on the whole, this is one of the better indie games you’ll likely play this year. Me, enjoy a pixel-art point-and-click game? Madness.
The Drifter is available now on PC via Steam (review platform).
Developer: Powerhoof, Dave Lloyd
Publisher: Powerhoof
Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.
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