I’m sure the term has been around for a while, but I recently heard the term “newstalgia” for the first time, and that’s a term that I would apply to lots of video games that I enjoy. I don’t necessarily feel this about franchise reboots, but I like it when classic-feeling genres are updated to feel more modern. The Drifter, the latest game from the Australian duo known as Powerhoof, does exactly that. Not only does it find mechanical ways to update the point-and-click adventure genre, but also tells a sci-fi horror thriller that feels right at home with something from 70s and 80s cinema.
They pitch this game as being inspired by King, Crichton, and Carpenter, and that’s apparent in every aspect of the narrative that they present. You play as Mick Carter, the titular drifter who is returning home for his mom’s funeral. While stashed away in a train car, he witnesses a man get murdered by high-tech soldiers, leading to Carter’s death by drowning. Immediately, he finds himself seconds before his death, giving him a chance to survive. From there he goes on a journey to unravel a strange conspiracy and find his family, all while on the run from cops who believe he’s responsible for a series of murders that have been attributed to a serial killer.
This narrative plays out with traditional point-and-click gameplay, but finds ways to make it surprisingly propulsive and action-oriented. When I think of old point-and-click adventures, I often think of meticulously hunting for interaction points in the scene and fumbling around trying to figure out what I need to do with the objects in my inventory. The Drifter finds ways to smooth out a lot of these issues, modernizing the classic gameplay in clever ways. I played the game exclusively with a controller, one of the big selling points Powerhoof is promoting, and it worked like a dream. When you use the right joystick, a small ring appears around your character with little circles that highlight the direction of interaction points nearby, which eliminates the frustrating process of looking for the elements of the scene that can be clicked on. As you’re highlighting them, you can scroll through the items in your inventory to experiment with using them on a certain point as you’re solving puzzles. It’s such a great system that reduces friction and allows you to move briskly through the exciting plot.
The story itself is extremely well-paced, alternating between sections of sprawling investigation and thrilling action. This allows the puzzles to be extremely varied, sometimes asking you to move back and forth between locations to get the required items to progress, while other times putting you in tense situations where you’ll need to craft a MacGyver-like solution to prevent yourself from being killed. One of my favorite examples had me trapped in an office with a hive of insects as soldiers were trying to bust in, forcing me to use what I could find in the room to get the swarm under control while also figuring out how to get through the window to lower myself to the alleyway below. I was consistently surprised by their ability to use the mechanical language of the adventure game genre to construct satisfying action scenes, making it stand out from its peers.
Occasionally this does make things a little frustrating when it doesn’t click right away. None of the game’s puzzles are too out there, and you’re not usually carrying an overwhelming amount of items that you need to test out, but it’s easy to get a little hopeless when you’re dying over and over again and can’t figure it out. Carter retains that power to rewind to a moment before his death, so you’re never losing too much time when you screw up, but it can affect the pace of the game, which is otherwise perfect.
The investigation chapters were well-constructed, giving you a more open map with several locations to explore that are all interconnected. It helps convey the feeling of unraveling a large conspiracy that you’re stuck in the middle of, with several threads to pursue at once. Moving between locations is seamless, so it never really becomes an issue and rewards you for mastery of the map. If you have trouble keeping everything in your head, The Drifter has an excellent recap system that will give you the latest info about various topics in a way that makes it clear what your next goal should be. I very rarely found myself stuck during these chapters, and it felt great to chip away at the mystery detail by detail.
As far as the individual puzzles go, there’s the occasional leap of logic you have to make with the ways the items are used, but for the most part it’s all very practical. It felt good to have the light bulb moment of going “this is what I would do in real life” and have that solution work, and it does so in a way that also doesn’t make it feel too obvious. It’s a fine line to walk, but The Drifter manages to pull it off the majority of the time. If you do end up having trouble, they’ve put together a nice incremental, spoiler-free guide that you can reference.
With this game being so narrative focused, a lot of the quality of the game is dependent on its writing, which is thankfully top notch. A serial killer, high-tech soldiers, strange monsters, unhoused people losing their minds, and bizarre experiments on the human mind all are weaved into a thrilling tale that’s full of twists and turns. There were many points throughout the eight hour game where everything I believed about characters and their motivations was completely turned on its head, making for an unpredictable story that kept me on my toes. I don’t usually like using this word when talking about video games because I don’t like them chasing other mediums, but the story in The Drifter felt truly cinematic, like I was experiencing a new blockbuster thriller at the megaplex.
The sharp writing also extends to the dialog, which presents well-rounded characters with their own distinct personalities. In the main cast of Carter’s family, you have a compelling and complicated history full of tragedy and grief, which ties in perfectly to the overarching story. Even the side characters have their own quirks that make them memorable, like the detective who always calls you “boss” or the receptionist who’s writing a very… interesting novel. Sprinkled into the dialog is the internal monologue of Carter, which adds a unique flair to the style of the game. To my surprise, every line of dialog is fully voiced in this game, with distinct performances that elevate the product as a whole. In addition to the great voice acting, there’s an excellent synthwave score that sets the tone perfectly, capturing that John Carpenter feel they’re pitching. Definitely seems like something I’d listen to even outside of the context of the game, with a moody vibe that evokes a classic era.
Rounding out the presentation is a crunchy pixel art style that’s brought to life with weighty animations. There’s great use of color and lighting to bring these scenes to life, again modernizing a look that feels classic. The indistinct nature of the pixel art makes some of the horrific sights you see even more terrifying, allowing your mind to fill in the gaps. Occasionally I found myself wanting a little more detail in the facial expressions, but the quality of the animation helped bring it to life.
I’m not an expert on the point-and-click adventure genre, either classic or modern, but The Drifter is one of the best examples I’ve come across. It’s both evocative of a bygone era and modern-feeling, making for a perfect throwback. It’s a riveting narrative with a masterful control over pacing featuring well-rounded characters and surprising emotional beats. I was constantly surprised by the game’s twists and turns, to the point where I found myself physically leaning in towards my screen during a particularly consequential exposition scene. The only disadvantage of the pacing was that it made the times you got stuck on a puzzle feel extra bad, grinding things to a halt when they should be racing forward, but thankfully those moments were fairly infrequent. If you’re looking for a polished narrative experience that’s equal parts investigation and thrill ride, The Drifter has you covered.
Review code provided by publisher. The Drifter is now available on Steam. A Nintendo Switch version is also in development.
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