#chicken police into the hive spoilers

[noir-ish-bee]

lewis doodles :))) hes my favorite

Spoilers under cut cuz its a relatively new game

[hungry-skeleton]

Fuck this game tbh /silly

[clankit]

moodboard for when you finish Chicken Police: Into the Hive

[hungry-skeleton]

I can't believe Chicken Police buried its gays

[hungry-skeleton]

Now that I've had time to process the game properly I've got some Thoughts™ about Into The Hive.. Spoilers under cut for the 2 people on tumblr that play Chicken Police

First things first, I cannot say with a sound mind that this was a bad game because it wasn't. Into The Hive was a fucking blast up until the final act. The gameplay itself was very fun and the visuals were a huge upgrade from Paint It Red. To get it out of the way, yes I understand that it had a rough development due to covid and publisher changes so I can't be too mad about some jank details. However, some of the writing choices were just. Baffling honestly.

For the Hive itself, I was so hyped to finally see it from all the buildup it had in the first game. Unfortunately I don't think this game really delivered? It wasn't an outright disappointment it was just... Eh? The original game made it seem like a lawless wasteland with corpses and cannibals everywhere but all it really turned out to be was a dirtier city with even more depressed people. I was expecting to walk into a purge movie honestly, but maybe that's my fault. For the Hive being the name of the game we barely did any exploring, I feel like we only scratched the surface of the place and didn't even get to see the worst of it.

The exploration of this game in general just felt less in depth than the first. There's no real optional characters to speak to unlike the first game (which makes the Talkative Breed achievement kinda pointless) and it overall felt more cramped and railroaded. There wasn't any limited time events for special dialogue like in the first game unless you count like.. The Bloodboyle birthday thing that's super easy to miss.

While the characters were fantastic as always the only real problem with them was the seemingly shoehorned "romance" between Sonny and Monica. I know haha I'm the "sonny and marty are super gay" guy but speaking entirely about canon, this just doesn't work. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Monica. She and Sonny's one on one interactions in the later half of the game were great, but there's literally nothing about their relationship that is romantic to me. They're good friends, they have been since the first game, and literally nothing about the way they interacted changed. Yet every character was acting as if there was suddenly sparks flying and unmistakable chemistry. They acted the same towards each other as they always have?? I get that the games theme is moving on but I don't think a new relationship is necessary for Sonny to do that, especially not in the way that it was handled.

The final act is where the issues really become prevalent. This games biggest problem is how obviously rushed the conclusion is. Everything was smooth sailing and really enjoyable until the climax. We didn't get to understand the villains and their motivations the way we did Wessler in Paint It Red. In fact we barely got any time with them. Mick was there for a grand total of 2 minutes before fucking vanishing and all we really got out of him was a half baked backstory that he admitted to way too quickly. Everything culminated in the villains being 3 steps ahead of us the entire time and the grand victory just being shooting the bitch (which Sonny once again couldn't do himself). All this did was make me feel like everything I had done was for jack shit. Every clue and lead a trap that was ended with a single bullet. So unbelievably unfulfilling, even if it was still a victory.

Lastly, of course, the elephant in the room. Marty's death was stupid, plain and simple. Writing out of the way, the logistics just didn't make sense? Did Mick only have one bullet or something? Why'd he drive away after a single shot? Marty's death added literally nothing to the story. It was abrupt, thrown in at the last few minutes of the game, and almost felt sort of... passive aggressive in a way? I don't know how else to put it.. There was an air of insincerity to the entire sequence. If you're going to permanently kill a main character there had better be a good reason and there just wasn't one. I literally cannot fathom why this choice was made. So they didn't have to make anymore games? Okay then just don't? Why'd you have to do that? Marty had a family to return to and Sonny had already made up his mind on leaving Clawville, the end of the Chicken Police was already set in stone.. This just felt like an unnecessary jab at no-one in particular.

Some smaller things that bothered me, rather than answering some older questions the last game set up like the shooting incident they instead chose to not answer anything and throw in a few more questions about Sonny's past that will likely never be answered now. Unless they intend on making prequels of some kind? But even that just doesn't feel right now. You see what needlessly killing a main character does? Lmao. Also for the combining feature in the inventory being added we barely got to use it, I wish there was more use in that.

Characters and voice acting were fantastic as always. But otherwise yeah, that's what was on my mind. It's a solid 6/10. I had a great time but the final act really soils so much of the full experience. Lmk what you few other Chicken Police fans on Tumblr think

OK I'm done yapping now, I'm gonna draw Sonny and Marty kissing sloppy style

[clankit]

I know it's probably just gonna be Laura telling them they have to stop being so codependent and its gonna be super sad BUT i will at least live for a few hours in a world where she is forcing them into a polycule

[hungry-skeleton]

Chicken Police: Into the Hive was fun, I like Marty's title drop 4th Wall moments, Lewis is actually a bad bitch spy, the insects gang and The Hive, the animal noises they make, Monica used to be a diva queen and the implications that she might've had sort of a motherly bond with Lupus, the wolf guy, I think it's kinda sweet given that she was his dad's mistress, funny how if Monica had accompanied the Chickens, things could've gone more smooth, I mean even the Roaches bros know her and are her fans apparently, also it was implied Natasha is a spy too which says a lot and Meredith is a Lioness, I was expecting a Bird Lady but that's fine too

I just don't like everything else besides the above points: The romance between Monica and Sonny is so unnecessary, we didn't even know what truly happened between Sonny and his ex-wife, Molly despite the previous game's after credit scene which implied Molly was about to visit Sonny before retreating then left (Possible Molly is a royal spy too? She and Natasha were working at the same place and Madam Zaiwass is an ex-spy, they should make stuff about this storyline), I don't think Sonny's dream even counts as the truth, I actually thought Molly was a pigeon but turned out she's a parrot

I feel like Monica and Sonny should've just stayed friends, the storyline with Molly could've been expanded upon if Sonny is involved but now it just seem unlikely

Mick and Kayla are great villains but it just ended up meh for me, I didn't like how to deal with Mick and Kayla's stories, I would rather Mick just stayed the heartless gangster he is without that out-of-nowhere backstory drop while he's pointing a gun at someone, it's not bad he had loved a woman once before, but the lore reveal in that moment is super unnecessary

Kayla's death is pretty anticlimactic, I don't know how to explain it but I feel it could've gone better (Letting the King Hector killed her felt more suitable given that he had all the right to)

Lastly Marty's death, I've seen a better character death before, out of everyone in this game, he's the least expected and unnecessary to die, literally the guy has all the reasons to stay alive: A family to come home to and his wife is expecting. I just hate dumb unnecessary deaths in Fiction and I can't believe they did THAT to me! I would rather the chickens are gay for eachother than THIS! He didn't deserve to go out that way

There are so many other ways to explore the lore and expand the worldbuilding, but y'know without all the bad points up there

The game's problem is that it was so obviously rushed. I understand the development was troubling but I really don't think that's an excuse for poor writing choices that are just so absurdly incorrect.

Another thing I realized is how different the tone of the game is. What made the first chicken police so good is that they took their absurd concept dead seriously. Now it feels like they're leaning too far into the comedy aspect, which normally I wouldn't mind but like I said the way they played the first story completely straight is what actually made it funny. The game is just a real disappointment all around which really makes me upset.

Also Meredith was described as a tigress in the first game I'm 90% sure so the species wasn't a surprise btw lol

[hungry-skeleton]

I watched both Zipp's Cafe and Moses and Plato games before Into The Hive, I gotta say I adore Zipp's Cafe with its cooking game style, I love cooking games and the dishes are so great even though those are breakfast food/snacks at best, I found the in-game ingredients interesting even though they're seemingly normal stuff but they do have some distinct features that fits the worldbuilding, I would to try those! Zipp is like the next best raccoon after Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy (Y'know in the latest movie they have a world where it's really like The Wilderness in Chicken Police)

I'm pretty hyped for Moses and Plato: Last Train to Clawville cuz it's really great judging from the Demo, I like the new characters and expanded worldbuilding too! The Murder on the Orient Express inspo is definitely something

I'm watching Into The Hive rn and though I haven't finished it, I'm trying to go through the gameplay, I like your post about the Review, sad Marty died 🥲

I hope you don't mind me sharing! Hope this isn't too sudden

Thanks! I was planning on playing Zipps Cafe and Moses and Plato real soon! Good to know they're enjoyable :) I definitely need something to fill the void Into the Hive left lol

[projectniko]

Nah, fr, Laura, send in the divorce papers, your husband is thirdwheeling you ToT

Fuck this game tbh /silly

[projectniko]

Thank you clankit. *sigh* I'm going to supply this fandom with Martini fanfics.

moodboard for when you finish Chicken Police: Into the Hive

[projectniko]

Chicken police: Into the HIVE was my november 5th. They devs knew what they were doing, they sent my boy to superhell ToT

I can't believe Chicken Police buried its gays