Metacritic Games

Insecticide (Nintendo DS)

Insecticide is a hard-boiled, fast-shooting detective game set in a festering future city where bugs have evolved as the planet’s dominant race. A murder at the powerful Nectarola soft drink company leads police from the Insecticide Squad on a bug hunt through the city’s seedy underbelly, and into a mystery of epic proportions. Join Detective Chrys Liszt and partner Roachy Caruthers on the case as they become entangled in a web of crime in this 3rd-person shooter/detective game. It’s an action-adventure in the truest sense of the word, immersing players in cinematic combat levels, as well as a story-based detective investigation. Use Chrys’ unique insect abilities, a range of creative bug weaponry, and old-fashioned street smarts to solve the case and uncover a shocking secret, ultimately bringing the mighty boot of justice down hard on the city's infestation of crime. [Gamecock Media]

Gamecock Media
Action, Adventure
Players: 1
E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older)
Developer: Crackpot Entertainment
Released March 11, 2008

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

55 / 100

Critic Reviews

75 Just Adventure
The adventure chapters have a wonderfully classic feeling to them, and the action chapters are challenging and fun.
70 IGN
This one is a real heartbreaker. I really wanted to score it higher, but the action sequences get in the way of what could have been an extremely enjoyable adventure game.
70 Zentendo
Crackpot Entertainment has created a decent action/detective game with some sharp graphics and a charming story. Sadly, Insecticide is not much fun to play with such wonky controls and buggy camera mechanics, and it may seem to drag at a snail's pace in some spots.
70 Cheat Code Central
Thankfully, this industry cranks out more sequels than Hollywood, and we can definitely see an Insecticide follow-up living up to the full potential hinted at here.
70 Worth Playing
While we were collecting clues and investigating the case, she was a lot of fun, but once the investigation stopped and the action started, she turned on me, leaving my heart cut open like a gutted fish.
67 Gamer 2.0
Insecticide had a lot of great things going for it (former developers from LucasArts, intriguing investigation sequences, a terrific art-style, and hilarious story), but ultimately the game comes down as a dire disappointment.
65 Nintendo Power
Insecticide tries to be a lot of things at once--platformer, shooter, and investigative adventure--which is a trcik that seldom works well. [Mar 2008, p.89]
65 GameZone
Rent it for the story, and keep your antennas crossed for a gameplay-improved sequel.
60 ZTGameDomain
The storyline is excellent and the adventure portions recall memories of the classic (and now all but dormant) point-and-click genre. The problem lies in the fact that the game focuses most of its energy on trying to be an action platformer and at that it is simply average at best.
60 GameDaily
With spotty combat controls and unintuitive evidence gathering, the game gets boring fast.
60 GamePro
The writing is solid and engaging and the setting is fun and different but the adventure and platforming elements are completely average.
58 Game Informer
The game squanders its stylish setting, writing, and entertaining puzzle solving by minimizing the fun investigation segments, focusing squarely on broken combat and platforming.
54 My Gamer
Instead of focusing on one major aspect of the game, the developers seemed to try and cram too much into this DS title, causing each style element to become watered down in the gameplay department.
50 Console Gameworld
Insecticide melds sloppy platforming/shooter action with lightweight adventure puzzling, cemented together by a derivative pseudo-film-noir plot chock-full of atrocious puns. Swat this one away.
50 Games Radar
Those seeking the goofy humor and weird puzzles you wax nostalgic about, Insecticide could possibly scratch your adventuring itch. Just be prepared to split that 50/50 with ho-hum action sequences.
50 GameTap
After an hour or two of playing Insecticide, all the decent storytelling in the world won't hold your attention.
42 GameShark
Insecticide is a schizophrenic game. The adventure parts of the game are decent enough, but the action could easily have been left behind or at least refined.
42 1UP
Eventually, the alternation between dull platforming and frustrating adventure just murdered my initial interest in the setting and characters. Insecticide, you won my heart...and then you broke it. But at least you did it quickly.
40 G4 TV
Insecticide warrants some praise for its offbeat theme and oddball characters, but there's not enough game here to recommend. All 18 levels are short, combat is clunky, and there's only one game mode.
40 Nintendojo
The vibe on the PC version seems good, but this DS port proves mediocre. Many had great expectations, but this is not our vision of fury.
40 Gamervision
Insecticide’s stellar voice-work, quirky tone and enjoyable puzzles just can’t make up for the game’s glaring technical issues and awful combat mechanics.
33 NGamer UK
Terrible platforming and puzzling. [June 2008, p.58]
30 Edge Magazine
Puzzles are of the ‘give doughnut to the doughnut-desiring character’ variety, rarely extending beyond chores. [May 2008, p.97]

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