The Drifter Review

Sometimes you just know when a game is going to be good. After going hands-on with Powerhoof’s point-and-click adventure The Drifter at PAX Aus back in 2023, I just knew. It was a short taste of what the two-person Melbourne-based team was working on, but it had a premise that hooked me right away and a bit of x-factor when it came to the production. Of course, there’s always a chance that you’ve been stitched up, but that’s not the case here. In fact, Powerhoof exceeded my already high expectations – not only is The Drifter one of the best games I’ve played in the past few years, it’s a modern day classic point-and-click adventure.

Set in the fictional Australian town of Mawson, the story follows Mick Carter, a drifter who has returned to his hometown to attend his mum’s funeral. But before stepping out of his ride back home, he witnesses hi-tech soldiers murder an innocent person before they start to pursue him, and it’s not long before he’s dead too, drowning in a reservoir. But somehow, he’s alive again, only things are worse than before; he’s framed for the murder he witnessed and multiple others, haunted by ghosts of his past and entangled in a mystery involving missing homeless people, shady corporations, and a crazed researcher.

Returning home is to die for

The Drifter has a fast-paced narrative that cleverly builds tension while evolving the mechanics traditionally found in the genre

Over the game’s nine chapters, Mick will need to clear his name, face his past and get to the bottom of just what is going on, or at least die trying. And dying is something that Mick will do often. A lot of point-and-click adventures are a slow burn, but The Drifter has a fast-paced narrative that cleverly builds tension while evolving the mechanics traditionally found in the genre. It’s also got its fair share of twists that you mostly won’t see coming (or at least I didn’t), and with each one I found myself more intrigued about what was unfolding before me. If I had one gripe though, it would be that the game’s last location is its least exciting, and it’s more noticeable due to the longer time spent there. I still loved the story beats that played out during the last couple of chapters, and the location makes sense, it just feels a little sterile compared to the rest of the game’s locales.

The world is dripping in atmosphere thanks to a stylish pixel art style that highlights its bleak nature. It’s got the vibe of a noir grindhouse film that your parents would’ve watched way back when and it fits perfectly. There’s even a chapter ending screen that is simple by design but always got me hyped to continue onwards. I’ve also got to shoutout the animations, which are insanely slick and look fantastic.

I don’t think this Herald rag is owned by Murdoch

Without a doubt, the star of the show is the story and characters, with some truly stellar writing and incredible voice acting amplifying the impact. Adrian Vaughn voices Mick (and others) and he’s as Aussie as they come, the kind of bloke you’d find sitting at the bar at a country pub; rough around the edges and hard as a cat’s head on the outside but on the inside he’s a bit of a softy when he wants to be. That doesn’t make him a great bloke though, and the way he’s dealt with his tragic history doesn’t paint him in the best light, but somehow you find yourself rooting for him. In between conversations, Mick will narrate and make observations about his journey, and you can feel the frustrated desperation and dejection in his voice. As an Australian I loved the barrage of Aussie personality the writing has, but there’s definitely going to be players that have no idea what was just said.

But Mick isn’t the only character that plays a significant part, with a host of secondary characters adding another layer to the narrative. Whether it’s Hara, the American detective tasked with tracking Mick down (although why an American detective is in Australia is never explained), who constantly refers to Mick as boss, is great. Or the receptionist at the local newspaper who couldn’t give a rat’s arse and is writing a novel on company time – the story is full of characters that play their part perfectly.

The great thing about The Drifter keeping things moving is that the puzzles aren’t designed to bog you down in tedious busywork. Instead, they’re designed as levers that help activate the next story beat and intrinsically feel like part of the narrative from a logical standpoint. The puzzles are primarily confined to individual chapters or locations, so items you collect during each chapter will almost always be used in that chapter, reducing the need to try every combination possible.

Death is only the beginning

Though, the best puzzles are perhaps the ones that force Mick to use his ability to die and come back to his advantage. In these moments, Mick will often find himself in a precarious position (such as underwater drowning), and to find a way out, he’ll need to experiment with what works and what doesn’t. More often than not, you won’t know that the whole point is to die initially, which helps add some tension to the experience, giving the story and the player a shot of adrenaline that is rarely found in point-and-click games.

What impresses me about playing The Drifter is that it has all the staples of a point-and-click adventure that players turn up for, but rather than stick with what works, Powerhoof has attempted to improve the formula that has been so reliable over the years. The moment-to-moment gameplay is cut from the same cloth that you’ve played before – Mick will investigate areas, pick up and use items, chat with characters to learn as much as he can and solve puzzles to help push the story forward. But it’s how you do it that feels like an evolution.

The great thing about The Drifter keeping things moving is that the puzzles aren’t designed to bog you down in tedious busywork

Most point-and-click veterans will scoff at the idea of playing with a controller, but The Drifter can be played with either a controller or mouse and keyboard, in fact – dare I say – playing with a controller is the better way of experiencing the game. Perhaps the gameplay’s greatest feature is the selection wheel, which allows players to cycle through various points of interest within a distance. It’s an approachability dream and a quality of life feature that just makes exploring areas so much more efficient. Items will have icons that indicate what they can be used for, and once it’s no longer useful, it can’t be interacted with.

That’s not the only UI refinement that feels fresh. Traditionally, combining items requires players to drag them together within the inventory. Here, players simply push the Craft Items button which brings up a menu that allows you to select multiple items in an attempt to combine them. Players can also review topics that they’re investigating at the push of a button, which can provide useful hints if you need a slight nudge in the right direction.

The selection wheel is a dream to use

Final Thoughts

When talking about the greats of the point-and-click genre, we often go back to the ‘golden age of adventure games’ with titles like Monkey Island, King’s Quest and Broken Sword always getting the flowers. But there’s been a handful of recent games that have had a profound impact on the genre that rarely get talked about with the same sort of reverence. Hopefully, like Mick returning from an untimely grave over and over, The Drifter can break this cycle and be celebrated as the beginning of a new golden age for point-and-click adventure games.

Reviewed on PC // Review code supplied by publisher

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