After playing as an eighteenth-century detective to solve 12 terrible murders in Color Gray Games’ sensational debut, The Case of the Golden Idol, the decision to suddenly jump the story forward 300 years for this near-contemporary sequel came as something of a surprise. Not only did there seem to be unfinished business ripe for further unravelling at the end of Case’s conspiracy caper, but its detailed pixel art and gurning cast of grotesques also felt so of a piece with its historical set dressing that I wondered whether its freeze-frame tableaus would have quite the same effect at such a far remove from their stylistic beginnings.
The Rise of the Golden Idol reviewDeveloper: Color Gray GamesPublisher: PlaystackPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out on 12th November on PC (Steam), Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and Netflix.
Happily, the paranoia and political jostling of the 1970s couldn’t be a more perfect backdrop for the nefarious deeds sitting at the heart at The Rise of the Golden Idol, whose conflicts and ideological power struggles are staged across an even wider variety of scenarios this time round, but always with the same keen eye for chaos and collusion that defined its brilliant predecessor. To say very much of anything about its wider story would be to spoil many of its twists and surprises that are best left discovered for yourself. But as we’re taken from zen gardens and drive-in cinemas to TV auction shows and corporate board rooms, the scale and ambition of this rip-roaring tale is clear – and it doesn’t always need a gruesome murder to spur you on to see where it’s heading next.
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Indeed, while the number of actual deaths left me feeling a little short-changed to begin with, The Rise of the Golden Idol proves there’s just as much drama and satisfying detective work to be found in getting to the bottom of petty squabbles, prison breaks, community picnics, and in one particularly memorable sequence, a completely violence-free dance routine, to name just a few of the scenarios you’ll be pointing and clicking through over the course of its 12- to 13-hour runtime. As a quick recap for those who haven’t played The Case of the Golden Idol (which you don’t need to have played to enjoy this one fully), each scene invites you to explore a single moment in time, either during or in the immediate aftermath of a particular crime. With perps, victims, witnesses and bystanders all frozen in horrified disarray, it’s up to you to rifle through the pockets, bins and possessions in front of you to work out what happened and why, as each diorama adds further new wrinkles to its ongoing story.
It’s a setup that remains as enticing as ever, and just like Case, its best moments hark back to the rank-and-file discoveries of Lucas Pope’s nautical masterpiece, The Return of the Obra Dinn. I’m still not sure Rise surpasses Obra Dinn in that department, mind, but the process of discovering its pertinent facts is one that now feels even livelier thanks to Rise’s more modern, painterly visuals and freer-flowing animation loops. Here, exaggerated eyerolls, gnashing lips and wild, arching limbs all converge to create zoomed in close-ups that feel just as characterful as Case’s pixellated portraits, and for scenarios where there isn’t a scene-stealing murder hogging all the attention, each scene’s larger-than-life compositions often work just as hard to hook you in right from the off. Whether it’s through their use of brighter, more vivid colours, contrasting light sources or artfully arranged cast, some of these scenes could almost pass as deranged cousins of American Realist paintings such as Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks.