Blacksad: Under the Skin is a 2019 adventure video game developed by Pendulo Studios and published by Microïds. It is an adaptation of the Eisner-winning Spanish comic series Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido. The game follows John Blacksad as he investigates the suspicious death of a boxing club owner.
Blacksad is Pendulo's first game based on a license and its first to use fully 3D graphics. The project began in late 2016 at the suggestion of Microïds, part of the same media conglomerate that owns Blacksad publisher Dargaud. It was released on November 14, 2019, although a technical error caused an unfinished version of the game to launch in Europe on November 5.
A Nintendo Switch port of the game was scheduled for a release on December 10, 2019.
Gameplay
Blacksad: Under the Skin is an adventure game that takes place in a three-dimensional game world. Its gameplay has been compared to the work of Telltale Games, as well as Team Bondi's L.A. Noire and Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter. Blacksad does not feature an inventory, and, unlike in Pendulo Studios' past games, it forgoes a point-and-click interface in favor of direct character control. Gameplay is choice-based and the player's actions alter the player character's alignment with other characters in the world. The direction of the story changes based on the player's decisions. Blacksad features quick-time events, timed conversation sequences and scenes where the player must search for clues in the environment.
During investigations, John Blacksad's heightened feline senses allow the player to slow down time and perceive visual clues in their surroundings, which are then added to the player's clue index. From here, the player may combine clues to form conclusions, both to progress the main story and to solve optional side-quests.
Plot
Blacksad: Under the Skin is set in New York City during the 1950s, and takes place chronologically between Blacksad: Arctic Nation and Red Soul. Its story begins when protagonist John Blacksad is approached by Sonia Dunn, daughter of a boxing club owner who has died suspiciously. She asks Blacksad to investigate the situation and locate the club's star fighter, who has been missing since her father's death. According to Pendulo Studios, the game contains 30 unique characters and five previously from the Blacksad comic series: John Blacksad, John Pierman, Jake Ostiombe, Weekly and the police chief. The game contains six possible endings.
Development
Blacksad: Under the Skin was developed by the Spanish company Pendulo Studios, the country's longest-running game developer by 2019. It had previously been responsible for games such as the Runaway and Hollywood Monsters franchises. YS Interactive initially assisted the team on Blacksad. According to Pendulo, the idea of adapting the Blacksad comic series into a game was first proposed by Pendulo's publisher Microïds, directly after the two companies had completed Yesterday Origins in November 2016. Microïds was owned by the same media conglomerate as Blacksad publisher Dargaud. Although Pendulo had never worked with a license before, the developer's Josué Monchán noted that the team had "been Blacksad fans for a long time" and agreed to the idea immediately. The team then storyboarded a pitch and submitted it to Dargaud and Blacksad's authors, who approved it. The project was unexpectedly announced in June 2017 and was initially scheduled for a late 2018 release. Giada Zavarise of Rock, Paper, Shotgun wrote of the announcement, "In the world of games, the news was received with a shrug. But in the comics scene, people were screaming incoherently." Gameblog's Vincent Elmer-Haerrig called the plan a "gamble" for Pendulo, as Under the Skin is aimed at "a fringe of players who are both comic-philes and video game lovers."
Pendulo collaborated with Blacksad creators Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido on Under the Skin. The developer described the pair as consultants, while Canales said that Pendulo "asked us about the plot and the visuals concepts." According to Monchán, adapting Guarnido's visual style was the team's "biggest challenge" during production. Guarnido expressed his desire for accuracy to the Blacksad comic's aesthetic, and Monchán called his help and approval "fundamental" to the team's efforts. The authors reviewed each stage of the 2D concept art and 3D visuals. Pendulo hoped to balance faithfulness to the comics' art with realism regarding budget and scheduling, as Monchán noted that it was impossible to perfectly recreate the comics' style given the restrictions of game development. Blacksad's authors also offered input on the game's voice direction. Canales requested a deep voice for John Blacksad because of the character's heavy smoking; the team hired Barry Johnson of Detroit: Become Human for the English version, and Gabriel Jiménez—voice of Hugh Jackman in Spanish film dubs—for the Spanish version.
Screenshots from the game Blacksad: Under the Skin
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