Ugly Americans: Citizen Ugly
Meet Mark Lilly, defender of the strangers in a strange land, roommate to a brain eater, and currently handcuffed to a bed. Step into Ugly Americans: Citizen Ugly, the latest point-and-click adventure game from ClickShake Games (the artists formerly known as Zeebarf and Steve Castro).
Welcome to New York City, the traditional landing port for foreigners eager to build their own American dream. It is Mark's job, as an employee at the Department of Integration, to help these newcomers out with jobs and make sure they do not get deported because of some technicality. Such as losing their immigration papers or eating gray matter at the Brain Depository. Yes, it's going to be one of those games. Use your mouse to interact with objects on the screen, combining items in your inventory to help you succeed in important tasks... like freeing yourself from the aforementioned handcuffs.
Strange is a fitting place to start describing Citizen Ugly. After helping him escape from his bedroom bondage, you discover that the ten cases Mark needs to check up on are not of the garden variety immigration stuff (though his roommate's choice of take-out food - and for that matter his Luciferian girlfriend - should have been clues). Then again, in this city it is very normal to see a zombie next to the convenience store. Mark's cases cover the likes of double-headed creatures, a giant chicken, two characters with a fish head and fish hook for their respective heads, not to mention a Croatian Man. Mark has to check up on them, all of whom have some kind of problem that could lead to their expulsion from the country.
Using guile, ingenuity and at least one cocktail of blood, Mark sets about to save the day. Who knows - he might even get his girlfriend back!
Analysis: Citizen Ugly first appeared on the Comedy Central site, but it is fair to say it would have fit comfortably with the Adult Swim crowd (though it is a game for an upcoming show of the same name on CC). The content of this adventure game is not all-out adult, but the themes and dialogue does border on the mature. Mixing this up with a sense of humor that is both subtle and absurd makes it an outright winner in the writing department. The devil is in the detail and Citizen Ugly has its share of Mephistophelesic action.
Making the humor resonate even more is the excellent voice acting, which is surprisingly top-notch. This does not feel like the developers sat in their lounge and read stuff off paper into a headphone mic. The artwork is equally endearing, in its own creepy way, at both times gleaming of quality and yet feeling like the rough-shod material you tend to see on Adult Swim. In other words, it fits perfectly with the kind of humor and mature themes it juggles. But in all fairness this is based on a Comedy Central show, so if the sound and art design were not good, it wouldn't have seen the light at all.
So the art and sound were (almost) a given. Where Citizen Ugly could have fallen apart was in its gameplay. But ClickShake has crafted a decent adventure game. Not a particularly taxing one: whenever you get a clue that relates directly to a case, that specific dossier updates itself. The tricky part comes in finding and combining objects. Most scenes have at least one thing you can pick up and chatting to the characters will often unlock a new location. Let's just say Citizen Ugly is not particularly lateral and if you get really stuck, you can simply try all the objects you have collected on a scene to see if anything works.
The dynamic part of the game comes in the object combinations, which is a well-loved staple of the genre since Monkey Island debuted it. You can combine two items to make a new one - some are pretty obvious and one or two less so. Still, these won't have you stumped for very long. Citizen Ugly is what could be called a pitch perfect adventure game: it has style, it has charm, it has humor and it has just enough puzzle elements to keep you from racing through it. Throw in some zombies, chickens, squids, werewolves, a questionable use for an orphanage and it's the perfect way to spend a day in a Big Apple overrun by the paranormal.
Walkthrough Guide
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Okay... so this was cute.
Some things were a little hard to see... making some of the experience very painful, but the sense of humor was satisfying. Not necessarily family friendly, since apparently we care about that here.
Ugly Americans Walkthrough:
Let's start with the basics.
Read the instructions. Click on stuff.
The one tricky bit with the mechanics of the game will be combining stuff.
To combine items, place the two items destined for each other in the boxes next to the plus sign, then click the plus sign. If they represent a valid combination, then you will receive the product of the two items' love. If not, you receive a quip.
Moving on. First stop: Mark's Apartment.
So a romance that resembles Alternating Current. So sweet.
You're handcuffed to your bed. What now?
We need to make the room smell like brains. Here's how:
There's a small pink blot on the top rail of the bed near Mark. Click it. It's chewed gum.
Then click the red sock.
Combine the two items, then use the Sticky Whip to get the soccer ball.
Chuck that ball across the room at the take out brains.
Your zombie roommate Randall, shows up, releases you, and now you're free to go to work. Excellent.
Alright. Good work. Next stop: the Department of Integration.
Here's where the game really begins.
This is where you work.
Go through the front doors.
Once you're in the hallway, enter the door closest to you. It's your office.
Now enjoy your cinematic.
Done? Good. You've gotten your clipboard now. And we have a new location. We'll pay a visit to each case before we move on to the next one. But we're not going to manage to solve each one as we get to it. That comes later.
Click on the map button on the bottom right.
Now go to Star Buk's.
Click on the two headed guy.
Now we've got a broken part. Show it to the guy on the right.
Now we need a giant ear swab. Keep this in mind.
Click on the Cases button on the bottom right, and click Next Case.
Then bring up the map and go to St. Jude's.
Click on the Croatian Man and get the list of things we need.
Caffeinated Formaldehyde
Pronged Utensil
Alcohol Soaked Rag
We'll deal with that later. Click on the cotton balls between Mark and the Croatian Man.
Bring up the next case on your clipboard.
Bring up the map and go to the M.B.D.
Click on the zombie.
We need a wand to hypnotize him. Your office mate was a wizard, and there was a wand on his desk, if you were paying attention.
We won't be able to get it for a while, so we won't bother trying right now.
If you DO want to find out what the deal is with the wand, go ahead and go back.
You ask for the wand, and your office mate asks for some Ducky Cheese prize tickets.
Won't get those for a while.
Click on the jar on the table.
Bring up the next case, then bring up the map and go to the Luxury Apt.
Click on the brain.
Click on the broken broom.
Click on the television set.
Now bring up the map and go to Hell.
Click on the vampire bat.
Click on the front door of Bloody Mary's.
Click on the arrow labeled "Alley" on the bottom right.
Click on the paper on the door.
Bring up the map and go to the Orphanage.
Click on the cookie in front of the cage.
Note the sign on the cage. This is what we want. But we'll have to come back for it. This is as far as we go for this case.
Bring up the next case, then bring up the map and go to the Blood Bank.
Click on the Goth Kid.
Now we've got some B Blood and some objectives. It's never easy.
Bring up the next case, then go to Ducky Cheese.
Click on the Rag Doll next to the car ride.
Click on the robot.
Now we've got a flyer and an objective.
Bring up the next case, then go to the Public Pool.
Click on one of the two... odd gentlemen. It doesn't matter.
So we need Trust Pamphlets. We'll be able to handle this a little later.
Bring up the next case, then go to Chelsea Pier.
Click on the Squid.
We now have a Wallet, a new location and some stuff to do.
Go to the Sub Club.
Give the bartender the wallet.
Go to Sak's.
Click on the sandwich sign guy. We'll go to Vito's in a bit.
Enter the building.
Give the saleswoman the wallet.
Go to the Girl's Apt.
Click on the door.
Give her the wallet.
Now we need to get a Silk Scarf. We'll handle that later.
Let's finish a few cases right now!
Go to Vito's.
Click on the breadsticks on the table.
Give the old man the Vito's Flyer.
Combine the cookie and the garlic soup, then go to the Blood Bank.
Give the Goth Kid the Garlic Cookie.
Talk to the Goth Kid.
Go to the Processing Center.
Talk to the Goth Kid.
Case Complete! Congratulations!
Click on the corks on the floor.
And now I have to apologize. I forgot about this before. But we can handle it now!
Combine the broken handle and the cotton ball.
Go to Star Buk's.
Give the guy on the right the Cotton Swab.
Go to the Dark Alley.
Go back to Star Buk's.
Give the two headed guy the New Part.
Case Complete! Congratulations!
Okay, since there's no other cases we can actually complete right now, we'll just continue exploring.
Bring up the next case, and go... Hmm...
Go to the D.O.I.
Go inside.
Second door on the left. Click it.
Click on the rack.
Click on the blue pamphlet that labeled "Trust Me!"
Click on the Cocoon Friendly Environment pamphlet.
We'll handle the fish and hook case before we move on.
Go to the Public Pool.
Give the men the Trust Pamphlet.
Give the hook man the corks.
Case Complete! Congratulations!
Okay. Go to Taco Skull.
Click on the caterpillar.
That's as far as we go now.
Bring up the next case. Go to the Sweatshop.
Click on the red thread on the table on the right.
Click on the chickenman.
That's as far as we go now. And now we've seen all the cases.
Let's work on some other cases.
Go to the Dark Alley.
Give the man the Toy Flyer.
Give the man the sewing bobbin.
Go to Ducky Cheese.
Give the robot the Lil' Darla Vomitface (or whatever it's called that you got from the guy in the Dark Alley).
Case Complete! Congratulations!
Go to the D.O.I.
Go to your office.
Give your work mate the Prize Tickets.
Click on the arrow labeled Hallway on the bottom left.
Click on the arrow labeled Exit on the bottom right.
Click on the eyes on the ground.
Go to the M.B.D.
Use the wand on the zombie.
No dice. Hmph. Let's go to the Dwayne Reede.
Click on the front doors.
On the right, there is a purple box labeled, "Zombie Eye Repair." Click it.
Combine the Eyeballs and the Eye Repair Kit.
Go back to the M.B.D.
Give the zombie the New Eyes.
Use the wand on the zombie.
I'm not certain if you have to click on the zombie after the dialogue or just click through the dialogue to proceed. Eventually you should finish the case, so...
Case Complete! Congratulations!
Go to the Blood Bank.
Enter the building.
Click on the pouch of blood labeled A on the near the upper left. It's hanging.
Let's get into Bloody Mary's. Go to the Orphanage.
Give the baby beast in the cage the breadstick.
Click on the sign on the cage.
Click on the open door.
Click on the fork in the center of the table.
Talk to the Vampire Bat.
Combine the A Blood and the B Blood.
Give the Vampire Bat the AB Blood Mix.
Take the Book on the table.
Go to the Luxury Apt.
Give the brain the Book.
Case Complete! Congratulations!
Go to Taco Skull.
Give the caterpillar the Hell Coupon.
Case Complete! Congratulations!
Heh. That was quick, right?
Go to the D.O.I.
Click all the way down the hallway to get to the Vending Machine.
Use the Spare Change on the Vending Machine.
Click on the arrow labeled Hallway on the bottom right.
Enter the Counseling Room on the right.
Talk to the caterpillar.
Give the caterpillar the burrito.
Go to the Girl's Apt.
Click on the door.
Give her the Silk Scarf.
Go to Chelsea Pier.
Give the Squid the Immigration Papers.
Case Complete! Congratulations!
Click on the Car Battery. It's in front of the squid.
Go to the Sweatshop.
Use the Car Battery on the Moon Lamp. It's to the immediate right of the door.
Plug the lamp in.
Yeah, so the guy on the right was a werewolf. If you clicked on him before, you would have said something about his being a werewolf. Heh.
Click on the paper the Chickenman left on the table.
Go to Sak's.
Enter the building.
Give the saleswoman the Resume.
Case Complete! Congratulations!
Go to the Sub Club.
If you already got the Whiskey Shot from the bartender, you didn't need to come here. Sorry.
If you haven't... go get the Whiskey Shot from the Bartender.
Combine the Rag Doll and the Whiskey Shot.
Combine the Coffee and the Formaldehyde.
Go to St. Jude's.
Give the Croatian Man the Fork, the Alcohol Soaked Rag, and the Caffeinated Formaldehyde.
Case Complete! Congratulations!
Congratulations! You've completed all the cases! You Win!
...
>_>
Click anywhere to continue.
That's right, you're not done. (^_~)v
Enjoy the cinematic, and when you're done, we'll continue.
So we need a classic zombie chin. Have you seen one around recently?
Go to the Sweatshop.
Unplug the Moon Lamp.
Pick up the hair that has fallen off of the werewolf.
Go to the Sub Club.
Talk to the zombie.
Go to Dwayne Reede.
Talk to the zombie.
Give the hair to the zombie.
Go back to the Sub Club.
Give the nose to the zombie.
Aaaaaaaaaaaand we're done!
And in honor of Caps Lock March:
YOU WIN! CONGRATULATIONS!
ENJOY YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS!
Posted by: ChaoSpectre
|
March 8, 2010 10:45 PM