Norco
NORCO is an adventure game that presents an unusual vision of the future composed of elements of dystopian science fiction and southern gothic. The player explores the industrial suburbs of New Orleans in search of his lost brother.
developer: Geography of Robots publisher: Raw Fury Games Official website
NORCO is an adventure game mixing science fiction and genre known as Southern Gothic. It is a debut game of Geography of Robots studio.
Plot
The action takes place in the near future, in the decaying industrial outskirts of New Orleans, located near the typical Louisiana swamps. The region was the site of a civil war several years ago, which left the industry and infrastructure in ruins. Life goes on there, however.
Our protagonist returns to his hometown on a mission to find his brother Blake, who disappeared without a trace after their mother's death. Old friends and neighbors seem to have no idea what happened. However, we quickly fall on the trail of a rogue cyborg who formerly worked in the security services of a local corporation and seems to have the information we need. Getting to him won't be easy, however.
Mechanics
NORCO is a traditional adventure game where players explore the world, engage in conversations and solve puzzles. There are a lot of puzzles and they require, among others, finding objects in locations, collecting and cleverly using objects and manipulating devices in the game world.
The game is strongly non-linear, both in terms of story and gameplay. We regularly have to make decisions which direct the story on new tracks. Starting the game we also shape the character's past, which then influences important elements of the story.
Most of the problems also have some alternative solutions. For example, we repeatedly encounter characters who are hostile to us, and it's up to us whether we fight them, or maybe try to convince them with arguments or trickery, or simply sneak unnoticed.
Game modes
NORCO offers a single player mode only.
Technical aspects
The strength of the game is the design. NORCO uses a pixelated retro style. The explored world is very well made. Each pixelart location is a small masterpiece. In addition, the game gains a lot from the unusual vision of the presented world. It combines the sultry and swampy atmosphere of southern gothic with colorful futurism and a heavy industrial atmosphere. The end result is truly unique. The effect is reinforced by the great music composed by Gewgawly I.
Last updated on 15 May 2024
Game mode: single player
User score: 8.9 / 10 based on 127 votes.
Age restrictions Norco: 16+
Norco System requirements
PC / Windows
- Minimum:
- Intel Core i5
- 4 GB RAM
- graphic card 1 GB Intel Iris / Radeon RX Vega 8 or better
- 4 GB HDD
- Windows 7
- Recommended:
- Intel Core i5
- 8 GB RAM
- graphic card 2 GB GeForce GTX 1050 or better
- 4 GB HDD
- Windows 10/11