Artist Take, Beat Cop
Art is a rather subjective thing, appreciating good art is as much on the viewer as it is on the creator.
In these articles I will be taking a specific game and breaking down its stylistic, compositional and the overall creative choices as I see them. These ones will be inherently biased based on me being human and having preferences.
However, those preferences are pretty broad so we should be able to take a look at a relatively large cut-away of the game art that is out there.
Let’s get into it!
My focal point will be the art style and its execution, but I will also touch music and actual play mechanics as well. Art, in all forms, should extend into the game in all aspects to create a cohesive experience.
I love pixel art in nearly all of its forms.
In my view, utterly biased as it is, what began as a choice dictated by the limitations of the technology at the time has now been revived by a large and impressive indie game scene. Now that our technology is capable of far more, the power of that technology is used to perfect and improve upon the core of the art form.
That is really what Beat Cop showed me.
There are lot of ways that Beat Cop would not be out of place on my Sega Genesis back in the early 90’s, at least at a glance.
The method of storytelling is almost like an animated comic book, static scenes but with moving elements that bring it alive while still leaving large movements and scene shifts to jump cuts that create the borders between pictures. The images below showcase that well.
There are some larger animated scenes that come to mind looking at the animation in particular but this opening sequence is such a great example of this stylistic choice.
In the above image, the detective and the cat are almost too realistic for the medium on some portions of their bodies while his face is only a suggestion. The picture on the wall is barely a face. We recognize it as a person more from its placement and context than what it legitimately offers as a piece.
Strong shadows that are contextual applied specifically to moving objects add a depth to the scenes that would have been considered wasteful in the days where system resources were pushed to their max with art half as in depth as this.If you consider games such as Castelvania Symphony of the Night and Jungle Strike where it also had cut scenes of sorts like this. While those games had scenes that were pretty revolutionary at the time, they have a certain flatness to them that is hard to un-see whenever you have contemporary pixel art to compare them to.
Both examples tend towards a more realistic portrayal outright then the Beat Cop scene above them but the Beat Cop examples sell the space the objects are inhabiting far better. To be fair, the examples are from the 16-bit era whilst Beat Cop draws from both in its art style (Any scene like the intro above are more in line with a 16-bit plus artstyle while the gameplay itself is firmly in the 8-bit style), a choice that adds more to its gameplay
The use of color falls into the same category as the shapes, where things are mere suggestions built to nudge our brains to the right conclusion. In these scenes as in the game itself the color palette stays relatively true to life, more saturated but the scenes and gameplay feels right.
In short, as far as I am concerned anyway, Pixel Art of this caliber punches well above its weight immersing the viewer into the world they are portraying.
The music in this game is like shooting up with 100% pure 80’s nostalgia and that’s absolutely ok.
The best part is that while the music is far more complex than we would get from an old cartridge they do still manage to hit that same feeling.
In all, as far as art direction goes the music does not inherently add to this.
However, in regards to the overall feel and theme of the game, the developers hit that nail on the head. This soundtrack evokes the exact feelings that it needs to when selling the games setting to you.
The title screen is such a great example of great composition, solid animation all within the constraints of the genre. All of the animation is moving on clear layers without detracting from the overall flow of the scene.
There are plenty of great animation examples in their promo video as well.
Some of the best examples of the animation for these scenes showcase the absolute economy of movement.
In the above, the only things that move are the things that NEED to move and it does not detract from the world. In a more realistic style we may find that jarring in some ways but for the approximation of a world that this style offers we readily accept it.
The mechanics are pretty simple, point and click for movement and you can double click to sprint but this takes down your stamina bar.
Standard point and click fare includes mousing over things to investigate them, clicking on them to manipulate them, etc.
Some of the more unique mechanics and mini games are the shooting and the car searches.
There is also a ticketing mechanic that utilizes a significant amount of visual storytelling to cue you in on what vehicles are definitely out of line.
Sometimes it’s the obvious, like a car parked in a no parking zone.
Others need a bit more observation, like parking meters and messed up tires. All in all it provides a simple yet surprisingly deep method for player engagement that I enjoyed immensely.
You can find the the game here, aside from my love of its art and theme its just a generally satisfying game.
Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/461950/Beat_Cop/
