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Ankh-Morpork, capital of Discworld and home to more felons and freaks of nature than you could comfortably incarcerate. So, where better for the Disc's only private investigator, Lewton, to ply his trade than where the lies run thicker than the crust on the River Ankh? Welcome to Discworld Noir: a world with enough dark deeds and dead bodies to fill a Raymond Chandler novel but with far more dwarfs.
If you're a fan of adventure games yet are unfamiliar with Terry Pratchett's best-selling Discworld books then, to coin a phrase from another famous series: Don't Panic. Though there are some characters and places included which have been mentioned in the various books, you do not need an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Discworld to feel an instant involvement in the adventure. The Discworld environment, though it adds an ocean of depth to the proceedings, at no time excludes the uninitiated and simply acts as a backdrop to the unfolding plot.
The game begins with you waking up dead, which is unfortunate but, what with this being the Discworld, proves no great obstacle for the continuation of the game. Cue a flashback to a week earlier and the start of the game proper.
In classic film noir fashion our hero, Lewton, is visited at the dead of night by Carlotta, a femme fatale with a missing friend named Mundy. However, what initially seems to be a straightforward search for a missing person, soon spirals into an ever-complex tangle of lies, corruption and murder through the seedy, rain-soaked underside of a city whose topside is nothing to be proud of.
To solve the case, Lewton, as you would expect in such treacherous surroundings, goes everywhere armed. But, in this game, the pen is definitely mightier than the sword and it's Lewton's notebook which proves to be his best weapon (OK, the only weapon) in his arsenal. Everything from names to rumours are automatically jotted down whenever a relevant lead or clue is presented during conversation, which can then be used to question or inform others. In addition to this, Lewton also carries a leather bag into which any items he comes across can be stored for examination or use.
The interface is simplicity itself. A torch beam acts as your pointer to direct Lewton around the screen or to highlight either other characters or objects in your location. Right-clicking will cause Lewton to describe what he is seeing while a left click will make him interact with an object or character if that's possible.
