Snatcher is best described as an cyberpunk adventure game, but with the screens presented to you in the 1st person rather than 3rd person like so many of the classic PC adventure games like Monkey Island, Kings Quest. Snatcher is a very adult game, and although tame now cause quite a stir when it was released. Primarily this is because of the graphic violence and partial nudity which this day is not at all shocking, but still retains a dark theme thanks to the tone and atmosphere of the game.
Snatcher is a dark game and one that takes its visual inspiration very much from Blade Runner. The main character (Gillian Seed) sports a recognizable trench coat, the skylines are almost identical, and the police fly around in hover cars.
The main plot itself is also inspired by the film - robots known as 'snatchers' kill people in Neo Kobe city and take over their bodies and its Gillian's job to sniff them out and exterminate them. The gameplay is classic adventure game material with variations on the usual 'Use', 'Look', 'Take' commands that you are used to from those games. What sets this game apart though is the moody atmosphere of the entire experience, with excellent backgrounds and character sprites that even to this day make
it well worth finding the original somewhere or downloading it. The actual experience is much more brisk in pace than most adventure games, with a stronger narrative pulling you along ensuring that you are never stuck for long and know what to do during the majority of the game. There are also some simple action sequences (like shooting galleries) that help add a bit of urgency to the gameplay and when you know there is a snatcher around the mood and the brutality of the snatchers (the evidence of which you are always investigating make it a thrilling experience when you know one is nearby.
Snatcher deserves its classic status and still holds up today as a great retro experience with excellent graphics and a futuristic and dark atmosphere few games and films match today. This is worth a play if you haven't before, regardless if you are fan of adventure games and is a must play if you want to see what Hideo Kojima was up to before he became a superstar of Japanese video game development.
