A buggy game is nothing to chirp about, unless you're a cricket, or said game involves controlling a four-legged insect in a world inhabited by creepy crawlies. Insecticide is an unusual title blending traditional point-and-click adventure sequences with platform hopping and gun blasting. Everything is tied together with a tongue-in-cheek storyline filled with more puns than your average X-Play review. 

A Hornet's Nest

Rookie detective Chrys Liszt and her veteran partner, Roachy Caruthers, find themselves embroiled in a murder mystery at a soda manufacturing plant. You must help Chrys crack the case by talking to witnesses, chasing down suspects, and gathering evidence. Full-motion video cut-scenes flesh out the story between levels, which alternate between adventure and action. Insecticide features a 3D graphics engine viewed from a third-person perspective, which is usually a problem for the handheld.

The game's biggest issues are sticky controls and sluggish movement. Your first instinct in a shooter is to use the stylus, but you'll have an easier time building a car out of applesauce. Combat consists of tapping the auto lock-on button, hoping it works, and using the directional pad to sidestep an enemy's incoming fire. Then it's more of the same until each insect adversary dies: sidestep, shoot; sidestep, shoot. It feels like it should be a country-western line dance.

Buggin' Out

Chrys should have been modeled after a dung beetle or stinkbug, because her moves reek. She can't fly, she can't tuck into a ball, she can't burrow into the ground, and she can't spin webs. She does, however, perform double jumps. Yes, an overweight Italian plumber has a four-legged insect beat in the agility department. In the final stages, Chrys can unleash moves like a roundhouse kick, but it's hardly an effective tactic when you have multiple enemies firing at you on the ground and in the air. Another ability is walking across billboards which comes into play about five times in the entire game.

The good news about the action levels is that you aren't given time limits, forced to collect silly trinkets, or suffer any penalties for dying other than having to repeat the last sequence over again. The bad news is that all of the levels are linear, repetitive chase scenes. You will leap across platforms, walk across thin wires, shoot enemies, and avoid hazards such as swinging crates, speeding subway cars, gas vents, and so forth. Hugging too close to walls gives the camera hiccups, switching weapons is awkward, and if you aren't locked onto an enemy, movement while aiming is a disaster.

Elementary, My Dear Cockroach

Yet the adventure stages are an entirely different animal. Here the slow movement isn’t a hindrance and the touch-screen controls make sense. The detective work also values logic over random, trial-and-error guessing. While there are one or two head-scratchers, the majority of puzzles are well constructed. The drawback is these stages are typically over within ten minutes or less, primarily due to the limited number of clickable hotspots in each environment. Had the developers focused on expanding this adventure phase, the game would have easily been more buzz worthy.

No Wiggle Room

Insecticide warrants some praise for its offbeat theme and oddball characters, but there's not enough game here to recommend. All 18 levels are short, combat is clunky, and there's only one game mode. Obvious features like the ability to play as Roachy or engage in some bug-themed mini-games are sadly absent. Once you've completed the story, you can revisit past stages, watch unlocked movies, or take a peek at the individuals responsible for the game. At least unhappy owners will know where to address their stinging e-mails.

Review by: Scott Alan Marriott