HBO's The Wire, Telltale-Style: The Detail

The Detail seems like it could scratch some eons-old itches of mine both in that it a) cites The Wire as a primary influence on its "realistic" crime adventuring antics and b) looks a little rough around the edges. The comic book visual style caught my eye, but board-stiff animations and slightly hackneyed promo writing forced me to put my expectations in check. That said, when you say things like, "we are combining the emotional impact of Telltale Games' The Walking Dead crossed with the themes of a realistic crime drama like HBO's The Wire," I can't help but hope. No, Telltale's not actually making it, but the influence is obviously strong. Trailer (and also maybe, like, a million clips from The Wire) below.

The plot's being kept largely under wraps at this point, but here's the gist:

"Centered on a bitter veteran detective investigating a brutal gangland murder and a reformed criminal trying to protect his family, the player is forced to make tough choices and deal with the resulting consequences of these moral dilemmas. The gameplay focuses on storytelling through point n’ click gameplay mixed with interactive comics, and completed by a professional audio track."

"We are combining the emotional impact of Telltale Games' The Walking Dead crossed with the themes of a realistic crime drama like HBO's The Wire, delivered with our own unique visual style inspired heavily by graphic novels. This is city where cases matter, clearance rates matter, and on a good day even justice matters."

It sounds like choices will affect the plot progression a bit more than in Walking Dead or (perhaps along more similar lines thematically) Wolf Among Us. Apparently you'll end up either "running homicide investigations or running from homicide investigations." Or maybe one of the characters you're playing is investigating the other. Wouldn't that be fun? Or wait, didn't a David Cage game already do that?

Anyway, The Detail's first episode will be out later this year. It's on Steam Greenlight right now, though.

And now since this news has gotten the cockles of my heart all gooey and gross with nostalgia, here's some of my favorite Wire scenes.

And of course:

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