Chief Cenab: Şahmaran Review – A Stylish Sleuth Doesn’t Save the UI

Knee-jerk reaction: Chief Cenab: Şahmaran has irked me, and I’m making a start on this review immediately after exiting the game. It’s a stylish point and click, detective adventure featuring the titular Chief and a chain of events that escalate the story quite quickly.

That’s a good thing, as that’s what we come to expect from a decent point and click; mental story, crazy puzzles, and illogical inventory combinations. Only, this isn’t a typical point and click. That is, it’s not Monkey Island, or anything close – it’s a first-person experience where the problem-solving advances the narrative.

Though the genre is probably my favourite, I’ve never been a huge fan of the first-person experience in this context and found them to be slick-looking logic puzzles that I would easily overlook. Chief Cenab: Şahmaran, published by Kuark Games, is unique, and that’s primarily because of its immediate comic book aesthetic.

Yes, some of the puzzles are filler. Still, they’re effectively MacGyver situations that only he or the A-Team could solve, and while entertaining as a spectator on TV, when presented with the problems, sucking on a peppermint is certainly not the remedy.

That peppermint reference is the hint system. Find yourself stuck, and you can pop one in your gob for a hint; only they taste like crap. Damn it, I need to combine some of my inventory items, but I don’t know which one. I’ve exhausted the options; what should I do, Peppermint?

Subtle As A Brick

Combine the rope with the brick. I tried that, but I’ll do it again, Peppermint – thanks – you know all the answers! It doesn’t work, and I get a sarcastic response from Cenab. Okay, my breath will smell better, and my digestion will improve; let’s try another one. Same response, and now I’ve wasted this limited resource.

Despite being a point and click veteran, I openly admit to using the hint system for highlighting objects as they’re easily missed in pixel art. As for the actual hints, I rarely use them, so resorting to this early on in Chief Cenab: Şahmaran was out of character, but an early timed escape situation was infuriating me.

It made sense, cinematically, to have the situation timed, but there was not enough time to solve the problem; speech bubbles were appearing from Cenab on one side of the room when he was on the opposite side, my kidnappers were about to enter the room any moment, and the peppermint was useless. I bailed.

After a breather, I decided to go back and repeat the scene again and again without the help of my sweets. Not that it was any help in the first place. In Chief Cenab: Şahmaran’s defence, it is primarily a puzzle game, and once you understand the UI, it all comes together. That doesn’t stop the frustration, however.

Such A Drag

I initially went with the practice of playing on my handheld first, and while it ran absolutely fine, the fundamental mechanics – drag and drop – didn’t work at all, so I switched to the laptop, which solved the issue.

This immediately presented itself once again with another puzzle where it was obvious what a solution was, but entering the code did not work. I attempted multiple variations, only to work out that you have to drag your answers. I’ve never done that on my phone’s lock screen…

Anyway, returning to that revelation about the UI, it became apparent that instead of the conventional drag-and-drop items within your inventory, you need to select the item so it fills the screen and drag the other item onto it. Some items have alternate views, so it requires experimentation.

I get that Chief Cenab: Şahmaran is about observations and problem solving, but even that early escape scene was so absurd. I felt I got to the solution by winging it, rather than either a) exiting via a window, or b) manually using one of the objects as a weapon rather than setting up a Home Alone-style trap.

Put It To The Panel

You’ll note from the screenshots the comic book approach. This was pretty decent and doesn’t overdo it with Batman-type ‘pows’ and ‘pops’, or the more relatable XIII. Sometimes these choices are like those video filters to patch over shoddy artwork, but the artwork in Chief Cenab: Şahmaran is good.

The same can be said with the design choices of puzzles and comic book panels showing a step-by-step of each scene and alluding to the fact that you have a few more things to do. Cenab’s inner monologue will sometimes offer some prompts too, an indication you’re missing something.

And, while the design is good, the function can be off, leading to that frustration. My own frustration was with the UI more than anything, in that it wasn’t intuitive and those bloody peppermints were misleading. Maybe it’s a moral – avoid sweets?

Nevertheless, despite the complaints, there’s substance here, and Chief Cenab: Şahmaran does have some excellent puzzles. Alas, the timed aspects and obtuse interactions stripped the natural curiosity of my surroundings, and ultimately, I think I’m going to stick to rubber chickens with a pulley in it rather than Home Alone traps and flipping switches.