As you know ‘We Negotiate with Terrorists’ is the first installment of the trilogy of games entitled ‘Badge of Carnage’ featuring Hector: Fat Arse of the Law. But just who is Hector? Well, I thought that it was about time that I gave you a better introduction to the man who you will be fingering around your iPhone in the not too distant future.
Hector is the brainchild of Northern Irish resident, and all round artistic genius, Dean Burke and is one of the first original intellectual properties developed by Straandlooper, a digital animation studio based in Holywood, Northern Ireland.
While ‘Badge of Carnage’ is Hector’s first foray into the mobile world, the property has been quietly gathering momentum over the last few months. It has already been sold to a Russian TV Station and we are in the advanced stages of negotiation with an Indian co-production partner regarding an animated feature length cinematic release.
But enough of all that corporate cobblers, who is Hector, and why should I want to finger him?
Detective Inspector Hector is the grumpiest, gruffest, most sarcastic, cynical bastard of a cop you have ever had the misfortune of being collared by. Imagine being stuck on the phone with your credit card company for four hours and thirty seven minutes as you have apparently just bought £3,476 worth of Star Trek memorabilia in the name of Gral Stovakar, then you spill Marinara sauce on the crouch of your pants just before your meeting with Brenda from accounts, then you get a flat tyre on the drive home, stub your toe on the wheeljack, and when you finally make it in through the door to find that your dog has eaten your tea and subsequently curled one out on the pillow of your bed. Mash all that up into a fat guy in a cheap suit and that’s who Hector is.
Though he’s up against the insurmountable task of cleaning up the streets of Clapper’s Wreake, he solves crimes with a vengeance and (almost) always gets his man, even if it means cutting a few corners – paperwork, warrants, evidence, etc – in the process. Hector is not exactly one to let a little thing like evidence get in the way of solving a case. He might take the occasional bribe, or swipe beer off underage louts, but he’s not a dirty cop…more unwashed.
His history is tinged with tragedy, as a Rube Goldberg chain of events killed all of his family and friends and partner in a day. Since then he’s immersed himself in 24 hour police work to keep his mind off the tragedy. Well, he has immersed himself in a few other things as well, to be honest, but at least he can claim for overtime if he does it on the job. He still holds the record for the highest blood alcohol reading of anyone in the Clapper’s Wreake Police Department and he can be frequently found fast asleep in a holding cell sleeping off the night before.
In ‘We Negotiate with Terrorists’ Hector is up against one of his most challenging cases to date, and it is up to you to help him solve the case and return a modicum of safety and sanity back to Clapper’s Wreake. Well, if you can find him a clean pair of pants it will be a good start!
