There’s been much hype surrounding NORCO, the Southern Gothic narrative adventure that has been put together by Geography of Robots and Raw Fury. And now us Xbox and PlayStation players get to take in what the PC world has lauded. It helps that Game Pass powers a download.
Available to purchase and download right no on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4 and PS5, as well as on PC, NORCO allows players the chance to explore a multigenerational mystery, one that takes us through the swamps of South Louisiana and beyond.
Priced at £12.49 on the Xbox Store, or playable through Game Pass should you prefer, NORCO is one of the most anticipated releases of the year. Most of that is down to the Very Positive reviews that have come out of Steam since launch back in March 2022, but more still is due to the artwork, the text-driven adventuring and the puzzles which are found within.
NORCO has players searching for their missing brother in the aftermath of their mother’s death in a gritty, dystopian version of South Louisiana. It’s here where you’ll get to team up with a fugitive android, a bayou pirate, a barstool private detective and other eccentrics to solve puzzles and explore the sinking suburbs, dilapidated strip malls, and verdant industrial swamps of Louisiana’s petrochemical hinterlands.
A game that has been inspired by the town of Norco in Louisiana (hence the name), expect to find true stories, personal history and a ton of pulp fiction included in any one playthrough. Oh, and it comes with a soundtrack that is being sold as ‘captivating’.
Key game features include:
- Immerse yourself in a surreal and uncanny South Louisiana: NORCO’s painterly and cinematic pixel art draws the player into its quotidian sci-fi world of disappearing swamplands, labyrinthine oil refineries, and other landscapes inspired by the titular town of Norco, Louisiana and other parts of Greater New Orleans. Sink into the rich field recordings and sound design by fmAura and a driving, post-industrial electronic score from Gewgawly I.
- Unravel a mystery in a world haunted by the past and threatened by the future: What starts as a straightforward search for your missing brother quickly spirals into a multigenerational mystery. The lines between salvation, memory, technology, and nature bleed together into a uniquely compelling, contemplative narrative rooted in Southern literature, pulp fiction, and point & click adventure games both classic and contemporary.
- Explore alongside sharply drawn characters with deep roots, rich backstories, and complex motives: A chaotic bayou pirate, bar-stool private detective, escaped security android, and your stuffed childhood monkey will all offer assistance in an eroding and uncertain world. Solve puzzles, fight your way past corporate security goons, and infiltrate an influencer cult squatting an abandoned mall on the outskirts of New Orleans.
There’s much to warrant a play of NORCO, but due to the fact that the Xbox version is available through a Game Pass subscription, it just gets ever more interesting. Pick that up and play it on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S or PC via the Xbox Store. PlayStation players should be able to get in on the action too.
Game Description:
NORCO is a text-based point & click adventure that immerses the player in the sinking suburbs and industrial swamplands of an increasingly surreal and distorted South Louisiana. Your brother Blake has gone missing in the aftermath of your mother’s death. In the hopes of finding him, you must follow a fugitive security android through the refineries, strip malls, and drainage ditches of suburban New Orleans.
