Blacksad: Under the Skin Reviews

Blacksad: Under the Skin is ranked in the 20th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
PC Gamer
Top Critic
68 / 100
Nov 13, 2019

Unaware of its absurdity, Blacksad: Under The Skin fails at much of what it attempts

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5 / 10
Nov 26, 2019

Blacksad: Under the Skin is a decent detect-'em-up that lacks a bit of noir style.

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2.5 / 5.0
Dec 2, 2019

While Blacksad: Under the Skin shows a lot of promise in its story, world and a couple of neat gameplay mechanics that help put you right in Blacksad's shoes, it unfortunately suffers when it comes to the execution.

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Unscored
Nov 18, 2019

Overall, despite all the frustrations, I enjoyed being a broody detective cat. I just wish the game itself was as strong as the story it was trying to tell.

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5 / 10
Jan 7, 2020

Overall, Blacksad: Under the Skin is both a faithful adaptation and a frustrating example of modern adventure game pitfalls. Fans of the original comics will enjoy seeing Blacksad himself brought to life so accurately, but some inconsistent performances in the voiceover department and some frustratingly unresponsive controls make it a far less enjoyable experience. There's a really intriguing mystery to unfold and solve, but with some technical problems and a little too much blurring for our liking, you'll have to grit your teeth if you really want to crack this case on the go.

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5 / 10.0
Nov 14, 2019

Blacksad: Under the Skin is a twisty whodunit that is unraveled by more bugs than you can count.

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7 / 10
Jul 11, 2024

Blacksad is a surprisingly charming interactive tale. John Blacksad is an intriguing character, but open enough that you can shape him. While other characters don't stand out as much, the ensemble brings the story to life. The game suffers from cumbersome movement and a deduction system that's not that interesting to engage with, but, if you love a bit of noir, Blacksad: Under The Skin is well worth the 10-hour playthrough.

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3 / 10
Nov 25, 2019

I really, really wanted to like Blacksad: Under the Skin. I love the original graphic novels and just wanted this to be an interactive version of that. Perhaps it could have been, but we're unlikely ever to know thanks to a torrent of technical faults that kill any enjoyment it might give. Pendulo Studios need to urgently fix nearly every aspect of Blacksad: Under the Skin on PS4, and until they do that, this is one mystery best left unsolved.

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IGN Italy
Top Critic
5.8 / 10.0
Nov 22, 2019

A bad game that ruins a beautiful, brand new story of the most famous noir-cat in the world. Blacksad is better than ever, and "Under the Skin" is potentially the spin-off that every fan could dream of. As a game, unfortunately, it lacks of polishness, with terrible camera and controls, too much obvious and guided deductive mechanics and unconvincing pacing. Too many bugs sadly complete the mess.

Review in Italian | Read full review

70 / 100
Nov 19, 2019

Blacksad: Under the Skin is a game that detective fans will like with a new case that could be taken from the original comics, but the technical problems weigh too much on the final result and we will see if in the future they can be solved .

Review in Spanish | Read full review

ZTGD
Top Critic
8.5 / 10.0
Jan 29, 2020

Blacksad: Under the Skin is an interesting tale of murder and corruption that presents in one of the best takes on the adventure game formula-multiple endings, choices that really matter, and a cast of characters that are extremely engaging.

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7.6 / 10.0
Dec 2, 2019

Blacksad: Under the Skin is an adventure that moves away from the classic point and click structure, but it's far from perfect in the ambitious game design. That said, Pendulo Studios game is pleasant to play and overall unmissable by fans of the original comic.

Review in Italian | Read full review

5 / 10
Nov 19, 2019

Even if you're not familiar with Blacksad's previous adventures, fans of games like L.A. Noire or any of the Telltale adventures will find something to like about Blacksad: Under the Skin. It's a real shame, then, that the game is so buggy on release. Numerous technical issues really spoil what would otherwise be a very entertaining whodunit.

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GameMAG
Top Critic
8 / 10
Nov 18, 2019

Blacksad: Under the Skin is a great adventure game with a charismatic cat-detective, variable dialogues, well-written story, high-quality translation into Russian, with the exception of one not voiced piece, and well-chosen music. A large number of bugs is a disappointment. However, most of them will be fixed by the nearest patches. Therefore, you can simply postpone the purchase of this wonderful game until the second half of December, when everything will be corrected.

Review in Russian | Read full review

5 / 10
Nov 11, 2019

Despite its trueness to the original comic books, Blacksad : Under the Skin is way too weak on a technical point of view to keep the adventure interesting until the end. Meanwhile a serious update to correct all the visible flaws, only the true hardcore fans should jump in.

Review in French | Read full review

6 / 10.0
Dec 3, 2019

Blacksad: Under the Skin has a wonderful story, setting, and set of characters, and it clearly loves its source material. I just wish it also loved my time, as I often found it wasted by pixel hunting, pointless choices, and tons of glitches.

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Disliked
Nov 27, 2019

There’s the potential for a good game here, but there’s no internal logic to the storytelling, controls are exhausting, it’s a bug addled mess, and its reliance on shock value and ham-fisted treatment of delicate topics drive me up the wall.

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Lee Mehr
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Jul 28, 2024

While this current-gen version's polishes don't remove design annoyances endemic to most TellTale-esque adventures, Under the Skin is nevertheless an enthralling noir yarn worth unspooling.

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KeenGamer
Conor Mitchell
Top Critic
5 / 10.0
Feb 19, 2020

Grab your fedora and trench coat as we review Blacksad: Under the Skin, a game with as many problems as there are solutions. A boxing gym owner is dead, and his protege has disappeared; only one detective can solve the crime, John Blacksad. But, do the game’s issues outweigh the overall enjoyment factor, let’s find out.

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4.1 / 5.0
Dec 13, 2019

Detective Noir with a furry bent.

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