The Big Con Review
It’s hard for me to know whether or not there’s any true nostalgia for the 1990s because I grew up in that decade. So any time I think I miss that particular decade, what I actually miss is having been a young, carefree child. Yes, I will still sing along to Backstreet Boys, watch A Goofy Movie, and play Final Fantasy Tactics but that’s nothing to do with the 90s, those are all just great media. This means when people try to invoke 90s nostalgia to me, it doesn’t really land. However, as a person who grew up in the 90s, I am an adamant fan of the a cappella group Rockapella, creators of one of the best show themes in history. So, when The Big Con advertised itself with an all-new Rockapella song, I didn’t care or even notice the 90s angle, I was sold on the song alone.
This was all I needed to sell me on the game, but The Big Con has even more excellence to offer.
The Big Con sees teenager Alison “Ali” Barlow put in a truly miserable situation: the video rental store where she and her mom work and live is in massive debt. After overhearing her mom talking with a loan shark named Ricky, Ali learns her home is in danger on the night she is to leave for band camp. Stonewalled by her mother, Ali takes fate into her own hands and leaves town with Ted, a crook and grifter who agrees to teach her the trade. Together, Ali and Ted make their way across 90s America, fleecing the clueless to save Ali’s home.
The Big Con has two different styles of game play: pickpocketing and conning. The first and most prevalent is the pickpocketing. This is done through a minigame in which players must sneak up on civilians and hold down a button, then release it at the right time. I didn’t like this minigame very much and quickly got bored of it, because it has quite a few problems. Firstly, it’s not a great way to earn money. Secondly, it doesn’t require very much stealth. Lastly, if players do manage to get caught, the penalty is totally toothless. Entirely opposite is the game’s many cons. These are multi-step scams that force players to learn about a potential target then searching the map for information or items needed to separate the mark from huge portions of their money. I liked these a lot more because they were much more interesting, fun, and challenging than pickpocketing, and also because most had multiple solutions. Though I personally found the pickpocketing lacking, having both options available to earn money will let players who prefer big schemes and players who want a more relaxed approach save the video store in their own way.
Whichever path players take, they will be stymied by the game’s unfortunate level of bugs. As far as I can tell, this is the first game by developers Mighty Yell and that’s pretty noticeable in a number of ways. The first way I noticed this was text disappearing on screen. All the characters speak in comic book speech bubbles and will sometimes have button prompts for players to further the conversation within these bubbles. Frustratingly, about a third of the time these bubbles would open and then immediately close again, leaving any information or interaction they had as a mystery. There are also quite a few graphical glitches that will make some paths seem inaccessible when they aren’t or vice versa, and parts of the environment will often clip in front of Ali or other parts of the background. These are less disruptive than the dialogue disappearances but don’t make for a great game play experience. Along those same lines, the character models sometimes suffer from visual glitches. This includes eyes disappearing from a character’s face, characters always facing one direction regardless of how they’re moving, or parts of a model becoming frozen and not moving with the rest of their bodies. Lastly, though not a glitch, The Big Con needs another pass from a proofreader. There are more than a handful of misspellings and grammatical errors. I think with the modern state of games, these things could be fixed in future updates, so they’re not a disaster but currently present the game in a less than admirable state.
In spite of many flaws, The Big Con has a mighty pillar not only supporting the game but raising it to remarkable heights and that is the game’s writing. Though technically a grim premise, The Big Con maintains a light and fun tone with a few moments of earnest reflection on important topics like being true to yourself and calling your mom to check in. This keeps the whole game as a much more enjoyable experience rather than something to be stomached. The characters themselves are also well written. Ali talks like a confused, scared teen in over her head while Ted has the confident air of a teen that’s slightly older and barely more knowledgeable than who he hangs out with. But possibly the best writing is the conversations Ali has with Rad Ghost. Apparently a stress hallucination modeled after a music video DJ Ali admired, Rad Ghost acts as a sounding board, councilor, and help line for players and Ali. Packed to the gills with 90s rad-itude and anti-drug propaganda, he offers help in the most positive way I’ve ever seen: by helping Ali realize she has all the answers inside and just needs to talk them out. It’s both tremendous writing and game design.
If I’m being completely honest, the reason I was interested in The Big Con has got to be one of the weakest reasons I’ve had for picking a game but I’m glad I did. It’s not polished, some of the gameplay is bad and it’s not all that long, but I don’t regret picking it up. Between the longer, more complex grifts, the story, and the characters, I think The Big Con is a treat. What’s better, it only costs $15 so it’s a real low-risk purchase. I think everyone would enjoy playing this one, but it will especially appeal to people who are looking for a shorter game to play over a weekend or for people who have kids, as an increasing number of people I know do.
Buy this game at full price
It’s worth every penny they’re asking
