The moment we’ve (well, I’ve) been waiting for is almost here.Chicken Police: Into the Hive, the sequel to 2020’sPaint it Red,will be releasedfor PC on June 11, 2025. The PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch versions will join “soon” after.
I amveryenthusiastic. I actually namedInto the Hiveas my most anticipated game of 2024.Chicken Police: Paint it Redleft a lasting impact on me when I played it (late)back in 2021with its lovingly developed characters and interesting worldbuilding. Also, the photomanipulation used to create the characters and environments is practically hypnotic. Don’t let me oversell it, it’s a heavily narrative visual novel that can be slow and almost too detailed, but that’s part of what I love about it. Its creators are obviously very passionate about its world, and that gets reflected.
While there are a number of spin-offs that are cropping up within the “World of Wilderness” universe based around theChicken Police(that I’m also excited for), butInto the Hiveis the direct continuation. A while back I got to play the demo of the game early, but found that a short morsel justwasn’t enough for me. Nothing that diminished my excitement, but I felt I needed more of a taste.
This adventure will put the eponymous police officers in the midst of a plot involving the also-eponymous Hive, a slum of Clawville where its insect population is isolated. While the games are stylized as film noir, there’s a healthy heaping of humor keeping it all afloat. I still tend to quote the first game from time to time. Also, if you don’t dig the black-and-white look of the game,Into the Hiveintroduces a technicolor mode that colorizes everything in a strikingly garish palette. You can swap between the two styles at any time.
The Hive was mentioned (and glimpsed) inPaint it Red, andZipp’s Cafeserves as a prologue, so the groundwork has been amply fertilized for this narrative. It should be a good one. If not, I’m sure I’ll be hopelessly crushed.
If that’s the case, there are, as I said, spin-offs happening. One of the most interesting is a turn-based strategy game where you pull off heists as a team of criminals.W.I.L.D. Tactics, which currently does not have a release date. There’s also an upcoming adventure game calledMoses & Plato – Last Train to Clawvillefeaturing the titular rivals of the Chicken Police. I dig the ambition and look forward to seeing where this all goes.
Chicken Police: Into the Hiveis out July 22, 2025 on PC. PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch versions will arrive sometime after.
