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Anyone else keeping their nation safe in Orwell? (episodic, first episode free)

M

More_Badass

Member
In the vein of Papers Please and in-development game Need To Know, Orwell is a game that tackles themes of privacy, security, and surveillance

header.jpg


http://orwellgame.com/
http://store.steampowered.com/app/491950/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up-yaDbqH2k

$9.95, PC (currently on sale for $8.49)

WEEKLY EPISODIC RELEASE FORMAT:
20th October: Episode One – The Clocks were Striking Thirteen (free demo)
27th October: Episode Two – A Place where there is No Darkness (full version)
3rd November: Episode Three – Unperson (full version)
10th November: Episode Four – Memory Hole (full version)
17th November:: Episode Five – Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree (full version)

===

Big Brother has arrived - and it’s you. Investigate the lives of citizens to find those responsible for a series of terror attacks. Information from the internet, personal communications and private files are all accessible to you. But, be warned, the information you supply will have consequences…

Investigate the digital lives of citizens.
Search web pages, scour through social media posts, dating site profiles, news articles and blogs to find those responsible for a series of terror attacks.

Invade the private lives of suspects.
Listen in on chat communications, read personal emails, hack PCs, pull medical files, make connections. Find the information you need to know.

Determine the relevance of information.
Only the information you provide will be seen by the security forces and acted upon. You decide what gets seen and what does not, influencing how the suspects will be perceived.

Secure the freedom of the Nation.
Find the terrorists so the citizens of the Nation can sleep safe, knowing Orwell is watching over them.

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Click to expand...
 
I

Inumbris

Member
Oh I didn't realise that the first episode of this is free. Definitely no excuse for me to avoid checking it out now. Thanks for the heads up!
 
L

LurkerPrime

Member
First episode is intruiging overall (especially the ending), although the 'decision points' feel incredibly arbitrary with how binding they are; I guess at it's core it's a TellTale adventure in a different format. The main issue I have, which baffled me a bit, is the distinction between relevant Orwell information vs. something non-gameplay relevant; namely, (spoilers)
Blue's relationship with her lawyer. She confirms it in a text message in a very clear way, but you cannot Orwell it until later on when it is actually confirmed on her Fakebook timeline.
And another issue: I'm still not sure if I needed to select a particular profile to have relevant information highlighted or what, and since data is locked at the end I guess I'll never know.

I suppose Orwell is kind of conflcited as a game, to me. It wants to have an eye-opening, almost Papers Please-esque aspect of online surveillance, but also wants a tense and dramatic narrative. Taken together, it just feels kind of conflicted, becase the two angles are kind of at odds with one another. I feel the story would be much better served in a TellTale cinematic adventure format, rather than the detached method they currently have.

Now, going into full spoiler story discussion:
So she did it and admits to it, but you can choose to, I guess, let her go at the end there? Knowing what happens immediately afterwards, it's probably more advantageous to let her free, since Thought or her blogger buddy are probably key players in the plot.
 
M

Makonero

Member
Just finished the first ep. Definitely got me hooked! I love this style of game. I just hope there's more red herrings/false info/differing interpretations in future eps.

I played this like I play all adventure games; I don't go back and see what would happen if i made different choices.

But here are the ones I made:

I chose the datachunks that showed that Cassandra was defending Jennifer when she hit the officer on the head and she got arrested. I also chose the chunks that said she stole her lawyer's credit card and therefore she couldn't buy wine and he and her had a fight.

It's going to be interesting to see how ethical you can be in this game. I love that sarcastic comments or bad jokes can come off literally so the "Adviser" believes misleading "facts."
 
M

Makonero

Member
Sorry for the double post, but the second episode released today and I just finished it!

I appreciated the more in depth searching and it definitely felt like my choices to resolve conflicts actually made a difference. The story is good so far and I'm really enjoying it. Can't wait for next week's episode!
 
L

LurkerPrime

Member
So the quality holds ep-to-ep? That's good to hear.

I've added it to my wishlist now. I might've sounded negative above, but the concept sure is cool and I can't deny that.
 
B

Bowlie

Banned
Saw this thread at the front page and downloaded the first episode's demo to give it a try.

I was from the very beginning impressed by the entire presentation and narrative, but it was a little disappointing to realize that, though it makes you analyze a series of disjunct documents, it was in fact linear and didn't give you freedom to achieve your own outcomes (feeding false information to the system, omitting correct information, unless when the game demanded you to do so).

With the Orwell "this act cannot be undone" messages, I hope this will be better explored in the following chapters. The visuals are good enough to make me want to play them in the future.
 
M

Makonero

Member
Bowlie said:
Saw this thread at the front page and downloaded the first episode's demo to give it a try.

I was from the very beginning impressed by the entire presentation and narrative, but it was a little disappointing to realize that, though it makes you analyze a series of disjunct documents, it was in fact linear and didn't give you freedom to achieve your own outcomes (feeding false information to the system, omitting correct information, unless when the game demanded you to do so).

With the Orwell "this act cannot be undone" messages, I hope this will be better explored in the following chapters. The visuals are good enough to make me want to play them in the future.
Click to expand...

Episode two definitely has a decision point that has ramifications. Or at least it seems that way.
 
S

Spoit

Member
Makonero said:
Episode two definitely has a decision point that has ramifications. Or at least it seems that way.
Click to expand...

Does it still hold your hand through most of it? (I.e. Only having stuff pop up after you submit all the links on the current page, etc). Also how does the length compare to the demo episode?
 
M

Makonero

Member
Spoit said:
Does it still hold your hand through most of it? (I.e. Only having stuff pop up after you submit all the links on the current page, etc). Also how does the length compare to the demo episode?
Click to expand...
I would say it's still pretty linear. I don't mind it, though, because you have multiple people you're investigating.

And it's a bit longer than the first episode, but not by much.
 
M

Makonero

Member
OCDChewie said:
Looks really interesting

I'll have to check it out if I get a PC down the road. I doubt my cheap laptop could run it.
Click to expand...
My super cheap laptop runs it just fine. It's basically a visual novel in some ways, all text and pictures but no real visual crunching.

Give the demo a try and see if it works.
 
M

Makonero

Member
I just finished the latest episode. I feel like I made some mistakes this time around. I'm looking forward to replaying the whole thing after all the episodes are released so I can see how different the story ends up with different choices.
 
S

Spoit

Member
So I guess the final episode came out today? Did the later episodes get longer and more intricate? Or did they stay pretty hand-hold-y?
 
M

Makonero

Member
Spoit said:
So I guess the final episode came out today? Did the later episodes get longer and more intricate? Or did they stay pretty hand-hold-y?
Click to expand...

I mean you never get stuck. There's always something new to read or investigate.

I'm about to start the last episode. I really love the story so far and from the achievements, it does look like I could have made significantly different choices.
 
S

Skux

Member
I just finished it and the game is fantastic. I was surprised at how engrossing it is, even with the story told entirely through text and images.

The characters are very well written. At first they seem simple, but as you get glean more information about them they become three dimensional, even sympathetic. And then it's up to you to decide what information you report back to your supervisor - which can have drastic effects on how things play out.

The first episode is free and the game is on sale on Steam so there's really nothing to lose. Do yourself a favour and go in blind, and make sure you take in as much information as you can instead of just instantly dragging the datachunks into the database - the writing and worldbuilding is by far the best part.
 
B

Bowlie

Banned
I finished the game a couple of minutes ago. What I said in my previous post about the first episode's linearity was very much fixed in the following ones, allowing me to shape the plot in many different (and completely wrong, if I so desired) ways.

I'm planning on playing it again to see the different endings. There was one character's complete change of personality in the last episode that felt badly written, but otherwise it is a very smart game in regards to its choices and engagement with the player.
 
C

chaobreaker

Member
Oh man. Thanks to this thread, I decided to buy this game. I love these kinds of fake computer doing computer things games. Just went through all 5 episodes in like 5 hours. Was engrossed the entire time. Once I truly understood what the game was about, I decided to roleplay as a
government stooge that turned in all the Thought members. I felt awful but now I want to give the game another round.

EDIT 1: should mention that if you own Hacknet and Vertiginous Golf, then you can get a slightly deeper discount on Orwell as they come in a bundle. Should last with the winter sale at least.

EDIT 2: This game also runs terribly if you run it for awhile. Found out it was a Unity game during the credits.
 
B

Bowlie

Banned
^

I did the same, lol, even inputting that one of them liked torture because of an out-of-context message they sent to someone else.

As to 3D sections, you'll only get the one in the intro. The rest of the game happens in the Orwell UI.
 
N

Neoweee

Member
This game was in the Humble Monthly. Definitely digging it so far.

Bowlie said:
I finished the game a couple of minutes ago. What I said in my previous post about the first episode's linearity was very much fixed in the following ones, allowing me to shape the plot in many different (and completely wrong, if I so desired) ways.

I'm planning on playing it again to see the different endings. There was one character's complete change of personality in the last episode that felt badly written, but otherwise it is a very smart game in regards to its choices and engagement with the player.
Click to expand...

Yup. I felt like a dick early in the second episode.
 
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