Written by Caterina 2022 Cohort
The first few words that came to mind when I heard the game name “Orwell” were anti-totalitarian, human rights, and thought control. There are many video games with an anti-utopian theme currently available. In these games, the protagonist frequently represents a person with a newly awakened mind battling an unbeatable authoritarian state. This story can be significantly developed to cover topics like freedom, resistance to totalitarian rule, and several moral quandaries to raise the work’s level of sophistication. The game’s interactive nature can considerably increase the player’s sense of immersion in the main character, who must make decisions regarding various moral dilemmas that arise in real life.
Orwell, the game is like an American drama revolving around a serial bombing case. As investigators, we are constantly exploring the stories of others to find out who is behind the bombings. The game will give us the first suspect’s profile and then gradually open the system’s three main permissions to investigate each other：
- Reader–It uses web pages to find the suspect’s message about the bombing.
- Listener–Players can eavesdrop on NPC calls, but the only regret is that this game is not like the “Cyber Manhunt” game has a voice to let the player into.
- Insider–Intrusion into the suspect’s computer and cell phone, if the other party is not a computer expert, will not realize that you are looking at each other’s privacy.
The game uses key phrases as clues in a large amount of text, especially when integrated into Cassandra’s character network. Not only do we have to find the words that help move the case forward, but we also have to consider whether some contradictory words correspond to the character and the events that occurred.
During the period, the game will also deliberately in Cassandra, Harrison, Nina, and other people to lay suspense and reversal.
However, the most unfortunate thing for me is that Orwell only stops at the level of storytelling. It uses an excellent framework to tell a good story but does not offer enough performance effect; the whole game is more like a reading comprehension exercise.