Source: Screen Capture from Game
Papers, Please is politically charged, simulation game
created by 3909. You play as a resident of Arstotzka who has had their name
drawn for the October labor lottery. This means you get to work at the border
and process the lines of people trying to get into Arstotzka, for any number of
reasons. It’s important to follow the rules, or you may be penalized—and you
have a family to take care of.
You’ll have to budget your earnings to cover your rent,
food, and heating expenses, and medicine if anyone should need it. This gets
harder and harder to do as the game goes on. As you go to work each day, you
receive new rules and policies to follow. For example—one day you may need to only check a person’s
passport, and entry papers, but the next day you may need to verify a person’s
passport, entry papers, and perform extra checks for specific nationalities
also. It gets complex, and time consuming. You need to work quickly though,
since your pay is determined by how many people you service during your work
time.
The time limit can cause you to feel some serious pressure, as
you are concerned about making mistakes, but also making enough money to feed
your family and keep them warm. You can also buy booth extras(shortcuts which
really help), or upgrade to a better apartment. However, you also have to
beware your own neighbors. Happen to accumulate too much wealth(such as through
accepting bribes…) and you neighbors may tip off your government, who will then
swoop in and confiscate all of that wealth, leaving you cold and broke again.
Source: GiantBomb
I have tried to play through the game about 4 times, and 14
days is the farthest I have made it into the game. This game is full of moral
dilemmas. If a man has the proper paperwork, but his wife doesn’t, would you
allow his wife to pass through with him? Or would you deny her entrance? How
about a woman who begs, telling you that she will be killed is she is forced to
return to her country? Ordeals like this are what makes the game difficult for
me, because deep down I am a bleeding heart. But it is also what makes this
game so compelling.
The characters themselves are interesting, and act in a way that makes them seem real. The emotions that they convey in their desperation can be heart wrenching. This game works out best if you can be cold and keep your priorities in order. Heck, while I was typing this blog entry I was editing my tumblr page layout and watching a Rob Dyke stream on Youtube. But, I digress.
The controls for the game are point and click, and the booth
upgrades you get, or at least the ones that I had gotten, integrated some
keyboard controls to be used as shortcuts. Such as pressing shift to bring out the "accept" or "deny" stamper instead of having to take the extra time to move the mouse to the side to click. The keyboard controls really were
helpful to get through the immigrants quicker.
Source: Papers Please Website
The graphics of Papers, Please are attractive, retro pixel
styled graphics. I always liked the retro pixel aesthetic, and the grim
appearance of the graphics are complimented by the harsh music and sound
effects.
Overall, I really enjoyed Papers, Please. This game is
political, emotional, and intense. Just when you think you’re doing well, something
is guaranteed to happen to knock you down a peg. While you’re down, Arstotzka
is likely to kick you while you are down too. In any case, you can get the game
on Steam *here*. The price is normally $9.99, but you know me—I got it on sale.
Let me know if you’ve played Paper, Please, and what you
thought about it! How far did you make it? Were you able to complete the story
mode? Comment below!
Happy Gaming, Friends!
Bell
0 comments:
Post a Comment