République

Dystopian society isn't a novel concept in games these days. There are a whole bunch of visions of futures gone wrong out there. It's a concept that can be a bit hit and miss, but when it works it can be something truly special. République centres around a girl named Hope, whose story we follow through five episodes. The objective is to simply escape from a facility called Metamorphosis. As expected, everything does not go as planned. A certain country neighbouring South Korea comes to mind, where human rights are necessarily always enforced. Everything is under surveillance. There are guards everywhere, and nobody can stay hidden from the security cameras.

Speaking about cameras, character controlling has absorbed some new nuances. The player acts as a big brother through the surveillance system. The goal is to steer Hope past guards and hackable doors. It's best described as a Resident Evil style mechanic with elements from Watch Dogs. The left stick moves Hope around, and the right one controls the cameras. Innovative? Yes, but sometimes very irritating. The basic idea is to stay hidden from the guards. Sometimes the game fails you at the worst possible moment. When the viewing angle switches between cameras, Hope changes direction unwillingly. Adding insult to injury, every time this happens, the game freezes momentarily. Although it is a brief moment, it is still enough to mess up your focus.

With this in mind, getting caught will inevitably happen at some point. When this occurs, the player is transported to the nearest cell. In Metamorphosis, a city under complete surveillance, has plenty of cells. Jails also act as bases. In addition to saving your progress, you can also buy different abilities here. Some of them are quite useful and clever, some are totally useless. For example, the ability which allows the player to see enemy patrol routes is worth nothing. Even though control mechanics sometimes let you down, the stupidity of the AI does not. It is only if you run around the hallways like a headless chicken that you're in need of this. On the flipside, hiding behind a minuscule water dispenser makes you practically invisible to enemies. Go figure.

What about those useful abilities then? One skill allows you to eavesdrop on phone conversations and to read emails. This opens up a rabbit hole some ways into the game. Even though République was created on a small budget, it has mind-boggling amount of elements adding immersion. Scattered everywhere are items, which illuminate the plot. Many times we just listened to conversations, piecing together some kind of understanding. Forbidden books are our favourite. First you find, lets say Catcher in the Rye. Then an audio file is played, where the main antagonist explains why this book rots the brain. It is an interesting way of explaining the world thanks to a point of reference.

Talking about perspective, the overseer is depicted as the main villain. Even though the primary goal is to get Hope to safety, some light is shed on the other side of the coin as well. Who is this overseer? Where did he come from? What are his motives?

We made the mistake of judging the game beforehand, and thought that the plot was simple and predictable. We're glad to say that's not the case at all. République plays heavily with the feelings of the player throughout the campaign. The end result is simply great. You feel like you're part of the story. Such is the power of masterfully crafted sense of immersion. We managed to sink thirteen hours into a single play-through, without searching every nook and cranny.

Originally Republique was released on mobile platforms. With this in mind, it's understandable why the graphics don't look that great. Partially pre-rendered environments still get the job done. However, there is nothing average about music and the sound effects. The whole audio experience supports the experience perfectly. And besides, what possibly could go wrong when you cast Solid Snake's voice actor?

This game actually made us sit down and think. République itself proved itself to be a good experience, and it raised questions about our world as well. How much privacy is left in modern society? What if there is a big brother who watches over us all? Tinfoil hats aside, it paints a convincing picture. The awkward control mechanic sometimes lets you down, but the overall package is still enjoyable. This is a prime example that smaller productions can be worth both your time and your money.