{"id":8121,"date":"2015-03-17T12:07:53","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T04:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.justcharlie.com\/?p=8121"},"modified":"2019-04-28T15:30:59","modified_gmt":"2019-04-28T07:30:59","slug":"papers-please","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justcharlie.com\/papers-please\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Review: “Papers, Please”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Papers,Papers, Please<\/em> is\u00a0a “Dystopian Document Thriller” where\u00a0you play an\u00a0immigration inspector\u00a0at the border of\u00a0a\u00a0fictional Communist state called\u00a0Arstotzka.\u00a0It is one of the most imaginative and unconventional games that I have played, which reminds me what games are really all about: being emotionally affected by a novel experience.<\/p>\n

Paper Pushing<\/h2>\n

On the surface this game is about scrutinizing paperwork, which sounds like a tedious gameplay mechanic. But it blossoms beyond tedium with lush details that\u00a0combine to create the brooding, oppressive atmosphere of Arstotzka, a dictatorial nightmare. One where you silently walk to work in the cold and toil all day only to be forced to choose between heat in your freezing apartment or medicine for your sick child.\u00a0Papers, Please is not about documents:\u00a0it’s about making very difficult choices and struggling for survival.<\/p>\n

As you receive instructions on verifying paperwork, you begin the drudgery of your job as the \u00a0complexities begun to ratchet up. At first you are cross-referencing information between multiple documents on a virtual table-top. In time you begin subjecting visitors to X-ray and finger-print scans to verify identity and right to entry. It only gets more complex and dark from there.<\/p>\n

\"Papers,<\/p>\n

In the course of a work day, you interact with many different characters who guide the narrative. The memorable ones are prostitutes, pimps, drug smugglers, and terrorists, and they all have a story to tell. They’ll appeal to your emotions and ask you to break protocol, which often ends in someone getting shot. Which\u00a0feels bad since the atmosphere and narrative in Papers, Please is so convincing.<\/p>\n

Eventually you will become skilled in your task of checking paperwork, but it’s never quite enough. Papers, Please conveys\u00a0oppression, brutality and misery with stunning elegance, and it strikes an emotional chord through its characters.<\/p>\n

Papers, Please Trailer<\/h2>\n