Not For Broadcast [Early Review]
By Thunderheavyarm
Our friends from tinyBuild are back with a new title developed by NotGames. We’re going back to the United Kingdom as another radical government takes control and begins to exercise odd changes. Feel like I’ve been in a similar situation like this one before...ah well. In Not for Broadcast you take on the task of broadcasting a 1980’s news channel each night. It’s up to you, to mix angles, censor language and hold the attention of a nation as you decide what is allowed and is not for broadcast. Will you support the current regime or support the anti-government radicals attempting to over throw it?
Note: This game is still in early access and play is subject to change before the final product is released.
Gameplay
The main point ofthe game is to maintain the audience’s attention. Much like aregular television show today, you switch between multiple cameras tomaintain audience attention. Maintain a shot on whoever is speakingwhile at the same time include reaction shots to maintain interest.If this sounds too easy, the game has several challenges to keep youon your toes. The simplest is maintaining a clear picture through asmall panel mini-game avoiding interference. You also have a censorbutton, which will eventually become the main point of the game, asit’s initial purpose is to keep Nightly News family friendly, iteventually will become the weapon that you wield either against thegovernment or the opposing faction to broadcast what you want them tohear. In the short term, your commercials choices do influence futureevents, such as the toy commercial I ran causing the news tointerview a child that was brutally mauled by one. At the end of eachsegment you receive a letter grade of how well you maintainedaudience attention, including where you need to make improvements.Followed at the end with an overall grade and some income that youcan use to buy cosmetics—you can only afford these with the fewplayable levels available—but there are upgrades that you can buyto help with your broadcasting.
Review
While the game isn’tfinished, but it has such a ridiculously strong foundation already,I’m already wanting the next set of scenarios to come out. Aphenomenal look into politics without it becoming a politicalsimulator as a strange mash up of Papers, Please and Not Tonight.While I typically like to wait for a game to be finished beforegetting it myself, I can honestly say that this game is worth thejump in now since it feels like a complete game. It’s currently upon Steam for the arguably fair price of $15 as the room has aridiculous amount of potential already. If you’re a fan of Papers,Please and other titles like it, this game isn’t just up youralley, it is the alley and it’s deciding what you watch on TV.