1/2/2023 0 Comments We. the revolutionThe earliest identifiable historical event that occurs while playing as Judge Fidele is King Louis and the Royal Family’s attempt to flee France, the so-called Flight to Varennes. The storming of the Bastille in July of 1789 is referred to in the past tense when the game starts. But the chronology in the game and the player’s role are too fluid for that simple categorization. a fictional character in an actual historical role) in the loosely constructed problem space of a revolutionary judge in the French Revolution. At first glance, it would seem designer Polyslash has opted for an every-person player agent (i.e. The player takes on the fictional persona of Alexis Fidele who has been posted as a judge for the Revolutionary Tribunal in France. The setting of the game is Revolutionary Paris in the period from the initial declaration of a new French National Assembly on June 20 th, 1789 to the fall of Maximilien Robespierre, chief architect of the Reign of Terror, in July 1794. There are a variety of more condensed ones available with a quick search for “French Revolution Timeline”) Its timeline of the Revolution is thorough but a bit unwieldy. #We. the revolution full#( George Mason University’s Center for History and New Media has a fantastic site on the French Revolution, Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, full of documents, images, and scholarly analysis. With these caveats in mind, let’s dig in. I happen to be very interested in the French Revolution and that knowledge enriched the game considerably. Second, there was a lot going on in the French Revolution making it a fascinating but challenging topic to study, to teach, and to encapsulate when critiquing a game in the setting. Just when I thought I had learned the core gameplay, a new system emerged, and then another … all of it involving a detailed tale of revolutionary intrigue. Used as a foil for analysis during a history unit on the French Revolution, the game could be a very powerful addition to the course.Ī comprehensive historical review, which I have certainly not achieved here, is difficult for several reasons. So will those who want to follow a game-based story of politics, blood, betrayal, and justice. Anyone interested in the French Revolution, or games that delve into politics and strategy beyond the battlefield, will find a lot of food for thought here. Though not without flaws and certainly taking liberties with the historical record, WTR is an impressive artistic effort to create something new and different in the world of historical games and a game I hope to use in an Interactive History course. Again, I submit that the designers have handled all this subject matter appropriately again, I leave it up to readers to decide. One final note: the art style is not realistic, but it does depict a bloody guillotine blade each time a person is sentenced to death. Whether that makes the game appropriate for your intended audience, I will leave to you to decide. The game designers clearly intend the player to be uncomfortable with the moral dilemmas of being a judge and handle all these topics seriously, I would argue, seriously and appropriately for the material: the French Revolution unsanitized, like life, had many adult situations, a great deal of rough language, and many moral ambiguities. Mature Content Warning: The game, in which you play as a revolutionary judge, deals with a number of adult situations, DESCRIBED in the TEXT of the court documents (NOT VISUALLY DEPICTED): rape, murder, sex, and abuse (in terms of language, one court document quotes a witness saying “we f**ked” to refer to a sexual relationship in a text deposition, and the jury occasionally uses slanders, in text bubbles, like “Austrian b**ch” to refer to Marie Antoinette and others). Opinions will vary about the enjoyability of the game (and I encourage readers to read a mainstream games media review when considering playing purely for enjoyment: Anthony Marzano at Destructoid and Robert Purchese at Eurogamer both offer good reviews): is it too linear? are some of the mechanics insufficiently clear and in need of more development? does the quality of voice acting detract too much from the game? What kind of game is it anyway? Ultimately, I am sincerely impressed with WTR. New systems and mechanics continue to appear. It is difficult to describe and review concisely as a historical game, and I have only played through the first act, the first 20 days, perhaps some 25 hours with restarts. I should begin by noting that, despite its length, this is far from a complete review of all aspects of Polyslash’s French-Revolution-themed game, We.
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