Papers, Please First Person Review

An elderly woman limped into my office on a wooden cane. Like the others shuffling impatiently outside the grimy windows of the immigration office, she needed into the country. Unlike the others, she wasn't just visiting. She was coming home.  She sunk into the cold steel chair in front of the office window and shuffled through her only noticeable belonging; a small, faded, emerald green purse.

"Papers please" I said disinterestedly as I checked my watch. The dusty hands audibly creaked as they announced five o'clock. Just one hour and I need three more. Come on lady, hurry up. I witnessed her frustration as it wrote itself into her wrinkles and refracted in the lenses of cracked bifocals. I was about to send her away when a smile fluttered across her frail, delicate cheeks. She reminded me of my mother.

"Here you are." she said, sliding her passport and identification card through the small slot in the office window. "This is all I need right?" I nodded and quickly set to work comparing her information and checking it with the updated regulations guidebook. This was only my first week so I was still learning the ropes, but because of a recent terrorist attack outside the office, the new regulations were being compounded almost daily. So far so good; date of birth, correct; expiration date is good; everything seems to be in order. But just as I was about to stamp her papers for approval a small detail caught my eye.

"My son is sick you see..." she droned. Most people think that if they tell me their story, I'll let them through based on that alone. But if you listen to every single one, your mirror will start to look down on you. So you build a mental barrier and they become just voices in a crowd. "I left the country before the war to visit family." The war had separated a lot of families, she's not so special I tell myself. "Only about a week to live."  The familiar sound of tissues scraping against wet cheeks. I haven't seen my mom in years.

You can't let this one go. One more violation and I would have been taken away in chains by the Arstotzan security forces and my family would be thrown onto the street. This week it was food instead of heat, next week it'll be heat instead of food. What if my son gets sick? It'll be medicine instead of anything. After taking a long hollow breath, I stamped her papers in the negative, and handed them back. My eyes stuck in the cracks of my rotten desk, ashamed.

“I'm sorry, but you're gender is listed as Male instead of Female on your I.D. card. You'll have to get a new one." What life she had drained from her papery skin, shaking uncontrollably, as she tightly gripped the emerald green purse. Maybe she'll start shouting and I'll be able to detain her, that'll earn me a few extra bucks from the guards. My family will be fine for the next week. God I fucking hate myself.

"But, it's just a small mistake. Can’t you let me through? I have to see my son!" The guards outside the office winked and gripped the handles of their automatic weapons. My conscience has got me by the throat.  "It'll take me about a month to get another identification card." 

“I wish I could let you through, but I’ll be taken away if I let you pass and the security forces find out. My family could lose everything.” At that notion her figure seemed to resign itself to fate. Her mouth just hung in the air for minutes, staring past me, or through me, I couldn't be sure.  Her eyes stole my thoughts as she gripped her cane in one tiny weak hand.

The cane crashed against the window as she pleaded "It'll be too late by then. I have to see him now.” In those gentle eyes I could see that she couldn't stop herself anymore than I could stop myself. I saw a child dying without his mother there to comfort him. I hate my job. The security forces rushed into the office and bashed the butts of their rifles into her glass skull. I could taste the rusty copper as it trickled down her temple and lost itself in the stains on the floor. Who am I?

“Thanks, another one and we’ll both get that bonus I was talking about.” The officer chuckled,  a grin stitched into his cheek. The thought of money made me sick, but at least my boy would be fine for one more day.

After the officers carried away the disabled woman,  a man heavy in shadows glided up to the window and slid a black, square envelope through the gap.

“The time is coming for a revolution friend.”

If you'd like to purchase Papers, Please check out the link.

Video Game Review: Gunpoint

The rain beat down on the roof as if the fists of god were trying to warn them as a man in a dark brown coat skulked towards their three story office complex. His goal: Classified company Intel located on the top floor behind an electronically sealed door. Before entering the building the man booted up the high tech Crosslink software installed on his smartphone. Glowing trials wash over the screen, indicating various connections between electronic components. He rewired a nearby switch so that every light is extinguished in one elegant flick. The two lone guardsmen begin scouting and vainly flipping switches, attempting to access the issue.

Using his trademark super jumpy pants (can’t remember the actual name) he leaped to the ceiling and crept along like a spider (man). While ascending the elevator to the top floor, The spy used the Crosslink device to cause a light to switch off in a nearby room, which causes that guard to flip his own switch, which then activates the vault door. After retrieving the info, one of the guards managed to find his way into the room. He quickly leaped towards the guard before he could pull his pistol, throwing both out the window. After landing atop the lifeless corpse the spy then sprinted towards the safety of the subway.

Such is one of the more simple opening missions of Gunpoint, a game about deceiving the enemy into using their own tools against them. The game's Deus Ex Noir art style combines with deep but easy to learn gameplay mechanics in order to create an experience that is both as simple and as complex as the player would like it to be.

The name of the game is Creative Ingenuity (Actually it’s Gunpoint). Although every mission has essentially the same objective, the way in which you accomplish said objective is entirely up to you. Other than a few linear portions at the beginning and end, the entire game comes across as a side scrolling version of Dishonored or Deus Ex. You're even given the choice to use a gun, despite the overwhelming odds that are placed against you for pulling the trigger.

Although there are about a dozen upgrades available to you, they are the worst filled out aspect of the game, most of them feel as if they should have been open to you from the beginning. Once you get the Crosslink and gain the ability to rewire everything from doors to camera’s to electric outlets, you could potentially complete the entire campaign without purchasing anything other than the required components. One of the games biggest issues is that it poses almost no real challenge.

The ability to purchase a gun is interesting because, although the game is call Gunpoint, gun’s have been entirely outlawed. It’s also a last resort option that, when used, will begin a countdown timer as a sniper (the social ramifications for allowing government agencies to use firearms when normal people cannot is a topic I wish was discussed more) sets his sights on you. It can also be used to hold up guards and back them into tight corners.

As I stated before, the world is a mix of classic Noir and Deus Ex. The art style is simple by design, removing any extra clutter, leaving the player with an elegant and nearly invisible interface. That being said, other than the structure of the buildings themselves, the actual art never changes. You will always see the same skyline and the same shades of blue and grey. The music is a mix of unobtrusive electronica that adds to the overall cyberpunk aesthetic. Overall the presentation performs the job that it’s meant to by keeping you completely engaged. I have to admit, I do love a dude in a pixelated trenchcoats.

The story is also surprisingly compelling for being told primarily through text with zero spoken dialogue. I haven't played an indie action adventure this witty and interesting in a long while. The way the story wraps around several choices that you are allowed to make, a la Mass Effect and other choose your own adventure titles gives you another reason to give the game another go once it’s all over.

The bad news is that you can beat said story in around 3 hours. What gives it its legs is its replayability. Trying out different tactics, going for that perfect score, these are what Gunpoint is all about. The unique reward for completing the game in certain ways is exciting as well. If you’re not the person that likes playing a game more than once, it’s not for you. For others, 10 bucks is a stupid cheap price for such a well designed gem.

In the future, either through a patch or a feature implimented into the website itself, hopefully the creator decides to put together a portal for sharing user created content. It’ll be just the feature to put this title over the edge. I could see a community potentially thrive off of player created content for months, if not a year or two.  

Overall it's hard not to recommend gunpoint although end the end this is a title that leaves you wanting. You need more but there’s nothing left to give once you have seen the handful of ways the story can pan out. If you’re looking for more content past the unfortunately short story, hopefully you have friends that can create some for you, at least until a proper portal is established.