The Occupation looks an interesting first-person reporter
What's this?
The makers of Ether One have announced The Occupation [official site], a fascinating-sounding new first-person investigate-o-adventure game. Set in the wake of a terrorist attack in '80s Britain, it'll send a reporter to investigate an impending oppressive government act, poking into the story as events unfold in four hours of real time. Quite how it all works is a little unclear for now but I'm digging the idea especially for that real-time aspect. Too few games draw from The Last Express. Here, get a sense of what's going on and admire the dust-wiping animation in this announcement trailer:
I'm certainly keen to see more of that. Here's the official pitch from White Paper Games:
"The Occupation is a politically driven, first-person, narrative game set in 1980’s North-West England in which you play as a whistleblowing journalist.
"A terrorist attack has left 23 dead & has become a catalyst for the creation of The Union Act. A controversial act which threatens the civil liberties of the British population. The day is October 24th 1987 and the next 4 hours will determine the outcome of the act and the future of the country. Events happen in real-time and you must make decisions based on the evidence surrounding you. Is the cost of an extreme action outweighed by the cause of the greater good? You are the reporter. You decide the narrative."
The Occupation is coming later this year. White Paper Games haven't confirmed platforms yet but I'd be astonished if it skips PC. They'll be showing a demo version of The Occupation at Rezzed this week. (We'll be at Rezzed too, by the way.)
White Paper actually announced The Occupation on Wednesday. Right as I finished this post, reports started coming in of deadly attacks around Parliament. Given this game's terrorism plot, we sat on this for a bit.