Not Broadcast is a propaganda system that won't stick to seriousness

I’m a cog in a dystopia machine that is slowly approaching. My job is to manage nighttime news in some form of 1980s British history, to produce live events as they happen. This dynamic video game shows me broadcasters, directors promoting their movies, politicians, and entrepreneurs on various screens, and it's my job to make some impression about it so that audiences start every night to get “news. ”

A new political party, Advance by far, has come to power. I am also documenting their ups and downs. If I am smart, I can edit those stories to convey the public opinion as I wish, in a place that I think will inform or help people. When I'm paralyzed, viewers stop coming in, and I suddenly lose my job.

On the other hand, I should also manage the interview of a man named Tit-wank Tony, and decide if I will announce the Elon Musk-esque travel tunnel provided by the MOOBS (Mobile Oriuction Operation Burrowing System).

Do you Not by broadcasting A goofy slapstick, or a toothless political story? Both. Kind of. Seriously? Strange, very fast. And, it turns out, it produces live news hard.

Power selection

Not by broadcasting the topic of early access; this release contains a large chunk of the story and a lot of mechanics, but there will be many more that will come up with additional polish on the existing parts. I take on the role of being a broadcaster, coming up with a set of different controls. Fortunately, there is a solid lesson, where my friend drives to the station and walks me through everything I need to do. At the end of the call, he tells me that this is my job now.

I'm not around much Not by broadcasting; I'm attached to my channel. However, that channel is pretty cool. There are four screens on the left, each of which can show different angles of the camera or news sections. I choose to choose which of these screens will be displayed on the streaming, central screen. To the right of the live feed. A live feed is a nationally watched radio; that is when I realized that my planning decisions worked, or I blocked the conversion.

I have to look at all those screens, and look at the console underneath them, which allows me to switch screens, select photos to show the audience, conduct commercials, and clear any negative oaths. And I have to do all this in real time.

It starts with a stubbornness, but there are a few simple rules that make things clear. I want to put the camera on anyone who's talking, but things get tricky when I'm in the same place for so long. I cross a comfortable rhythm: Shot, shot reaction, wide shot, I go commercial. I'm starting to sound like I'm in control, and that's a heady feeling.

Image: NotGames / TinyBuild

It's incredibly fun to play the director. I'm not a movie actor or TV nerd; I won't tell you much about camera design or set management. Not by broadcastingThis unique gameplay gives me an idea of ​​how difficult that is. Developers at NotGames put a lot of work into creating larger scenarios and recording them at multiple angles; my job of converting them all into a harmonious, vivid image is difficult.

Learning to do it on the fly, sewing together a real game, feels fun. It's like learning to draw, or to model. It's difficult, and it's a skill I never really thought about or built naturally, but it comes true when I first see the results of my hard work on screen.

I'm starting to enjoy putting together a good stream. I learn peppers in shooting range and wide range shooting to keep the pace healthy. Producing live television is a lot more complicated than it looks – switch the camera too early, and you can touch the visitor to take a nose, or make a face. Occasionally, naked protesters are flooded with a local sporting event, and I have to carefully change the cameras to make sure no one sees tithing or unfair compensation.

And I either have to change the swear words – I have to watch the swearing-in on my channel and hit the space bar at the same time – or make a little money and get a note on my permanent record. The power outage sometimes means I lose control of some buttons.

If I do it right, I get rewards for money out of the game, which I can use to expand and beautify my channel. Some of these purchases are simply bobbleheads or posters; some updates have obvious effects, such as reducing the amount of electrical burns.

That sets the rhythm of the game. I go to work, and then I have to get through the day's affairs. Those stories are divided into many parts. The first one may be morning news, while the latter may focus on me having an interview with the director or a special interview with the politician. Once the day is done, I am measured in each part.

Image: NotGames / TinyBuild

All of this sounds cramped, but it is more creative than science. I feel like a true professional when local teens come to the studio to play a friendly game, and I switch on the cameras to bring their perspective (scary, crazy, really bad) to life. After I'm done with the level, I can either go back and look at my cuts … or check each feed, I got a few Easter eggs and some interviews from other members of the news staff that it would have been a disaster for that to broadcast.

There's no motive for the game to do this – I can get to the end of the game if I like – but it's fun to find secrets, or get clips of a news anchor drawing with a makeup artist.

With mechanical engineering, Not Broadcast he sells my work well. The problem has a story built around it.

The tone is everything

After a long day at my job in the propaganda mill, I go home and experience family life with a short text-based vignette. Britain is changing all around me, thanks to the far-left party elections. These changing politics believe in redistribution of wealth through coercion, comprehensive care of life, society holding company stocks and other labor policies. The match was set before the Brexit era, but with the recent British election, I was expecting some kind of positive, modern comment by politicians like Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson. It's not coming.

That is clear Not by broadcasting it wants me to feel like I'm investigating a dystopia of corruption and spin. The whole fence is very sensitive; even fun stop music! In the text sections, my father-in-law is shown at my door asking for my passport to escape the country, fleeing the government and his belongings. I refuse, because pay your taxes, Chris, you donkey. The choice to keep my passport plants doubled, as relationships with my family get complicated.

Image: NotGames / TinyBuild

It's all very stressful and concerning – until we get back to the broadcast. There, I rearrange parts back to the "Yakety Sax" -vel slapstick. The Leviticus broadcaster has the door opened to his side and … to his surprise, there is a submissive wearing leather there, and the interview falls into controversy. The preacher criticizes immigrants for the deterioration of public morality, and in the background, women's sovereignty and centralized expulsion. It's impossible to plan around, which is the whole point.

That particular situation was a dumb and lazy joke, but there were times when I realized the incredible power of the genre Not by broadcasting that's very much based on the humor of what's going on. The aforementioned local sports tournament takes place in the realm of fiction; there are fun cuts to the decline of new situations, unexpected situations, and zany ready-made rules that can do a trick for me.

But then we go back to politics again, the game again strengthens me in the ribs. “Hey,” he whispers. "You're not looking right now, but the Advance party looks decent … am I right?"

I don't know, the game, put it on a thick layer.

I like Not by broadcasting, but it looks like Flies-The style test is linked together from two different games. I would love to play any of them separately, but putting them together lowers the final product. There is a developer moment for NotGames to fix the ship, though, and the mechanics are amazing enough to keep me interested in the next chapter.

Not by broadcasting will be released on January 30 on Windows PC. The game has been updated using the Steam Early Access download code provided by TinyBuild Games. You can find more details about Polygon's ethics policy here.