The Occupation | |
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Developer(s) | White Paper Games |
Publisher(s) | Humble Bundle |
Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows |
Release | 5 March 2019 |
Genre(s) | Adventure |
Mode(s) | Single-player [1] |
The Occupation is a single-player [1] adventure video game developed by White Paper Games and released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, [2] and Microsoft Windows on 5 March 2019. [3] [4] [5] [6] The game takes place in a single government building, in real-time over four hours. The game advances with or without input from the player, but almost all in-game actions can affect the game's story. [7]
The game is set in late 1987 within the same universe as White Paper Games' first title Ether One. [8]
The game does not have a health bar or energy system, when the game needs to punish the player it does so by using up the player's time, for example if a player is caught doing something they should not, they are taken to a security office and lose 15 minutes of game time, which shortens the time available to achieve the main aim of the game, obtaining knowledge. [9]
Prior to the start of the game; a terrorist attack has killed 23 people and led the British Government to create The Union Act, a "controversial act which threatens the civil liberties of the British population."
The game's plot starts at 3:27 PM on 24 October 1987. [10] The player character is a journalist that is researching The Union Act, players have freedom of choice on how to act; become a whistle blowing journalist fighting against the act, or do nothing as the game progresses on its own. [7]
The game was developed on Unreal 4 [11] and uses dynamic artificial intelligence, which combines scripted activities for the in-game characters, along with deviations to their normal routine based on their in-game requirements or interactions. [12] The developers illustrated this by explaining the actions of a character called Dan, a Scottish Muslim who is a "towering bald man who screams security", he breaks his usual desk based routine, because of his need to pray at certain times, creating a circumstance that the player can take advantage of should they wish. [8]
The game was nominated for "Best Use of Game Engine" at the Develop:Star Awards. [13]
Aggregator | Score |
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Metacritic | (PC) 68/100
[14] (PS4) 63/100 [15] (XONE) 69/100 [16] |
Publication | Score |
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Adventure Gamers | [21] |
Game Informer | 6.75/10 [22] |
GameSpot | 8/10 [20] |
IGN | 5.9/10 [17] |
PC Gamer (US) | 67/100 [18] |
Push Square | [19] |