Review for The Occupation. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 05/03/2019
There are moments in the history of man where prejudices and misunderstandings accumulate, digging into the substratum of human nature and bringing out monsters that were thought to have been dormant for some time. Moments in which the tension is dense as molasses and you risk being swallowed by this giant that we call "fear", ending up unleashing consequences of immeasurable and with an epochal historical and ethical significance.
The Occupation talks about all this, accompanying us in a long investigation that unfolds during our adventure in the United Kingdom. We had already got to try the game at EGX in 2017, and it immediately hit us for concept and originality, leaving us the impression of a product that wanted to offer something different from the most common titles, proposing a result with a particularity beyond question. It is now our task to find out, amidst subdued lies and unspoken truths, what is really going on in London.
Let's take a step back. We are in England, 1987, the country is licking the wounds caused by a terrorist attack in which 23 people lost their lives, causing a heavy political and public opinion reaction. In a situation that is frighteningly similar to the current scenario, the British government takes the opportunity to exploit the fear of ordinary people as fuel to throw on the flames of doubt, which flare up tirelessly, burning everything around them.
The Union Act, in particular, it materializes the caustic popular discontent. If formalized, this Act would immediately go to give the green light for the expulsion of illegal migrants from the English Motherland, providing a temporary panacea to the problems and pain that the attack - which seems to have been caused by an immigrant - has caused ordinary people. For most of the story we will play the role of Harvey Miller, a well-known world-famous writer trying to tell clearly what really happened on the day of the explosion in the famous Bowman Company, by reconstructing a complex puzzle piece by piece that will involve many stakeholders.
No on-screen indicators, no life bar for our character: the main role of the adventure will be made up, listen, hear, by 4 hours of time that you will have available, dangling dangerously over our heads like a sword of Damocles: our investigations will in fact be marked by the passing of minutes - corresponding to those of real time - with the ability to move around the large and labyrinthine structures in search of clues that will provide us with additional information. The main evidence we will need will be found inside the numerous rooms present, reachable through magnetic keys found in some rooms, or through the claustrophobic but well connected ventilation ducts, which, with a pinch of patience, can take us - almost - anywhere. .
Gathering information will prove essential to get there be prepared for all three appointments with the employees of the Bowman Company that will take place throughout history, meetings that will close the three macro sections that make up The Occupation. The collection of the elements scattered around the scenario (audio cassettes, written sheets, floppy disks and so on) will allow us to ask more questions during appointments to clarify the situation and the events that occurred, unraveling - or accentuating - the mist of mystery that afflicts the company. The three appointments will be set at a specific time, giving us a precise margin of time for the investigation, which can be developed starting from the various leads and clues marked by the diligent Miller on his notebook, which can be consulted by the player at any time.
Turning and poking your nose everywhere, however, will not be a choice well seen by security, especially by the young guardian Steve, who will warn us several times, telling us to stay away from the areas reserved for the building staff. Entering these forbidden areas will often be necessary to collect clues, rummaging through the sensitive materials contained in the most hidden corners of the building. Guard Steve, however, in our opinion deserves a promotion for the diligence of his work and, why not, for his abilities that seem to touch the supernatural. It doesn't matter where you are, it doesn't matter where you passed, it doesn't matter if you got there as quietly as possible. Rest assured that, while you are intent on rummaging through the various drawers and the numerous PCs that populate Bowman's messy desks, a loud crescendo will warn you of the imminent arrival of the truffle dog Stevealerted by what at times will seem an incredible premonition.
In these situations the Stealth component of the game will be felt, with paths that will have to be carefully examined so as not to run into the omnipresent Steve: the guard will give us the benefit of the doubt by discovering us once, while he will lead us to his superior Dan in case of repeated explorations in areas containing sensitive information. In this case, precious time will be taken away from us, but we can still continue to investigate. In case Steve discovers us again rummaging through the piles of top secret documents, he will be forced to accompany us out of the building, taking away the vital possibility of acquiring information and making it more difficult to reconstruct the facts.
On the technical side the title limps conspicuously: together with not exactly finished textures, there will be many moments in which il frame rate will suffer sharp drops, however, not going to affect the gaming experience in a total way.
Some annoying bugs will add a bitter aftertaste instead (heavy and not): during our first run we ran into situations twice that left us in a stalemate, forcing us to go out and restart the section we just did. A real shame, even considering the very framed autosave game system, which will record the player's progress only at the end of each section, which sometimes will last even for an hour.
Another negative note is the loading times - in some cases excessively long, but fortunately quite sporadic - e especially from the translation. Leaving aside some localization errors, The Occupation is chock full of untranslated sentences, which will make it difficult for those who are not familiar with the Anglo-Saxon language to understand events - not simple in itself, in situations that will see a curious alternation of English and Spanish phrases.
Mention of merit instead for dubbing, exclusively in English, capable of rendering to perfection and becoming sharp as a knife in the most dramatic situations, thanks to a valuable vocal test of the protagonists.
The music itself fulfills its task, building an atmosphere that stands firmly until the end - different according to the actions performed during our playthrough - helping to accentuate the tension in the various stealth phases.
The Occupation seems, more than anything, a partially missed opportunity. The ideas are interesting, the atmosphere is splendid, but some defects weigh like boulders in the final result, thanks to a revisable optimization and unfortunate choices of the development team. However, anyone who manages to get over all this will find a very interesting narrative work in their hands, capable of touching on burning issues, providing a very current reading. Because we know, whether it's 1987 or 2019, some things never change.
► The Occupation is a Graphic Adventure game developed and published by White Paper Games for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 05/03/2019
