#game analysis

Thank you, Come again - The War part 1

A really good introduction to the game. You’re thrown into the game with a basic understanding of how confrontations will go. The game shows you that it’s not afraid to show the cruelty of its world, with dead bodies of innocent patrons being the first thing you see when approaching the building, and inside the back areas, the owner of the gas station, with a ringing cell phone beside him. It’s haunting, and I absolutely love it for that.

23 megabytes a second - The Exploited Part 1

Okay, this one was admittedly kinda funny at first. A streamer gets swatted on stream, somewhat lighthearted. But after apprehending him and his “security”, when you look at what’s on his computer and littered around his room - that being photos of children - you start to get insight on what he may have been swatted for. His stream chat saying he deserves it, what could initially be a cruel joke about how the internet can be turns into something that hints to a situation much larger than we know currently.

Twisted Nerve - The War Part 2

This mission was disturbing, and outright creepy. The only mission at night with minimal lighting, especially when you go into the backyard and dark rooms of the houses. The drug induced suspects will scatter around the building, shielding themselves from you in the dark. It felt almost supernatural. The stand out moment was going into the little girl’s room. A room of innocence, corrupt by drug use. The residents seemed to use her as a test subject for what the drugs would do. Prior to the console release, she was spasming on her bed, suffering from overdose. People are suffering in Los Suenos, from poverty and drug addiction, and so many world building elements make it feel apparent, like the streets full of trash bags or homeless tents, which gives you the idea of what state the city is in.

The Spider - The Exploited Part 2

This mission wasn’t hard, but it was hard to get through. A child star agency. But as you go deeper into the building, you see wall writings “Do it for your children” or “Think of the money” and start to see the most disturbing shit I’ve ever seen in a game. It says so much without showing anything graphic. Just a set with a bunch of children’s toys around it. Whatever was happening here has ties to 23MB/S and the missions that will follow this one.

A Lethal Obsession - The Left Behind Part 1

The first mission with traps in it. It requires you to play smart, bringing a optiwand or checking doors is required, as trapped doors will instantly kill you or your team. The main suspect will also play around you in the 3 floor cabin, if he hears you via the noise triggers in hallways or your footsteps, he’ll move to a different floor or go to the one you’re on to surprise you. It makes sense as this group is ex-military.

Ides of March - The Left Behind Part 2

A group of ex-military extremists, known as The Left Behind, take hold in a luxury apartment attempting to assassinate a senator responsible for veteran relief funding cuts. Most suspects wear body armor and hold assault rifles. You have to go room to room, but some are connected, a significant jump in difficulty.

Sinuous Trail - The Exploited Part 3

This mission takes place at a server hosting building, owned by a company known as MindJot, a cryptocurrency farming and finance company. The reason we’re called is to investigate a child prostitution ring, and that is directly connected to The Spider. Suspects are primarily PMCs and armed security.

Ends of the Earth - The Abducted Part 1

This mission is sad. Your team investigates a group of illegal weapon manufacturers, selling to groups we see all throughout the game. You’d assume “Oh yeah these guys are just evil” but there’s more to it. It’s a group of brothers known as the Tran brothers trying to secure enough money to aid their terminally ill mother, as they've ran out of options due to one of them losing their job at Debanco, the in-universe banking company that has been experiencing lay-offs. The mother herself is the one who reported them, knowing their actions are hurting people. You can see “get well soon” cards and balloons around the mother’s room and medical equipment. There are also past due bills strewn around the house. It’s hard to not empathize with the brothers, and I always choose to go non-lethal.

Greased Palms - The Abducted Part 2

I absolutely hate this mission, it’s REALLY long and there’s a lot of cover for the suspects to hide behind. It’s a postal office connected to a weapon smuggling operation. Unfortunately, the main facility is extremely large. It took me hours to beat this one.

Valley of the Dolls - The Exploited Part 4

I usually go into most missions understanding that these are people doing things to survive. This is not one of them. It’s a girl’s 18th birthday party, hosted by her parents, Amos and Daniela Voll, who both are adult film star professionals. They are VERY prideful in that fact, showcasing their awards and films. Suspects include private security guards, and victims are partygoers who don’t know what’s happening. As you make your way through the house, you go outside to the party and find a “show your feet” contest. It’s pretty gross, but it somehow gets way worse. The actual briefing tells us that Amos is the lead profiteer of the child exploitation ring, and in the basement, we see he directly contributes to it. In the basement there’s inarguably some of the grossest things I’ve seen in fiction. A red room with photographs of the victims, a game of hopscotch, and film sets. There is also a mural of his daughter, with disgusting words used to describe her. The final room, under the concrete floor, there are barrels. We don’t see what’s in them, but the flies tell us everything. This mission makes me sick, and I cannot specify that enough.

Elephant - The Decaying City part 1 (TW: school shooting)

This mission is the most heavy and controversial one in the game. That is because this one is an active shooting at a college. It is handled as accurately as possible, and you feel the weight of every life that's taken, even if it's a game. The moment you enter the mission, you're on the clock as not only are there 2 bombs stationed at the campus that detonate in 10 minutes, but the longer you take, the more people are killed. It's important to take the mission as fast and strategic as you can, apprehending the 4 shooters and making sure they don't kill more people. It really immerses you in the situation and I respect the tact in tackling in such a scenario. It's important to note that no matter how well you do, your squad's morale will go down.

Rust Belt - The War part 3

This mission is more lighthearted in a way, a coyote hut that a Mexican drug cartel uses to smuggle drugs underground. It's a deep cave that has a bunch of branching rooms with suspects inside. There's not much to note here, but the mission can be fun.

Sins of the Father - The Left Behind Part 3

This mission takes place in a high-rise hotel, a rouge Secret Service group holds a senator's family hostage, intending to kill them on camera. This senator is the same one that's almost killed in Ides of March, so these agents are aligned with The Left Behind. There are many attached apartment rooms, with experienced ex-soldiers wearing body armor, so you have to play strategically.

Neon Tomb - The Decaying City Part 2 (TW: Mass Shooting)

This mission is most comparable to the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in 2016. In the game, it's led by a terrorist group known as The Hand, due to airstrikes in Yemen. When you enter, the first thing you'll see is the line outside lays dead on the ground, cellphones ringing constantly. Entering the building, music begins to blare and it's all you'll hear through the gunfire and yelling. There will be a few civilians held hostage and a few with explosives strapped to them. Getting too close or shooting the vest will instantly kill you but they can be defused. Once you make it to the third floor to the DJ station, you'll have the option to turn off the music. Once you do, all you'll hear is your group making commands, cell phones ringing, and people begging for their lives or crying. Just like with Elephant, it handles a serious subject with a lot of respect and tact.

Buy Cheap, Buy Twice - The Abducted Part 3

The LSPD raids a car dealership that holds drugs, illegal weapons and attachments, and stolen cars. An undercover cop is killed so we're called in to handle the situation. We have to find the undercover cop, secure the members of Russian mob and Mexican cartel, and locate the drugs and weapons. These guys are the sellers that the Tran brothers supply their weapons to. We find out in a meeting room that they have also been trafficking women and are linked to the talent building and Amos Voll.

Carriers of the Vine - The Left Behind Part 4

Another mission where I choose to go non-lethal. You have to investigate a cult of meandric women who were SA or trafficking victims, initially robbing a gun store, and it escalated to where one LSPD officer was killed on the vineyard they reside in, and another is stranded. There is of course, a lot of cult-like imagery. An additional objective is to find Eve Nader, a missing person assumed to be living on the farm. In this mission when trying to apprehend a suspect, they will yell out your location to another member, leading to another shootout or movement.

Relapse - The Decaying City Part 3

The leader of The Hand is taken into medical care at a hospital. During his stay, his disciples attempt to break him out to avoid police custody. This mission is really long and difficult. It's a large complex and there are 2 bombs to defuse. Attempts often take up to an hour, corridors are tight, and rooms are dark. This is also the only mission where shooters pretend to be civilians. Sometimes you'll have them ready to surrender then they pull out a gun. I think the mission can be really stressful, more than most others.

Hide and Seek - The Finale.

The final mainline mission in the game. This is a joint operation between the LSPD, FISA, and ATF at the Los Suenos port Hokan in order to shut down the arms distribution ring. This mission takes place during a hurricane, making it hard to see at range. Storage containers and boxes provide a lot of cover but there are a few open areas where you can get caught off guard. You have to play at your absolute best due to the Russian mob forces. All of the plotlines throughout the game come to a head here, as not only are you there to find the weapons but also shut down the joint drug and trafficking rings in the process. About midway through the mission when you're searching, you'll go into this series of containers forming a hallway, and the room that you go into is an absolutely horrifying human bargaining room draped in red light. A moment I want to point out specifically is a big one. You come across a shipping container with a spider on it, and when Judge opens it, he finds a container full of women. He, naturally, calls it in to lead, but a FISA agent interrupts the transmission to tell him to close it and forget he saw it, saying he's interfering with an operation. Judge, in his only instance of defiance, refuses but is eventually willing to, saying they'll talk later. It's assumed FISA is involved in the operation, and that's just so harrowing knowing Judge can't do anything about it.

rape culture isn't dead

i hate to be that kind of person who brings up this often worn-out argument, but there are some scenes that just scream for someone to ask: what if the roles were reversed? think for a second about a game where a male protagonist wakes up, finds his possible coworker - a woman in her 40s - and while trying to resuscitate her, one of the options to pick is to literally rub her crotch. later in the game you meet a wacky doctor who advises you to essentially give him some viagra - and if it doesn't wake him up, then you can at least enjoy such things as *riding him*. how would the audience react to such suggestions and jokes if there was an unconscious woman lying on that chair?

are words just words?

the amount of bitches, whores, cunts, sluts and other pleasantries that flow from cascade's mouth made me feel like i was listening to a bunch of drunken frat bros, not a woman in her mid 30s, who's been pointing out the misogynistic remarks of an old man just a minute ago. i know that this topic might be controversial, but i consider these words to be nothing more than gendered slurs. disco elysium essentially makes fun of harry, if he hurls these words at anyone, usually in acts of drunken rage or frustration. they are not treated as a comma, as something you just have to say in an argument with another woman.

if it doesn't seem like a big deal to you, then how would you feel about a game where racial slurs are thrown right and left, written by a bloke who's white as snow and never left his WASP-y neighbourhood? it's just a pathetic, sometimes offensive attempt at... what exactly? being edgy? giving the protagonist some flaws? if so, then at least make her consistent with her views, without performing flashy, showoff-y feminism when men are displaying this kind of behaviour towards her. even better, don't make her a misogynist at all, if you attempt to reach younger, politically conscious audience, interested in a lesbian detective story.

retro-vintage-fetishism

what would be a game with a female protagonist if you wouldn't be able to dress her up a bit? chest harnesses, hot pink miniskirts, see through tops and other equally comfortable and suitable for spywork articles of clothing are waiting for you! oh, maybe you'd like to engage in some dirty talk through a sex-phone line? well, if that's not your thing, maybe you'll enjoy some dommy-mommy bullshit tropes with other characters, sexualising them at every moment?

the mind palace

finally, let's talk about thoughts. cascade daydreams about her former colleague's breast size and underwear, recalling a memory when she was only 16. she sexualises anything and everything, because in an embarrassing attempt at writing a lesbian character, the best thing they could do was a female version of this one sleazy uncle, the one that you avoided at any cost at family celebrations.

sure, whine about the lack of tits while browsing a softcore adult magazine, perform sexual gestures in front of minors to humiliate them, while accusing them of lesbianism. go off, girl, in the world filled with aforementioned bitches and cunts, you can at least objectify them a little! #girlboss

i wanted to finish it with at least a small paragraph about what i was able to enjoy there so far, but after typing all of it i'm just tired. but i should like this thing, right? there's a strong lesbian spy, finally a representation of androgynous women who love other women! yeah, sure, it could be great, but instead i was served a cold dish of quasi-pornographic fantasies, laying there with multiple side courses of vapid, pseudo profound bullshit, racism and this weird aestheticised, naïve and ignorant to the core, hint of communist-era eastern europe.

it's honestly astonishing that a team of grown ass adults with their time and funds could publish this thing and be even remotely proud of it. it's a draft-level story, that should be left in the dark, waiting for its authors and editors to finally read something that wasn't written by a straight, white man from the global west.