Not For Broadcast

Full Release - Video Game Review

Although the gaming industry, like everyone else, has been hindered by the events of recent years, few perhaps could probably compare to the journey experienced by NotGames and their ambitious live-action FMV simulation game Not For Broadcast. Releasing as part of Steam Early Access on the 31st January 2020, mere months out from a pandemic that would see the next few years be ones of social distancing and lockdowns, I do not envy any of the development team or actors involved in the project. However, making the best of a bad situation, the creative team has clearly thrived in keeping their audiences engaged over the last two years. This has been accomplished through regular updates, a new chapter released every year, and a couple of bonus episodes sprinkled in during lockdowns to keep the game in the forefront of everyone’s minds. Now in January 2022, NotGames and tinyBuild are mere days away from the game’s official launch. With hopes that they will continue the game with new content post-launch, this full release features the full 9-chapter main story, a multi-strand narrative influenced by your decisions, and some of the most outlandish and laugh-out-loud news broadcasts you will ever see.

Not for Broadcast offers a gaming experience that merges split-second decision making with FMV clips. Players are in control of a newsroom’s camera desk, having direct control over what is displayed to the viewing audience in terms of news footage and advertisements. Decisions made by the player may not seem to have much of an impact at first, but as more options and routes avail themselves to the player, especially as certain factions come to power in this alternate reality 1980s – just how much power you have becomes lead. A seemingly inconsequential decision can lead to the death of certain people, the lifestyle of your family, certain newsworthy events occurring, or even whether or not a particularly questionable toy makes its way into the hands of thousands of children. The end product is something that offers a satisfying difficulty curve, while being an absolute riot to play through from start to finish.

Not For Broadcast 1

Not for Broadcast takes place in an alternate reality 1980s, where the world is slowly but surely becoming a dystopia. You take on the role of a cleaner, yes a cleaner, who, through a series of events, find themselves at the helm of the National Nightly News. With limited guidance by the former operator who for reasons cannot be in the studio doing the job himself, you decide what reaches the television screens of watchers. With a colourful cast of politicians, celebrities, so-called performers and live-crosses to experts, all of whom aren’t your usual interviewees, mishaps and behind-the-scenes drama await. Your job is to keep attention on the news, hide any gaffes or “naughty” content, and ensure any orders from the higher-ups are met.

After some quick yet ample preparation work, players are immediately flung into managing their first news segment. At first, the job comes down to switching between camera angles and displays to ensure the focus is on the person speaking, reaction shots of the interviewer are captured and the audience doesn’t get too bored. You are given a sort of baptism of fire from the outset, with an interview of a temperamental actor who struggles to hide his disgust being in the studio. Part of the challenge is trying not to showcase his outbursts to the audience while a trailer is playing, lest you run the risk of being fired.

With your purchase of Not For Broadcast, when version 1.0 launches this week, you get access to the 2020, 2021 and 2022 chapters. These comprise the game’s main storyline, each consisting of three broadcasts for a total of nine (Each about 30-40 minutes in length) along with a bonus surreal chapter between 1 and 2. While there are multiple narratives to follow across them all, the one at the centre is political, with a new political party, ‘Advance’, coming to power. As the days turn to weeks, and weeks turn to months, their lofty promises become more dubious, and Government overreach begins en masse. Through this, a new activist group calling themselves ‘Disrupt’ forms and begins causing on-air chaos.

Exposure on news is central to both parties in bringing control and/or chaos, so do you censor anti-government content? Do you assist in getting Disrupt propaganda out there… or do you follow orders and make your bosses upstairs happy? Depending on your decisions… will you lead society to a happy utopia? Back the wrong party and plunge it into war? or meet somewhere in the middle? It may be the ones on the filming floor doing the talking, but the power rests with you.

Not For Broadcast 2

Each chapter in Not For Broadcast follows a particular stage in the narrative, which I would break down into Introductory, Escalation and Turmoil/Censorship chapters. A remnant of the progression of Early Access builds, the transition from one chapter to the next can feel a little bit sudden and jarring, but this isn’t very important following your first play session. There is a consistent quality from start to finish. While the broadcasts look very different at the beginning of your play session to how they look at the end, some very clever writing, creative ideas and oh-so-much corniness is spread throughout. Depending on what you are looking for out of a game, a more pleasant and comedic experience is found in the first broadcasts. In contrast, those after rich plot delivery may find more satisfaction in the final chapters. Still, for many, I can envision its charming campiness and occasional profound moment will win many over.

While arguably not as important to the narrative outside of a few select scenes, dispersed between each broadcast are several weeks, months or even years of choose-your-own-adventure segments involving Alex, their partner Sam and their two children. This is where you learn the real impact of Advance coming into power and where your decisions can lead to you living in luxury, squalor or being liked/disliked by certain members of your family. I felt these could have been fleshed out a bit more or indicate a more significant impact on the events taking place. Because in the end, they were forgettable.

Not for Broadcast is not just about flipping between camera angles. New content is unlocked every couple of broadcasts to make the game more challenging and to retain your attention. Soon you have to deal with bleeping out swear words and other unsavoury content through factoring in the time delay between recording and Broadcast, dealing with electronic interference from unspecified (and later, specified) sources, avoiding getting electrocuted by your equipment, and dealing with increasingly absurdist segments which make any of the aforementioned systems even harder to get right as you struggle to comprehend them. But if you do this right, you will live to see another day at work… if you fail well, you may be fired in a matter of seconds. The increase in the challenge is well-paced, and thanks to an increasing variety of problems, at least on your first playthrough, going through each Broadcast doesn’t feel tedious. And yes, you will likely be replaying chapters to ensure you unlock all the game’s epilogues and comical advertisements.

Not For Broadcast 3

Keeping true to the 1980s aesthetic, expect videos displayed on 4:3 CRT screens with authentic filters, music styles from the era, and technology that doesn’t take advantage of the mod-cons of the 2020s. NotGames did a superb job at reflecting the era in its recording, audio, and improvisational delivery style. Outside the hilarity of the segments viewers get to enjoy, complemented by a sort of low/mid budget set and animation style, which is perfect, the most remarkable element of Not For Broadcast is its soundtrack. From its harrowing main theme song which will linger in your head for hours after playing, to the ever wonderful tune of ‘The Unsuitable Adventures of Mr Bear’ to the random jingles implemented throughout broadcasts and advertisements – expect many ear worms.

With Not for Broadcast being an FMV-driven game, the cast was a fundamental factor that could make or break the game… and make they did. Paul Baverstock and Andrea Valls both shine as the leading anchors of National Nightly News, Jeremy Donaldson and Megan Wolfe. Baverstock in particular, really shined when representing the disgust of the various and almost senseless segments he was forced to present. Other shining stars include Sarah Gibbons as the Floor Manager Jenny, Lucy Blake as Katie Brightman, Jonathan Hawkins as conspiracy theorist Alan James, Roger Alborough as Peter Clement and George Vere as Patrick Bannon (who is downright my favourite secondary character). Really, special mentions go to all of the cast, though, for managing to do at least one take without breaking down into laughter.

Not for Broadcast was a game that resonated with me, and on a personal level, allowed me to live something I once dreamed to do. As long-time readers of The Otaku’s Study will know, I have a Masters degree in Journalism. While I was heavily focused on digital/online journalism, I also dabbled in some broadcast journalism. Therefore, from the outset, I was thrilled about seeing the gamification of something I genuinely enjoyed doing in University but haven’t had the opportunity to do outside an academic environment. Two years after first playing the game, I am still thrilled to dive into what Not for Broadcast has to offer. Personally, I hope this isn’t the end of the road for Not for Broadcast, and that the team continue to provide new broadcasts via updates – whether free or paid. I can see many places in the overarching narrative they could sneak another broadcast or two into the mix.

I feel there is something of a trap that many Early Access games fall into. Your game may experience in population in the gaming community, especially with popular Youtubers doing Let’s Plays when it first launches. However, this doesn’t mean that the freshness of your ideas and concepts will be there to power the hype train when it fully launches. Despite being notably hindered by the pandemic, notGames did everything right in engaging with its community between January 2020 and 2022, managing to deliver a consistent stream of new content both in-game and via their social channels. This is to be commended, and it has been, as an early access user, a delight to watch this game grow and improve to its final release.

But I will end this review with the same comment I made in my first impressions review, as it still holds very true today. Not for Broadcast takes a unique idea and an older-school approach to game design through the use of FMV – and delivers something befitting this new decade and the stringent expectations of gamers in 2020s.

9

Not for Broadcast is now available to purchase on the PC via Steam, with the game to leave Early Access on 25 January 2022.

While I paid for the original Early Access build of Not for Broadcast, the publishers provided advanced access to a media build of the game, including the entire third and final chapter.

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

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