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Is it 1984 yet?

<span class="bold">Orwell</span>, a surveillance simulator where you monitor the lives of others to identify potential terrorists, is now available, DRM-free on GOG.com, with a 25% launch discount!

We are being watched. The government has a secret system, a machine that spies on us every hour of every day. Its name is Orwell. You've been selected to act as its human collaborator, a researcher who reviews the data it gathers and decides which pieces are relevant to your terrorist investigation. Tread carefully: You're holding our Nation's freedom in your hands.

For additional ambiance, get the <span class="bold">Deluxe Edition</span> (also 25% off) or grab the OST <span class="bold">separately</span>.

The 25% discounts will last until March 9, 2PM UTC.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/V6fNucgzCDs
Post edited March 05, 2017 by maladr0Id
Why should I buy this when I can just look outside or watch the news?
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Vainamoinen: There's no moralizing. The surveillance evidently helps against the terrorist threat. You bring contrary values to the game from within yourself. You feel guilt intruding into the lives of those people, or you don't. The gameplay tantamounts to - simplified - detective work.
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vsr:
Very perplexing indeed. Like this Finnish masterpiece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cjbr7xFrnk
Post edited March 04, 2017 by Primo_Victoria
Soupped up version of Papers? :P
Post edited March 04, 2017 by Niggles
The demo should be added here.
Thanks for reminding me that it's been awhile since I listen to this album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNPQPmH0XJE
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MarkoH01: Anyway: 99% of the postings here are political. Does someone have anything to say about the actual game? Gameplay, goal, imersion ect.?
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BreOl72: Maybe this is helpful?:
http://www.polygon.com/2016/11/29/13769024/orwell-review-PC

edit: aaand ninja'd by Vainamoinen :)
Thank you anyway because I oversaw the link posted prior by Vainamoinen. In fact thank you both :) The concept sounds interesting to me - especially if the game really leaves moral evaluation up to you.
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amund: The demo should be added here.
And as long as this is not the case I will try this.
Post edited March 04, 2017 by MarkoH01
Dont worry guys the unicorns and rainbows are here.
Don't know anything about the game, but with the description GOG has offered up here, it sounds like an excuse for the mass surveillance spying programmes currently in action all over the planet. It's for a good cause after all, so anything goes.

Pretty disgusting that instead of stopping the mass surveillance, nationstate after nationstate is simply making it legal with new police state laws, including my own ever-so-liberal country Norway. It's not a good development, and it will take a very long time to rectify these horrendous policies.
low rated
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Pangaea666: Don't know anything about the game, but with the description GOG has offered up here, it sounds like an excuse for the mass surveillance spying programmes currently in action all over the planet. It's for a good cause after all, so anything goes.

Pretty disgusting that instead of stopping the mass surveillance, nationstate after nationstate is simply making it legal with new police state laws, including my own ever-so-liberal country Norway. It's not a good development, and it will take a very long time to rectify these horrendous policies.
Thats the endpoint of leftism control of every aspect of life.
Looking at the screenshots, is the Watergate character featured there the main protagonist whom you play as? I've added the game to my wishlist, as it looks like my cup of tea. The investigative sim elements seem nice.
looks intriguing, wishlisted
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Pangaea666: Don't know anything about the game, but with the description GOG has offered up here, it sounds like an excuse for the mass surveillance spying programmes currently in action all over the planet.
It isn't. It may be a lot of things, but that it isn't. One of the huge problems we have internationally is that the general public isn't even aware how easily their personal data are accessed and distributed, and by whom. In that respect, "Orwell" could be seen as illuminating. And you know what they say about an informed public. So while there's no overt raised index finger, while the repulsion still has to come from within yourself, laying bare the common methods of intrusion may counter governmental attempts at literally keeping the public stupid.

And, let's be honest, there's at least a teensy bit of bias in the title, right?
high rated
I don't know if I need a game about this, reality already is "fun" enough...
Excellent!

The game seems like it could be a great vehicle for some procedural rethoric.

Procedural rethoric (aka, making you think by using choices and interactivity) is almost only achievable with video games, and one of the strongest arguments for video games potentially being just as much an artform as any other medium. Movies or books can't do that. One can argue that some other artforms, pen and paper role playing games, for instance, can also have that kind of rethoric.

It's different to, for instance, read about someone in a totalitarian state having to make a difficult choice between his safety and his moral guidelines, than to have to MAKE that choice, albeit in a fictional context. We feel it differently, and video games are uniquely suited for that purpose.

OF COURSE, wether the game is fun or not is an entirely different point ... I totally respect "Papers, Please", for instance, for what it tried to do, but never could manage to really play it. It bored me to tears.

This looks promising, though.
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morolf: is it meant as criticism of mass surveillance or actually justifying it???
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JudasIscariot: I think it's meant for you to draw your own conclusion since when I played it I did not get the feeling that the game had a particular bias one way or the other, but that's just me...
That's what I find refreshing about the positioning of this game. It does not impose any morals on you, it will let you judge for yourself without having a Good <-> Evil scale such as in Fallout 3 or Mass Effect.
You do see a direct effect of your actions though. Some of the branches in which you have made a small mistake when not taking all data in consideration, or being impatient. Sometimes this can uncover information which you would never know otherwise, since in that other alternative timeline, the event that exposes this information will never take place. This is realistic and it is good for replayability.
Post edited March 05, 2017 by jorlin
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GOG.com: We are being watched. The government has a secret system, a machine that spies on us every hour of every day.
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Cygi: Person of Interest much? ;)
Exactly what I thought when I read the description for the game and saw the game screenshot. This looks and sounds like Person of Interest.