When I first stumbled upon information about We. The Revolution, I was almost immediately intrigued by what I ended up reading about it. Of course, I couldn’t be sure whether or not it would prove to be my type of game just from reading about it. That is precisely why I’m glad I was granted the ability to review it. I’m quite pleased to report that We. The Revolution is indeed right up my alley. A few mere moments after I began playing this particular game, I knew I would enjoy it. I’ll do my best to explain the rationale behind that statement over the course of this article.

One of the main reasons I’ve found myself enthralled by We. The Revolution is the fact that, based on what I’ve experienced of its gameplay, the game as a whole can be described in a somewhat unique manner. I consider the game to be an amalgamation of the best aspects present within several different games, a quality which I find excellent in both the theory and in practice.

To explain my thought process behind that statement in a single sentence, I consider We. The Revolution to essentially be what you would get if Phoenix Wright, L.A. Noire, and Papers, Please were all combined into a single entity. That may sound strange at first, so I’ll attempt to illustrate what I mean by that over the course of the next several paragraphs.

We. The Revolution takes place in Paris, France in 1794, during the French Revolution. You play as Alexis Fidèle, a judge who is part of what the game refers to as the “Revolutionary Tribunal.” As a judge, your job consists of three parts: you must question people accused of wrongdoing, allow the jury to consider the testimony of the accused, and deliver a final verdict and sentence. To me, the process of fulfilling your judicial duty is precisely where We. The Revolution begins to simultaneously demonstrate its uniqueness, as well as its similarities to the games I mentioned earlier.

In order to properly question each defendant who winds up in your courtroom, you must first unlock questions relevant to the case. This is accomplished by creating links between evidence you find in the documentation which you’re presented with at the beginning of each trial. That process is rather difficult to adequately explain verbally, so allow me to direct your attention to the image directly below this paragraph as a visual aid.

In this example, you would unlock a question relevant to the case by first clicking on “Injured Antoine,” then linking your selection to evidence by clicking the “victim” category. You would then repeat this process with different combinations until you’ve unlocked every relevant question.

Unlocking questions and linking evidence isn’t as simple as it may seem, however. The game makes sure to keep you on your toes by including what it refers to as “traps” during the question unlocking process. These “traps” have the appearance of evidence, though are actually completely irrelevant to the trial. You’re allowed to make a certain number of mistakes during the process of discovering questions. However, if you make too many mistakes, you lose the ability to continue unlocking questions and must proceed with any questions you’ve successfully unlocked.

Once you’ve unlocked the necessary questions, you begin the process of actually questioning each defendant. The defendant’s testimony will influence the reaction of the jury. After you’ve asked a certain number of questions, you’ll be able to gauge the jury’s reaction. Depending on the jury’s reactions to the defendant’s testimony, the jury will recommend a verdict: acquittal, a sentence to prison, or a sentence to death via guillotine. You’re technically not required to administer the jury’s recommended verdict, but the jury will take issue with you if they feel your verdict was unjust.

Occasionally, as part of a given trial, you may have the opportunity to call witnesses in order to hear their testimony, in addition to that of the defendant. The process of questioning witnesses is somewhat different from that of questioning defendants. When questioning a witness, you must choose one of the multiple questions, and you’re unable to ask any questions you did not initially choose. I should note, however, that you’re not required to unlock questions meant for witnesses. Witness testimony also affects the reactions of the jury, and this may also influence the jury’s decision about which verdict they support.

As you progress through the game’s story, you’ll come to find that the members of the jury aren’t the only group which might recommend a specific verdict. There are several factions of citizens in Paris; the two you’ll most commonly deal with early in the game are the so-called “common folks” and the revolutionaries. Each faction supports a specific verdict in each trial. Delivering the verdict supported by one group will benefit your reputation with them, while negatively affecting your reputation with groups who supported a different verdict (unless all factions supported the same verdict).

I think I’ve managed to explain the majority of the game’s mechanics well enough. Instead of continuing to drone on about how the game is played, I’d like to return to my earlier point regarding the similarities between We. The Revolution and certain other games. There exists a specific mechanic within We. The Revolution which immediately brought Papers, Please to my mind.

To elaborate, within We. The Revolution, you’re expected to strive to maintain positive relationships with the four members of your character’s family (Alexis’ father, wife, and two sons). Failure to do this will negatively affect your reputation with certain factions. On the other hand, you must also allocate the majority of your focus to your line of work. This requires you to find a balance of some sort between your character’s work and his personal life. In my experience, finding that balance has been quite challenging indeed.

I think that concept reminds me of Papers, Please because it has a similar mechanic that functions as more of a “moral choice” system. In Papers, Please, you can choose to take illegal actions such as accepting bribes to allow wanted criminals to legally enter your home country. The extra money from these bribes helps you provide for your family, but places your job at risk if you happen to get caught. Alternatively, you can do your job exactly as you’re supposed to, but doing so runs the risk of potentially not being able to provide for your family in case of emergency.

I personally quite like the similarities between We. The Revolution and games such as Papers, Please. Both games in question revolve around two characters torn between doing their jobs as they’re meant to be done, or providing a better life for their loved ones. I won’t spoil anything about We. The Revolution, but I want to mention that at a certain point in my time with it, I was greeted with a particularly shocking cutscene that genuinely made my jaw drop in horror. To learn that said cutscene was a direct result of my in-game actions was quite unsettling.

To conclude, I’d like to report that while I did expect something of a “moral choice” system in a game wherein your character can condemn people to death as often as you wish, I honestly wasn’t expecting the things I’ve seen and experienced over the course of my time with We. The Revolution to be anywhere near as memorable as they’ve proven to be. I fully intend to spend more time with the game, all the while hoping that my actions don’t cause my character to wind up on the wrong end of the guillotine.

A PC review copy of We. The Revolution was provided by Klabater for the purpose of this review.

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We. The Revolution

$19.99

8.8

Score

8.8/10

Pros

• Excellent Voice Acting in Cutscenes
• Players' Decisions Matter
• Beautiful Art Style

Cons

• Heavily Implied Presence of Violent Content