David Sanders
David SandersAccording to Steam, on November 9, 2016, I purchased a game called Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You. I was intrigued by the game’s main concept, which I’ve taken to calling a “government surveillance simulator.” That term seems exceptionally accurate based on what you do in the game.
Using a system of government software, aptly referred to as Orwell, you’re responsible for gathering and assessing the usefulness and accuracy of information from various sources. Your main goal is to use as much of the aforementioned information as necessary in order to discover the identities of the suspect(s) behind a series of terror attacks, which occur in your home country, simply known as “The Nation.”
Having played as much of Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You as I have, I’m pleased to report that I consider it to be an interesting, enjoyable game; based on its story and the methods by which you go about revealing more of said story. I must say I’m not exactly sure why I enjoy Orwell. Perhaps it’s because I’m often drawn to (and am usually quite fond of) games that simulate “normal” jobs. Then again, perhaps it’s because games in which you play as a government agent tasked with spying on people for the allegedly “greater good,” don’t come around very often. Personally, I don’t consider my job within games like Orwell to be “normal,” but I do consider it to be quite interesting.
Regardless of why I enjoy the game though, I was equally intrigued when another game bearing the Orwell name was brought to my attention a few months ago. The existence of this game, entitled Orwell: Ignorance is Strength, puzzled me at first because I wasn’t quite sure how to properly categorize it. Was it a direct sequel to Keeping an Eye on You? Was it perhaps a piece of standalone downloadable content? Well, according to the Steam store pages for both games, Orwell is apparently an episodic game, of which Ignorance is Strength constitutes “Season Two.”
Considering I enjoyed the first “Season” of the Orwell franchise, I figured Ignorance is Strength would be a worthwhile second helping of its unique content. That’s mainly why I decided to buy it and see what it had to offer. I’ve played a few hours of Ignorance is Strength so far, and I’m glad to report that my initial expectations have largely been met, if not exceeded in certain respects. I hope you’ll join me as I discuss what those initial expectations were, how they’ve been met, and my more general thoughts on this particular title. Over the course of doing that, though, I’ll also discuss the game’s background, gameplay mechanics, and some degree of its story.
Orwell, of course, is a reference in both its name and in most aspects of its gameplay, to a well-known novel entitled Nineteen Eighty-Four. Within that novel, author George Orwell established two concepts which are central to the plots and gameplay mechanics present within both games that bear the Orwell name.
The first is the overall idea that “Big Brother is watching.” In the novel, nearly ubiquitous posters which display the watchful eyes of the actual Big Brother serve to remind members of “the Party” of the fact that they are never truly alone. Essentially, anyone can be investigated at any time, in any manner, for any reason, and there’s no guarantee that anyone investigated will be seen or heard from again. That is assuming, of course, that the government even has a legitimate reason to conduct such investigations.
This concept translates within the in-game world to mean that there is a significant degree of near-constant, particularly intense, surveillance of the public perpetrated by the government of The Nation; though not to the same extremes as this surveillance is carried out by the government of Oceania in the novel. In the game, while the government can tap people’s phones, read their emails, and even gain access to their bank accounts if they believe they have a justifiable reason to do so, there are no such things as “telescreens”, “thought crimes,” or “thought police,” as those aspects are described within the novel’s setting of Oceania.
The second of these concepts present in-game and in the novel is an idea referred to as “doublethink.” In the novel, “doublethink” is a word within the vocabulary of “Newspeak,” the Party’s attempt at removing all traces of individualism from the spoken and written word, as well as limiting “freedom of thought” as much as possible.
“Doublethink” as a concept is, from what I’ve seen, most commonly defined as “the mental ability to willingly accept two or more pieces of information which directly contradict one another as objectively true.” It is from this concept that the second game bearing the Orwell name derives part of its title. In the novel, all members of “the Party” are expected to willingly and devoutly memorize, as well as essentially abide by, three slogans. All three of these slogans are examples of doublethink: “war is peace,” “freedom is slavery,” and most appropriately in this context, “ignorance is strength.”
That’s enough of a literature lecture, for now, I think. At this point, I’d like to begin delving into what Ignorance is Strength has to offer in terms of gameplay mechanics and essentially, the reasoning behind why you do everything you do in-game. I’ll also discuss as much of the plot as I can, in as much depth as I can, but I’ll have to choose my words exceptionally carefully while doing so. In games such as the Orwell franchise, I’ve found that even the smallest and seemingly most insignificant detail of the story could potentially later become a spoiler to some extent.
To begin, according to Ignorance is Strength’s Steam store page, the role you assume in-game is that of an “investigative agent during a time when civil unrest threatens to become a major political crisis.” That’s quite an apt description. The game wastes no time beginning the process of demonstrating what it means by, “civil unrest,” and how this unrest could easily lead to a “political crisis,” of some description. As soon as you begin the first chapter of the story, the first thing you hear is a phone conversation between two men, Raban Vhart and Oleg Bakay; both of these men play very important roles in the course of the game’s plot.
Within that phone conversation, Vhart’s intent seems to be to intimidate Bakay, which appears to work quite well. Vhart abruptly ends the conversation by directing a presumably credible, yet vague, death threat to Bakay. This is where your job as a government-employed investigator begins. The government of The Nation was supposed to assign you a senior investigator as a partner, but you initially have no such assignment.
Because of this, an agent by the name of Ampleford steps in to walk you through the basics of using the various tools that constitute the investigative software used by the department. Since you are employed within The Nation’s government, this software is vital for you to perform your governmental duties. What might these tools be used for, exactly? Well, you’re initially granted access to three of the tools which compose the software you utilize to do your job: the Reader, the Listener, and the Insider. There exists a fourth tool, the Influencer, but access to that is unlocked some time later.
As you might have gathered, these three tools are relatively self-explanatory for the most part, so I’ll briefly discuss their features and use cases. Firstly, the Reader allows you to gather data from various text-based websites, which are relevant in some way to your current investigation(s). For example, one of the first websites you’ll examine is that of “The National Beholder,” which is widely regarded as The Nation’s most-trusted news outlet.
Secondly, the Listener allows you to eavesdrop upon, transcribe, and collect data from all instances of both inbound and outbound communication; such as emails and phone calls, which involve a person under investigation. Finally, the Insider grants you “inside” access to electronic devices such as cell phones and computers owned by people of interest, once each device’s “UID number” is discovered and uploaded into Orwell’s database. With the degree of access granted to you by the Insider tool, you’ll be able to access and accumulate data from virtually all information that might be present on a given device, such as text messages, call histories, and calendars.
I know I’ve mentioned the process of gathering data several times throughout this review, but I haven’t quite explained the purpose of doing so or the process of using any data you gather. I shall rectify this by explaining the forms in which these pieces of data may appear, and how to properly use data you’ve gathered as you conduct your investigations. As Ampleford informs you, pieces of potentially useful information you come across are referred to as “datachunks.” A datachunk you haven’t uploaded to Orwell will usually be highlighted in blue, datachunks you upload will then be highlighted in gray.
The process of uploading a datachunk to Orwell is remarkably simple. The right half of the in-game screen is occupied by content, present within whichever of the three data-gathering tools you’re using. The left half is occupied by the profile of the person you’re currently investigating. You must simply click on and drag a datachunk from the source within which it’s embedded, over to the current profile. Upon doing so, the datachunk will be almost instantly uploaded to Orwell and added to the currently open profile; unless a given datachunk is irrelevant to the current profile, in which case you’ll simply need to bring up the appropriate profile.
While the majority of your time with Ampleford does constitute a rather in-depth tutorial at first, you later learn that she plays a more important role than you may have initially thought. You see, while you are tasked with gathering and evaluating information, only Ampleford has the authority to make decisions and take actions based on the information you upload to Orwell and, by extension, to her directly. She explains that the system works this way because Orwell was designed so that no one person possesses too much power. Basically, since you’re the one gathering all the data, you would be considered to have an unacceptable degree of authority if you could also act upon any data you collect.
This is why an important part of your job is to carefully analyze all potentially useful information you encounter for accuracy and relevance to the matter at hand before uploading it to Orwell. As the game reminds you almost incessantly, the act of uploading data to the Orwell system cannot be undone. If you supply Ampleford with inaccurate or irrelevant information, she will unwittingly make misinformed or perhaps under-informed decisions, which could alter the entire “civil unrest” situation dramatically.
Thankfully, in my experience, it is significantly more difficult to encounter and upload unnecessary information to Orwell in Ignorance is Strength than it was in the game’s predecessor. As far as I’ve seen, that’s mostly because extraneous information doesn’t appear nearly as often in the sources from which you can gather data.
Additionally, when irrelevant information does appear, it’s typically much more blatant and obvious. For example, while looking through a social media account used by a person of interest, the text “Captain of the USS Enterprise” appears as a datachunk. This would, as far as Orwell is concerned, count as the person’s occupation if I were to upload it. This and other datachunks similar to it, are clearly irrelevant to any investigation and should be disregarded.
To continue the discussion of the game’s story, you’re given quite a tall order, considering it’s your first day on the job. Your initial ultimate task is to discover the fate and whereabouts of Oleg Bakay, while simultaneously investigating Raban Vhart, and more specifically, any possible motives he may have for issuing the aforementioned death threat. In addition to that, you’re also tasked with determining what role, if any, Vhart played in Bakay’s disappearance.
You’re initially told that Bakay is a soldier in the army of Parges, The Nation’s closest diplomatic ally, and that The Nation is “very concerned” about what may have befallen him. The Nation’s concern, as far as I could tell, seems to stem from the possibility that any unpleasant developments related to this matter might sour relations between Parges and The Nation. You’ll come to learn more about Bakay and his line of work as you conduct your investigation. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I shall just say there exists quite a good reason why Bakay’s fate could easily erode relations between two ally countries.
Over the course of your investigation, you quickly learn that Raban Vhart is the Editor-In-Chief of a certain well-known, highly-controversial, blog. This website and its staff openly and vehemently oppose the current government of The Nation, as well as that of Parges. The website in question, called “The People’s Voice,” frequently claims that The Nation’s main news outlet, “The National Beholder,” is nothing more than a propaganda engine fueled by the lies of the President of The Nation and various members of his cabinet.
The staff and followers of The People’s Voice are also convinced that President Kassart, leader of The Nation, is somehow being controlled by his own administration and members of his cabinet. In light of this, The Nation’s leader is often referred to by The People’s Voice and its supporters as “President Puppet.” Because The People’s Voice has a rather astonishingly large and loyal following, which Raban Vhart can use to essentially create some degree of political turmoil as he pleases, Vhart rapidly begins to essentially become public enemy number one as far as your investigations are concerned.
Ampleford realizes and explains to you that in order to shut Vhart up once and for all and prevent a possible political crisis, the government of The Nation can’t just immediately target him. Doing so would be exactly what he wants. Instead, his “support network,” as I call it, must be eliminated first. Thus, you begin investigating the people that are closest to him to try and find methods by which they could be dealt with, while still making an effort to find anything useful about Vhart himself while you’re at it.
Your second day on the job is, in my experience, the point at which things really start to get interesting. Early in the day, you learn that Vhart plans to publish a public provocation on The People’s Voice targeted at President Kassart. Vhart knows, as does Ampleford, that Kassart wouldn’t be able to ignore such a provocation and would likely retaliate somehow. Ampleford stresses that you must prevent Vhart from publishing such an article. You go about this by beginning the process of eliminating his support network in an attempt to distract and discourage him.
At this point, a rather unique mechanic begins to play a role in your investigation process. As Ampleford tells you earlier on, ten minutes of in-game time passes each time you upload a datachunk to Orwell. This mechanic becomes important because you must determine a way to stop Vhart from publishing that provocative article before six o’clock that evening. This means, of course, that you must have gathered enough data for Ampleford to make a final decision determining a course of action before the clock strikes six.
I became aware as I played through this part of the game that I had two different potential paths worth pursuing, and both of these paths seemed likely to bring about the desired outcome. Regardless of which of these two paths you choose to follow, you’ll know your efforts proved successful if you manage to get Vhart’s attention away from provoking Kassart within your strict time limit.
Personally, I was quite worried I was about to fail my objective because I submitted my final datachunk at 5:50 PM. Thankfully though, there was still enough time for Ampleford to take action on everything I had managed to gather.
I think, at this point, I’ve discussed enough about the gameplay mechanics and story within Ignorance is Strength. Rather than continuing with that discussion, I would like to draw your attention to a few things I said earlier in this review so that I may elaborate upon my previous statements.
Mainly, I mentioned that I basically expected Ignorance is Strength to be a second helping of similar gameplay mechanics and interesting story aspects which were present in Keeping an Eye on You. Based on what I’ve played of Ignorance is Strength, I consider that statement to be correct in most respects. The game provided much of what I expected from it, which I consider to be a good thing.
However, the more I played of the second Orwell title, the more I began to realize that the successor to Keeping an Eye on You contains much more to offer than just more of the same. While I’ve felt in both Orwell games that my decisions matter, that feeling was more noticeable and worthwhile to me in Ignorance is Strength than in its predecessor.
Since I was less likely to encounter and accidentally upload impertinent information, I felt that I was able to make more effective decisions in terms of the contents of information I submitted to Ampleford. Thus, it seemed I was playing a more active role in the game’s story, despite the fact that I would consider my in-game job more passive than active.
On a final note, I feel quite strongly that both current games in the Orwell franchise are enjoyable and worth your time, provided you find them interesting in any way. However, it seems to me that these games also serve to raise awareness of the darker concepts which may potentially compose certain aspects of modern governments. As I’ve explained, and as you’ll experience throughout the story of these games, both games revolve around the concept of advanced, frequent government surveillance of various citizens.
Your superiors within Ignorance is Strength ultimately decide the fate of each person you investigate. This essentially leaves you powerless to prevent or rectify any misdeeds the government of The Nation may commit. On the same token, however, you are given the ability later in the game to “bend” the truth to a certain degree while going about your work.
If you’re able to successfully use that tactic to your advantage, your work may lead to less ominous outcomes, if that’s what you’re after. I feel that these concepts draw attention to the idea of everyday citizens sacrificing a degree of privacy, in exchange for safety. All I can say with certainty on this matter is that I, for one, would not want to live in a community wherein ubiquitous, always-on “telescreens” record my every move while incessantly spewing national propaganda until the clocks strike thirteen.
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Pros
- Significant Degree of Player Agency
- Story Tends to Adapt to Player Choices
- Ability to Make Different Decisions Promotes Replayability
Cons
- Gameplay Can Often Be Too Open-Ended
