If I were to describe what this game is, I'd probably call it a chimera of mostly Papers Please with a healthy dollop of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, all presented in full FMV. And if that sounds like a bizarre mix of things, well... yeah, it is. But y'know what? It works... I think.
Not for Broadcast is undeniably shaky around the edges. It has all the shakiness you would expect from an FMV game. The comedy, writing and acting is all pretty hit and miss, but I'd definitely say it leans more towards good than bad, and the actors for the main cast at least are consistently decent. Most of the time, Not for Broadcast is a very silly game which doesn't take itself seriously at all, and you can tell everyone involved is having an absolute blast making it; the passion really shows here and absolutely helps sell the weird game concept. And overall I have no issue with the game being a bit silly; at it's best, Not for Broadcast comes off like 90s / 00s British satire like Brasseye or Not the Nine o'Clock News, and I love that kinda stuff.
But Not for Broadcast shines the best in the moments when that silliness drops. Some pretty brutal and shocking things happen in this game; at times, these moments even managed to give me irl chills at what I was seeing, and the acting and writing in these more serious parts is much more solid and consistent. The story on paper isn't anything all that special. It's a fairly standard 1984-type affair and yet it was an incredibly immersive experience, and I pin this success on the framing and gameplay.
The gameplay in Not for Broadcast is, much like many other aspects of this game, just kinda fine? There's a lot of little tasks you have to manage all at once, and it can be quite overwhelming and stressful at times in a way I don't think was intentional. But of course, during all this time, the news broadcast is on on your screens. And something about the fact you're absorbing the show subconsciously while your true focus is elsewhere just makes everything feel so... real. You get to know all the anchors, behind-the-scenes staff, public figures and regular guests, and they all feel like real people. You see them bicker and banter behind the scenes, you see them struggle with what they are being asked to do, and you really grow to care about them. And when shit hits the fan, it really helps sell the world when you get to see how these people react and deal with what is going on in the world around them. I think Not for Broadcast ends up going in the same bucket as something like Unpacking; it's a video game which explores things that only video games can do, and I'm totally here for it.
There are some low points though too, which do deserve a mention. A lot of the side characters are obvious parodies of specific real-world celebrities (David Beckham, Gordon Ramsey, etc), and it can get pretty cringey at times when they're on-screen. Also, in between gameplay segments, there are sections with long text to read and decisions for you to make regarding your home life. I don't think these are bad or anything, and they help establish the player character as a presence in the world and show another viewpoint as to how world events affect the everyman. But I always found these bits to be quite a tonal jolt, especially in the early game when the gameplay is more silly and the home sections are pretty serious, and they undid just a little bit of the great immersion set up by the rest of the game.
But overall, Not for Broadcast is a game with a strong vision for what it wants to be, and I think it hits that vision extremely well. I had a very good time with this one overall, and think it's a very good example of what more experimental games can achieve.
Not for Broadcast is undeniably shaky around the edges. It has all the shakiness you would expect from an FMV game. The comedy, writing and acting is all pretty hit and miss, but I'd definitely say it leans more towards good than bad, and the actors for the main cast at least are consistently decent. Most of the time, Not for Broadcast is a very silly game which doesn't take itself seriously at all, and you can tell everyone involved is having an absolute blast making it; the passion really shows here and absolutely helps sell the weird game concept. And overall I have no issue with the game being a bit silly; at it's best, Not for Broadcast comes off like 90s / 00s British satire like Brasseye or Not the Nine o'Clock News, and I love that kinda stuff.
But Not for Broadcast shines the best in the moments when that silliness drops. Some pretty brutal and shocking things happen in this game; at times, these moments even managed to give me irl chills at what I was seeing, and the acting and writing in these more serious parts is much more solid and consistent. The story on paper isn't anything all that special. It's a fairly standard 1984-type affair and yet it was an incredibly immersive experience, and I pin this success on the framing and gameplay.
The gameplay in Not for Broadcast is, much like many other aspects of this game, just kinda fine? There's a lot of little tasks you have to manage all at once, and it can be quite overwhelming and stressful at times in a way I don't think was intentional. But of course, during all this time, the news broadcast is on on your screens. And something about the fact you're absorbing the show subconsciously while your true focus is elsewhere just makes everything feel so... real. You get to know all the anchors, behind-the-scenes staff, public figures and regular guests, and they all feel like real people. You see them bicker and banter behind the scenes, you see them struggle with what they are being asked to do, and you really grow to care about them. And when shit hits the fan, it really helps sell the world when you get to see how these people react and deal with what is going on in the world around them. I think Not for Broadcast ends up going in the same bucket as something like Unpacking; it's a video game which explores things that only video games can do, and I'm totally here for it.
There are some low points though too, which do deserve a mention. A lot of the side characters are obvious parodies of specific real-world celebrities (David Beckham, Gordon Ramsey, etc), and it can get pretty cringey at times when they're on-screen. Also, in between gameplay segments, there are sections with long text to read and decisions for you to make regarding your home life. I don't think these are bad or anything, and they help establish the player character as a presence in the world and show another viewpoint as to how world events affect the everyman. But I always found these bits to be quite a tonal jolt, especially in the early game when the gameplay is more silly and the home sections are pretty serious, and they undid just a little bit of the great immersion set up by the rest of the game.
But overall, Not for Broadcast is a game with a strong vision for what it wants to be, and I think it hits that vision extremely well. I had a very good time with this one overall, and think it's a very good example of what more experimental games can achieve.