We. The Revolution – PS4 | Review
I enjoyed studying history in my school days, yet our focus was WW2 and the Vietnam War. Luckily playing this game I was able to get an understanding about the brutal period of the French Revolution. Which hopefully means you can too.
Here is a little breakdown of what happened during the bloodiest period in history; The proletarians wanted more, causing revolts and uprising. This all lasted for 10 years, leading to 40,000 beheadings and a lot of switching around in leadership style. It’s not a pleasant thought, but at least it’s a time in history we can learn from.
You play as Alexis Fidèle, who we find out pretty quickly has a drink and gambling problem. He also happens to be a judge in the Revolutionary Tribunal, deciding who lives/dies and making sure it’s not your head about to meet the sharp edge of a guillotine.
You will find yourself in a courtroom, judging each case as it comes. Some case may be as simple as an argument between merchants or a murder case. Your desk is filled with documents, a similarity to the hit indie game Papers Please. You’ll read documents relating to the case, witness/accused statements. Piecing bits together you’ll link certain statements together to be able to ask the right questions, doing so will allow you to hopefully make the right verdict at the end. It’s a shame that as the came proceeds I started to become a bit bored of the courtroom sections, it’s a clever mechanic but I found myself more involved with the overall story and wanted to explore that more.
Your decisions in court aren’t always as easy as deciding who is it isn’t guilty, you’ll have to pay close attention to certain groups of people and your current standing with them. This goes for family as well, spending time with family will increase your standing with members of your family. As I had spent the evening with my family the next day in court my son had drawn a picture telling me how much he loves me, I assume this wouldn’t happen if I had picked to get drunk instead.
You have a few options when it comes to verdict time, do they go to Prison? Set free? or do we send them to their death. You may feel that one person may deserve to be set free, but this could cause anger with the jury or a faction that request your respect. At the end of it all it’s all entirely in your hands, and how you want to survive in this rough and tumble Paris you live in.
We. The Revolution has it’s own unique and distinct art design which I don’t think I have seen anywhere else. While its polygon art lacks major realism its images still portray the brutality of the games events very well, especially the beheadings.
Final Impressions
We. The Revolution is a very unique and interesting game, which will unfortunately start to become a little repetitive and tedious in the courtroom. It taught me about a period of history which I never knew before, which is presented with accuracy. I’d say this game is catered more to those who have a high interest in The French Revolution but there is something for almost all gamers to get something from. You won’t find a game like this on the market, so it’s worth a try in that regard.
*Code kindly provided by the publisher for review*
Developer: Polyslash Publisher: Klabater
Release date: 25/06/19
Platforms: PS4, Switch, PC, Xbox
Platform Reviewed: PS4