We. The Revolution Review

We. The Revolution developed by Polyslash and published by Klabater is a very unique indie title which takes place in courtrooms during the French Revolution. You can call it a courtroom adventure game which includes a heavy inclusion of narrative driven experience. We. The Revolution, which is available on all platforms, intrigued me straight away as you don’t see many titles of this genre on consoles especially. With Pheonix Wright as its only main contender, it doesn’t have to contend with many other games. That said though, I urge you not to dismiss this based on that fact, as there is enough here to grip and interest you.

What you’ll notice right away is that you’re bombarded with so much to do in the way of mechanics at the beginning that it’s almost like a slap in the face. By slap in the face, it’s like when you start a game wanting a tutorial but there doesn’t appear to be one here and you’re faced with a dilemma of options and choices. Stick with it at this point though, as with a little patience you start to figure things out for yourself. You play as the lead judge of the revolutionary tribunal and what you’d expect here is what any judge in today’s era partakes in every day. You’ll have to analyse and examine questions and ultimately decide your verdict at the end of it all.

The absolute strongest factor of the game here is not only the excellent detail on the artwork within the game. But the attention to detail during the court cases. As with a real court case you will have to spend your own time digesting the information in several case files before proceeding with prosecutions. This is where I can really pick this title apart as part of my role includes putting real life people forward for potential prosecution and attending court proceedings. Once you have taken in all the information put before you, you are then free to start the questioning procedure. This where the meat of the game comes in as you’re not just sat there reading lines and lines of text and you start to feel the first sense of involvement. What I liked here is there can be several questions you can ask however they have to be unlocked in your manner of approach to the subject. Basically you have to link the subject to the correct feel of approach in order to ask the questions. As with a real life court hearing you have to be careful, calm and collective in approach as their is no back tracking and changing your mind once you have committed to a question or decision. That’s the beauty of this game, no second chances and I believe that too many games these days allow you to just go back and start again. But this title gives you the real sense of making the next step could be a good or bad decision.

Bad decisions though can really change the overall outcome of a trial and could result in the whole case collapsing and this isn’t the action you want. If you convince the jury and keep on their good side they will make suggestions and recommended outcomes. You want to try not to go against them as it can put a downer on your personal reputation and you will lose their trust. You may find personally you’ll start to get attached to certain characters and your head may rule your heart in how you want to convict them. I spent my time trying to think as a judge would and how in modern day you would sentence the individual. Just remember there is no turning back! The characters back stories and personality were extremely well built and written and I enjoyed all of the cases I played through.

Brushing aside what happens inside the courtroom though, you do have to think about your personal stature. Your decisions and outcomes will inflict on what happens outside the courtrooms walls. You also have to balance your personal life, friends, family, your political stance and your influence on the city. I have to say though this is a game that you have to commit time and thought to as some of the sequences can be lengthy and you do have to process everything or you will lose your way very quickly. There can be a lot to digest and a lot of on screen prompts so my suggestion is to take your time. I didn’t want to delve too deeply into the narrative as it would spoil some of the storyline of the stories you will face. But there is some good solid gameplay here and if you fancy something a little different its worth the punt. I especially loved the way that opinions would be jeered from the common people of the courtroom and it added atmosphere to the game. As for the audio it is hard to criticise here as there isn’t much of it as its unwarranted for a title of this nature. I tip my hat to the developers for giving this game a go in a market where it can be do or die.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Microsoft Xbox One code was provided to Bonus Stage for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to press@4gn.co.uk.