One of my favorite subgenres is the type of adventure game that takes place almost entirely on a fictional operating system. It allows me to live out my fantasy of not having to utilize Windows every day.
I know, I know. I could switch to Linux, but learning up-to-date things is scary.
I really enjoy hacking through fictional systems. Even hacking games like Link up are brain candy for me, but when you combine them with a narrative like Hypnospace Outlaware even better.
Operator is similar in idea, but since it casts you as a government official, at least you get a good salary.
Operator (Computer)
Developer: Office 81
Publisher: Office 81, Indianova
Released: July 22, 2024
Suggested retail price: $13.99
You play as Evan Tanner, a man with severe cataracts that make it hard for him to see unless he’s looking at a computer screen. You start your first day as an Operator in the legally separate Federal Department of Investigation. Your job is to lend a hand field agents by helping them dig deeper into evidence.
This may surprise you, but you will soon discover that there is a deeper conspiracy. And let me tell you, it is not at all clever. In the first case, you are given a list. It is barely related to the first case, but, as it were, all he has seen this list and it is being brought up at every turn. There are over a hundred names on the list, most are crossed out, a few are circled and one is mysteriously redacted.
You get access to a database of names and a few programs that are used about once in the game. Very soon you are contacted by a hacker who uses the pseudonym HAL. They give you more details about the plot in exchange for your lend a hand. It’s a bit like a resistance group in Papers pleasewhere you have a good reason to lend a hand them, but you also don’t want your employer to find out. However, unlike Papers pleaseI’m not sure if you can be fully discovered, but I haven’t tested how badly you can fail.
Operator does a lot of things decently enough, but there are many aspects that could have been done better. For one thing, the grand plot isn’t very compelling, nor is it very well-developed. A lot of the hand-waving is done in the form of chance. Things work out neatly when they’re absurdly unlikely. If the plot had better pacing and given some of the ideas room to breathe, the whole thing would have come out a lot more believable. Instead, it relies on refrigerator logic; things that seem logical in the moment until you walk away and think about them.
The gameplay is also fun, but not very deep or challenging. I thought I would be delving into the nooks and crannies of the data presented, but most of the time I was just interpreting the instructions. The puzzles were more of a brainteaser than a test of skill. I didn’t get caught up in anything and tried to create my own challenge by getting ahead of the story or trying to access files that weren’t accessible at the beginning. It’s not always a failure on the part of the game to try to find my own stimulation, but here I felt that way.
On the other hand, while the characters similarly lack depth, they serve the narrative needs quite well. The agents are incredibly likeable, and the main antagonist is mysterious enough to seem threatening. They may not stick in your memory, but they fit the role well enough that you’ll probably care when the pudding hits the turbine.
There are only a few agents you actually work with, and each one has their own case. They’ll ask you to lend a hand them with something they’re stuck on and send them the evidence to be analyzed by your fancy government-funded software. They’ll ask you to find one specific thing in that evidence, whether it’s a name, an address, or something suspicious. You find exactly what they’re looking for, and then you match it with a keyword at the top of the screen to see if you did it correctly.
I mentioned that problems don’t really become apparent until you leave Operatorand that’s because it can be engaging and stimulating at times. While the mystery is clunky, delving into it and trying to make connections is handled well enough, even if it probably should have slowed down a bit.
The mechanics are varied. While some of it is about sifting through data, towards the end you get into a sequence that feels like a single-player game Keep talking and no one will explode and another where maps and security cameras come into play.
The real strength is that these sequences take up a significant portion of the game’s time. There’s no time to really think about it Operator weaknesses when you are so constantly immersed in his strengths. But when it is all said and done, you may find yourself dissatisfied with how superficial it all seems. It could have been so much more.
Maybe it’s a matter of expectations. When I see an operating system simulation, I expect a fictitious file browser and command line to be there to provide tools for dealing with the various challenges of the game. Operator it mainly gives you tools that only apply to specific puzzles. The chemical composition tool is not something that can lend a hand you solve the case, it is a separate puzzle and nothing more. Instead of making you feel resourceful and shrewd, it makes you feel like you are making progress.
It’s okay if you know this. Operator presents a series of amusing puzzles and situations and gives you a story that is engaging, if rather clumsy. It is about 5 hours long and manages to be amusing throughout. After finishing, you may feel dissatisfied with its stark simplicity and the miniature leash it keeps you on. However, if you can get used to the stiffness, you will find something enjoyable, but empty.
