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Choice of Rebels - a quick, non-spoilery review
Monday, 4 June 2018 17:38I'm in the process of writing a long, complicated review of Choice of Rebels: Uprising, but as I was working on it, I realized that it's not perfectly spoiler-free. For the benefit of people who prefer to go in as blank-slate as possible, or just aren't interested in slogging through my lengthy reviews, I thought I could post a brief, non-spoilery bottom line review.
Choice of Rebels: Uprising is an epic fantasy text adventure from Choice of Games, one of my very favorite game studios. It has all the hallmarks of the first novel in an epic fantasy trilogy, except that it's interactive. You play the protagonist and control their choices. The breadth of choice is huge. As in most COG games, the player can customize the PC's gender and orientation. Unusually, this game allows you to play the PC as asexual and/or aromantic. I played my first rebel as an ace lesbian, for example.
The premise of the story is that the PC will initiate and eventually lead a provincial rebellion against a ruthless conquering empire called the Karagond Hegemony. The Hegemony maintains and suppresses a vast underclass of slaves for human sacrifice, which they claim is necessary to power the blood magic that protects civilization. Their entire religion revolves around justifying imperial brutality. I found the game dark and violent but not gratuitous, though opinions might vary.
The quality of the prose is high and the worldbuilding is meticulous (and meticulously documented in a codex that's accessible throughout the game). The non-player characters are compelling, although Breden is by far my favorite. The level of customization of the player character is more than acceptable, and places an emphasis on varying responses to the Hegemony's imperialist policies. You can play as a skeptic or as a defender of the purity of the faith. You can play as an impoverished aristocrat or as a helot (slave). You can win the day by your wits or by the sword, and often even talk yourself out of trouble, which is my favorite approach.
It's a good game and I recommend it strongly to anyone who thinks any of the above themes might interest them. Though the game's plot has a satisfying conclusion, I'm extremely looking forward to the inevitable sequel.
Choice of Rebels: Uprising is an epic fantasy text adventure from Choice of Games, one of my very favorite game studios. It has all the hallmarks of the first novel in an epic fantasy trilogy, except that it's interactive. You play the protagonist and control their choices. The breadth of choice is huge. As in most COG games, the player can customize the PC's gender and orientation. Unusually, this game allows you to play the PC as asexual and/or aromantic. I played my first rebel as an ace lesbian, for example.
The premise of the story is that the PC will initiate and eventually lead a provincial rebellion against a ruthless conquering empire called the Karagond Hegemony. The Hegemony maintains and suppresses a vast underclass of slaves for human sacrifice, which they claim is necessary to power the blood magic that protects civilization. Their entire religion revolves around justifying imperial brutality. I found the game dark and violent but not gratuitous, though opinions might vary.
The quality of the prose is high and the worldbuilding is meticulous (and meticulously documented in a codex that's accessible throughout the game). The non-player characters are compelling, although Breden is by far my favorite. The level of customization of the player character is more than acceptable, and places an emphasis on varying responses to the Hegemony's imperialist policies. You can play as a skeptic or as a defender of the purity of the faith. You can play as an impoverished aristocrat or as a helot (slave). You can win the day by your wits or by the sword, and often even talk yourself out of trouble, which is my favorite approach.
It's a good game and I recommend it strongly to anyone who thinks any of the above themes might interest them. Though the game's plot has a satisfying conclusion, I'm extremely looking forward to the inevitable sequel.
