The Westport Independent

Look at the time i spent playing this game. Yup, that is a single playthrough. 12 turns, that is all. Replay value seems minor as there are hard repurcussions for extremes, so there is no Papers Please-esque payoff to certain actions. That said, this game has a lot of potential, and if the gameplay lasted for longer than 12 weeks (turns) i would be able to recommend this game. As it is now, however, why would i pay 10 euro for a game that entertains me for a shorter time than most Youtube content?

I would like you to note my playtime... I had high hopes for this game but sadly it fell short. I started with a full Loyalist playthrough and it was dead easy. I had my more rebel leaning journalist write about celebrity gossip and my loyalist leaning journalists write about the glorious actions of our beloved government (Heavily censored of course) so that they would always feel safe and be happy. I quickly gained big favour with the Loyalists, turned all four districts to full loyalist support and won the game. On my second playthrough I decided to, no matter what, go full rebel! ...The Loyalists arrested Frank on turn four. I think he was the one that was a rebel, here you see how much the game had me care about the employees. I don't know who is who...). The Loyalists then shut me down at turn six. I can see that the challenge of the game is to run a rebellious newspaper without getting shut down and hopefully see the Rebels overthrow the Loyalists in the end of the game but ...

Sadly I cannot recommend. The demo had 7 weeks, and this only has 5 more. I thought this game was going to be significatly longer, and may have some business management to it. Sadly that it not so. This somehow felt like it was just about to get to the climax when it ended, which utimately was a let down. The art style however, is beautiful, and the work on lore and background is great. *Edit 1* Hm, that's odd, the top reviews on the page have suddenly shifted.. the first displayed ones are now positive with the reviews being rated less helpful then others farther down the list. There's also a sudden surge of positive reviews. Odd.

A difficult recommendation. The Westport Incident tries to hit the same trigger "Papers, Please" did and show how difficult it is to operate within a repressive dictatorship. You are taking the role of a newspaper editor who has to basically choose between being a government mouthpiece, and keeping the paper running while being complicit in the government repression; or reporting the news in a more truthful manner, but by doing so putting not just the paper, but also your employees at risk. Gameplay consists of choosing which articles to put in the paper, how to present them, and who to write the article. For example you may get an article about a bombing. Articles can be roughly separated in two categories: politics and fluff. Fluff is without risk, but doesn't do much for your paper's popularity. Politics is where the risk is. If you are fully loyal throughout it's easy to complete the game, although you do end up supporting a totalitarian regime. If you decide to be disloyal (and ...

I have just completed my first playthrough of the Westport Independent. I stayed loyal to the government, always painting the rebels as the bad guys and making sure every district adored the Loyalists. My extreme devotion cost me an employee, Frank, but I weakened the rebels' movement and remained a popular newspaper. While the game is a bit shorter than I would have liked, I still loved this experience. I loved imagining how the people reacted to the articles, how this dystopia changed. I see a lot of replay value in this, to see how the other extreme and min-maxing would work out. If anything, my main gripe with the game is a minor one; the achievement don't have a description after I unlock them. Minor but annoying. If you enjoyed Papers, Please or want to see how government censorship can work out in a dark world, I highly recommend this game.

Unfortunately, I can not recommend this game, even though I was hoping it'd be good. As many others have mentioned, it seems quite similar to "Papers,please" (a game I really liked a lot), and I think that's due to - the old school graphics which look pretty much like a C64 game. However, it doesn't matter much, as Papers, Please proved (even though I think it should be obvious) that a game doesn't need triple A graphics and can be fun even when it looks very outdated, as long as the GAME is good! - The theme... the story is set in a region/country with a quite oppressive government, and you have to play along with the rules or suffer harsh consequences - The fact that you have to decide a lot whether you DO play by the rules, or try to be rebellious. And I think the game COULD have been fun. However... please take a look at the amount of time I played. That's one and a quarter playthrough... Yes. Uh huh, I am serious. I finished the game in what, 33 or 38 minutes? I can't for t...

Early doors review but I like this game. Seems a bit disappointing that a lot of the other reviewers don't seem to have grasped that the game has multiple endings and whether you want your paper to be the loyal government mouthpiece, the journal that sparked revolution or simply be a voice giving a balanced view upon events is up to you to decide. It's interesting and different.

I like it! Picking the stories, headlines and substance of the articles while balencing political sides is fun.

For the 10 EUR I paid for this game I could have gotten a kebab, fries, and a coke. And consuming those would probably have taken me longer than it did to play this game. There's some potential here, but it falls horribly short. The game lasts only for 12 turns, which is nowhere near long enough to make you give a damn about the four people in your editorial team or the gameworld that you inhabit. The game just feels empty and entirely forgettable. The game is visually appealing, so it does have that going for it. But it still feels like a demo, not an actual game. If you can pick this up at a heavy discount, its a fun little game to try, but at full price its robbery in broad daylight.

I personally really enjoy this game. YES, I know, it didn't live up to expectations, its short, and isn't as emotionally conflicting as Papers Please. BUT, what you have here is still a good, fun, original game. Your a media outlet editor under the employ of the "Westport Indipendent", a newspaper publisher. Westport itself however, is a large industrial city split into four districts, The southern docks, the eastern industy area, the western middle class region, and the upperr class elite northern section. The country that westport is part of is run by a totalitarian regime that is referred to as "The Loyalist Party", their goals lie within censoring general media, television shows, books, and other sources of information for the sake of a tighter and more controlling grip on their citizens. The game starts off with a notice from the loyalist party, it states that soon a bill will be passed that basically shuts down all indipendent media outlets and inserts the government in control o...