Ministry of Broadcast
A country divided by The Wall. To cross it and reach your family, you must compete on – and win – a reality TV show broadcast by the Regime. Ministry of Broadcast is a narrative-driven single player cinematic platformer mixing Orwell’s 1984 with modern reality TV. Rife with dark humor, sarcastic quips, and a general absurdity of the system. Seemingly built overnight, The Wall has divided both a country in two and a man from his family. To see them again, our ginger-haired protagonist has decided to become a contestant on “The Wall Show”, a Regime-organized TV show allowing competitors the opportunity to escape to freedom on the other side. However, as he progresses through the camp, our contestant soon realizes exactly how the Regime and the show operate. The promise of freedom is not exactly what it seems. Cinematic platformer: Run, jump, crash, and climb your way through each Arena as the narrative unfolds around you. Much of the story is unveiled via smoothly integrated animation sequences, within the environment, or from NPCs muttering bits of dialogue as you dive and dodge around them. Environmental HUD: Rather than having a screen cluttered with overlaid indicators, HP bars, and minimaps, any information the player will need is incorporated into the environment. Hints and clues are meshed into the game’s art, subtle and specific, players will need a keen eye if they want to survive each Arena without breaking their legs.
Game Discussion
Steam User 0
Absolutely great game! A must have and must play for the ones who enjoy 2D pixelated graphics retro platformers with rich story. While I wouldn't go as far as to compare it with the 1984 novel by George Orwell, the game certainly tries to go into that direction and occasionally succeeds, but overall it creates a whole new and original experience, which itself is worth exploring.
While the game itself isn't that long (~8h of gameplay, maybe more with all the collectables and achievements), the overall atmosphere and soundtrack makes it quite memorable and the multiple endings feature brings replayability.
Now, regarding the mechanics, the game indeed does have some hard to master controls and jumps in the beginning and the world itself is designed in such a way that accidental death is almost inevitable sometimes. However, to be this is part of the charm of the game as it makes you "really work for it" if you want to advance. Difficulty only makes the game more enjoyable, with occasional tough to get by regions.
Worth the price.
Steam User 0
Kind of a blend of "normal" and cinematic platformers. The main character is definitely more immediately-responsive to your control inputs than a true cinematic platformer, you don't have to watch a cutscene every time you turn around. But the game is generally a bit slower paced and more methodical, and there's an emphasis on puzzles and puzzle-platforming, so you have to be patient with it sometimes. I will also admit, the story and characters didn't really draw me in the way I imagine they were supposed to. But between the gameplay and the exquisite visual style, the pros definitely outweighed the cons.