Sometimes a video game is more than a game. Games can be used as tools to train people in new occupations, to fly, drive, or even fight in a war. Video games can also be powerful teaching aides, transporting the player into important moments in history. The new game from Ivan Venturi Productions does just that. RIOT : Civil Unrest puts you front and center, on both sides, of some recent civil uprisings.
You get to play as either protestors or police through out the world in 4 different campaigns. You will be sent to Italy, Greece, Spain and Egypt to try and change government policy. No matter which side you pick, you will have specific objectives that must be achieved within a set amount of time. Will your protest be peaceful, or will you provoke the side to violence? Either way can work, but it is up to you to pick which is best for each situation.
Each protest plays out through multiple stages. If you play as the protestors, you must occupy an area, drive off the police, or even destroy equipment. You must do whatever you can to complete the objectives while also maintaining good relations with the public, so they remain supportive of your cause. Police are faced with clearing out occupying protests, safeguard property and make sure they don’t let the situation spiral out of control, no matter what they are faced with. One of the first things you will notice is the inconsistencies with the objectives. Some missions say you must occupy an area and drive off the police, but you will win as long as you maintain control of that specific area. Others, with the same objectives, you will fail unless you drive the opposing force completely out of the game area.
To play out a scenario, you control different groups of either protestors or police. This will allow you to have some people moving, others standing their ground, use items or attack. Unfortunately, picking which sub group you want to control can be a bit challenging. You should be able to scroll through them easily with the right stick, but instead, it will jump around, making it difficult to pick the right squad. You might have to scroll down to pick the squad above the one you are controlling, or even left and right. This makes coordinating actions between the groups frustrating to say the least. People can get stuck behind objects which prevents the whole group from moving, and some members have a mind of their own. You may be trying to do a peaceful protest when a random member of your squad starts throwing rocks. While I understand this can happen in real life, you have 0 control over it in the game, and really no way to walk back their actions.
Graphics in the game are fairly basic. Characters appear as blocky, colored stick figures. This isn’t so bad since you are controlling groups, but when police and protestors clash, it can be a bit trying to figure out who is who. The story is told through story boards that appear between scenarios. The lettering for the boards is white, and it is sometimes overlaid onto a light background, making them difficult to read. The background then switches to black but doesn’t hold it long enough to read before switching to mission. There is not a lot of music that I can recall from the game, but the soundscape is still quite full. Riotous crowds ripple through your speakers and give you a sense of the scope of what you are doing.
RIOT : Civil Unrest is available now on XB1, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC. The title offers some very interesting ideas in a concept that has not been tried. The game has a unique idea, but it is poorly executed. Fidgety controls make it difficult to control this RTS as quickly as you would like. Besides the campaigns, there is also a Global mode that will take you through a progression of ever hardening scenarios. You can also play versus mode against a friend in a local multiplayer mode. With a price tag of $17 – $20, depending on the platform, you are spending a fair amount on a game that will most likely frustrate you more than educate you.
