PREVIEW: Not For Broadcast

Not For Broadcast is easily one of the best, and most promising, FMV games that I’ve experienced in quite some time. And it’s not even completed yet.

Intro

Not For Broadcast is a unique FMV based game to puts you in the role of a person running the National Nightly News broadcast. The game is largely a satirical parody of the news and many political topics. It’s quite humorous and is spot-on in its satirization. If this sounds like a game that you’d be interested in, do read on, it’s quite fascinating.

Story

The story to Not For Broadcast takes place in the 1980s when a radical party is sworn in as president of the country. The new party vows to take money from the rich and eliminate poverty with it but your actions in the game determine how the public views the new party and the people that show up in the game’s scenes.

Currently, there’s around 3 hours worth of content to experience but this will increase drastically as the game continues its development. It’s also worth mentioning that if you get offended easily, this game probably isn’t for you because it satirizes everything you can possibly think of when it comes to politics. I personally found it quite hilarious and enjoyed it quite a lot.

Gameplay

At first the game seems kind of daunting, what with all the buttons and actions you have to use/take. In reality, it’s actually quite easy to learn but tough to master. The game features a pretty in-depth tutorial at the beginning of the game where your predecessor walks you through the various buttons to make it easy.

Before the news begins, you must first power up the machine and then select the adverts you wish to feature in the broadcast. Once this is done, the news begins and you must use the buttons on the left to select the screen you wish to show during the broadcast. The actual broadcast runs 2 seconds slower than the one you must edit so you must make your choices fairly quickly. There are also sections where you must censor any swears that the people on the screen say. There are also sections where you will need to avoid interference in a mini-game of sorts on the right monitor. You use a dial to move the dot up and down to avoid the green sections of interference.

Once the day is completed your results are tallied and you earn money based on your performance. You can then use this money to purchase upgrades and new equipment for your studio. There are also cosmetic toys to buy to spruce up your surroundings as well.

There are also story elements mixed in with the gameplay as well where your choices affect your character’s personal life. These are currently done in a sort of visual novel style setup with art showing up on a nearby TV and you must read the text and make your decision from the choices given. Some choices have pretty major consequences so choose carefully.

The Archive

Whenever you finish a day’s broadcast you’re immediately taken to the archive section where you can watch the entire broadcast that you just made your way through, check out the many humorous ads that you featured in past broadcasts, and even see behind the scenes during commercial breaks.

Verdict

Overall, this game had me laughing out loud on numerous occasions and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. I’m quite excited to see how the game improves over the course of its continued development and I wish the developers luck in their endeavours. If you’re a fan of FMV games as much as I am, this is definitely one to keep an eye on.