I have never before reviewed a video game based on current political events, and it is both intruiguing and disturbing to know that Not Tonight, by developer PanicBarn and publisher No More Robots, is influenced by real life. Focusing on the Brexit talks in Britain, this game is set in an alternate reality where the extreme right has taken over the government and exiled people of European descent. You play a character who was born in England but descended from “a Nordic grandfather and a missing immigration form,” so the government relocates you and forces you to take menial jobs in order to stay in the country. As time progresses, you must choose between keeping your head down and following the rules, or joining a resistance that fights back against the unjust regime.
One of the aspects of Not Tonight that struck me was the incredible level of detail. The visuals on the screen are split in half, with the top showing the entire room and the bottom showing a zoomed in view. While at your apartment, the bottom displays your objectives, map, and calendar complete with work schedules and bill due dates. It also gives you access to your personal phone, which comes with multiple interactive apps such as messaging and shift scheduling. A separate news app informs you about the political turmoil sweeping through the local area and overall nation. This added another dimension of reality to the game and truly made me feel immersed in the digital world.
In terms of jobs, being a club bouncer is the only work your character is allowed to do, and bouncing shifts are also extremely detailed and realistic. When admitting people from the queue into the pub, you must examine each person’s individual license plate and check to make sure that they are older than 18. You also have to turn away people whose ID’s have expired, as well as certain people who have bad reputations among the club scene. While looking at each ID, I was shocked to see how much effort had gone into designing each one with personalized birthdays, names, and profile pictures. Again, this elevated the realness of the game, and it also created a mini game within the larger game by exercising your speed and accuracy skills. I appreciated how the work shifts created a welcome diversion that motivated your character with short term goals and broke up the monotony of lying around the ramshackle apartment.
The only part of Not Tonight that was less believable, at least in my opinion, were the characters’ behaviors and personalities. Under a government that exiles all Europeans, it makes sense that some characters would dislike or disrespect your character, but Officer Jupp is so downright rude it is almost comedic. They constantly harass and bully you through texts, calling you “fresh meat” and a “froggie” and your apartment a “craphole.” I see how the game wanted to showcase the ugly side of a “Britain alone” mindset, but this was almost hitting us over the head too hard with the nasty attitude so that it came off as extreme and stilted. Next, your boss Dave is much friendlier and kinder, but he constantly refers to you as a “Euro” and a “foreigner” even though you are a native-born person from England. This type of behavior is much more common in the real world, but Dave is almost too nice and preppy. If a happy medium could be found, the characters would be able to get the game’s message across in a subtler and more organic way.
In conclusion, Not Tonight is a fantastically detailed game filled with realness and substance. It fully immerses you within a world of labor and uncertainty, and although some of the characters may be one-dimensional, it still keeps you engaged and intrigued enough to get hooked.
Rating: 9/10
Check Out the Not Tonight Launch Trailer:
Not Tonight is available for PC via Steam for a 10% discount for $17.99.
Steam Review
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Overall Score - 9/109/10
From the moment I first played Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy on the original Xbox, I have always had an avid curiosity and enthusiasm for video games. I admire their ability to immerse us in completely different worlds, and I am always eager to see how they integrate the newest breakthroughs in digital technology to make virtual reality feel real. I am currently a senior at UC Berkeley, but when I'm not studying I always make time to play Xbox One with my younger brother.
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