It what is probably, in some way, a criticism on the war games that seem to glamorize the lives of actual soldiers the winner of the Grand Jury award of IndieCade 2012 also presents a really interesting narrative driven game in Unmanned.
In this game, you play a soldier just going through his day as a drone pilot, interacting with people and piloting unmanned drones, but also doing some more mundane things like waking up, shaving, playing video games with your kid and talking with your wife.
What I really like about this game is that choices are made in real-time, and they are presented side by side with the action (like a DS held on its side). This means driving can become more of a challenge if you’re too distracted by your thoughts. It’s a really interesting mechanic, one that I’ve thought about to and really does keep you invested in what happens next in what is normally pretty boring stuff.
Overall, this is a game to check out. It was a lot of fun and presented some new ideas. When I get some more time, I hope to take a look at the other winners, which you can find here.
