Ministry of Broadcast

One thing you might not know about me is that I'm a big fan of Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Circle and pretty much anything that involves competing on TV for a prize. And while I doubt I would be any good at them, I would love to see if I can survive being out in the middle of nowhere or spend the summer in the Big Brother house. One show I would not want to go on is the one found in Ministry of Broadcast, a satirical new 2D adventure that is all about winning at any cost. Deep down I suspect that there's almost no chance of me winning Survivor, but I know for a fact that I would definitely be the first to die on the Ministry of Broadcast.

This is an Orwellian story about a man who is forced to compete on a TV show for the chance to be reunited with his family. This man is called Orange by the oppressive guards, who watch over him and the other contestants with guns and riot gear. This is not the kind of game show where you answer trivia questions or get "fired" by some blowhard, because if Orange wants to survive this game, he's going to need to not only be good at puzzles, but also ready to escape alligators. Trust me, this is a crazy game show.

At its core, Ministry of Broadcast is about navigating your way through a series of increasingly difficult stages that are full of spikes, killer leaches, radiation, attack dogs and, of course, the guards who seem almost eager to shoot you in the face. And it's actually worse than that, because Orange is going to need to make some serious moral decisions if he's going to see his family again. This is a cutthroat game, and if winning means tossing the other contestants into spike pits, then I'm sure the viewers will understand.

The action plays out similar to classic rotoscope adventure games like Prince of Persia and Flashback. The character's movement is stiff and precise in a very specific way, and it may take some getting used to. The good news is that Ministry of Broadcast handles better than you might expect. I was able to run, jump and climb with little issue, which is important given how much of this game relies on platforming puzzles. You'll still accidentally fall off a cliff and die in a lot of easily preventable ways, but the handling is a lot more forgiving than what I'm used to from this type of game.

If you can't tell, the emphasis is on the story. The various stages and puzzles are fun, but the real star here is the biting commentary. There's a lot going on in this game, from the power of television to the way elections are handled to how the power structure is always rigged against us. You could view this as little more than a regular Joe climbing to the top, but there's so much more going on. The story swings wildly from darkly funny moments to moments that are so of-our-time and topical that it made me want to cry.

The story is easily the best part of Ministry of Broadcast, and I love that there's so much of it. The game takes the time to just be with Orange as he comes to grips with the Wall Show. We spend a lot of time talking to the psychologist and getting to know some of the other contestants, all of which helps to flesh out this dystopian world and ground the story. Of course, this only makes what you're forced to do all that more heartbreaking, but our hero didn't come here to lose.

That said, in reality, you'll probably lose a lot. Part of the reason this game is so challenging is because a lot of the obstacles come down to trial and error and learning from your mistakes. Orange is going to die, a lot. He's going to get eaten by dogs, fall from great heights, get impaled by ice, slide to his death, get shot up and generally cease living in dozens of colorful (and gruesome) ways. The good news is that Ministry of Broadcast has great checkpointing, so you rarely have to redo large chunks of the levels. It always felt like I was making progress, even during the more frustrating moments. The developer makes a lot of smart decisions in this game, both big and small.

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For the most part, I love the look of this game. Don't be fooled by the deceptively simple style, because Ministry of Broadcast is bursting with personality. Even when you're doing little more than climbing poorly constructed shelves in an empty warehouse, the developers continue to find ways of adding humor and blink-and-you'll-miss-them details to every inch of the studio. The team behind the game has done an excellent job world building, both by showing us and telling us.

Unfortunately, one of my biggest issues with this Switch version of the game is that it's hard to see the water. In fact, after watching a playthrough of the PC version, I would say that the game may be glitched. I found that I essentially couldn't see the water in some of the later stages. It would show up in some sections, but I would routinely drown by accident. On the PC, the water is impossible to miss, which makes me think that this Switch port may need some tweaking.

There are other problems, of course, including some clunky pop culture references and a few platforming sections that are hard to navigate with the stiff gameplay. But even with the disappearing water and a few questionable jokes, there's a lot to like about the story and adventure found in Ministry of Broadcast. This is one game show I'm happy to enjoy from the comfort of my own couch.