The Occupation
- March 5, 2019
- White Paper Games
- 1h median play time
The Occupation is a taut investigative simulation and stealth thriller. It’s infused with a realistic and multidimensional approach to mechanics, systems, and level design. This is a must-play for fans of Deus Ex and Dishonored.
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store"The Occupation" is a first-person, narrative-driven game where you play as a journalist investigating a controversial political event. You uncover evidence by sneaking through restricted areas and conducting interviews, all within a detailed, systems-driven world that responds to your actions. The game offers multiple approaches to objectives and includes opportunities for rule-breaking and exploration.
PC
Playstation 4
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features a unique real-time mechanic that adds tension and urgency to the investigative gameplay.
- The atmosphere and level design are immersive, with detailed environments that encourage exploration and interaction.
- The story is engaging and thought-provoking, tackling political themes and offering multiple paths and outcomes based on player choices.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and technical issues, including AI glitches and game-breaking bugs that can disrupt progress.
- There is no manual save option, forcing players to complete lengthy chapters in one sitting, which can be frustrating and inconvenient.
- The controls can feel clunky and unintuitive, making interactions with the environment cumbersome and detracting from the overall experience.
- story192 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The game's story is a politically charged thriller set in late 80s Britain, featuring an investigative reporter unraveling a conspiracy following a bombing. While the narrative is engaging and offers intriguing themes, many players found it disjointed and occasionally confusing, with some expressing a desire for a more robust plot and better character development. Despite technical issues and gameplay mechanics that sometimes detract from the storytelling, the overall atmosphere and narrative depth have garnered positive feedback, suggesting potential for a sequel or further exploration of its concepts.
“The story is incredible and the gameplay is top notch.”
“The story being told throughout the game is rather political in nature, but kept me very much interested throughout.”
“This is a truly interesting and fascinating game, with a great story and world building.”
“The story is all over the place, but it is not bad.”
“Rather than make me want to learn more, the drearily presented plot ingredients, combined with the very forgettable characters, made me quickly lose interest.”
“The reason for my negative review is that this game tries very hard to tell a story, but the gameplay mechanics undermine the story at every turn.”
- gameplay137 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 49 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The gameplay of this title is a mixed bag, featuring a unique real-time mechanic and a blend of stealth and investigative elements that some players find engaging. However, many reviews highlight significant issues such as frustrating save mechanics, numerous bugs, and clunky controls that detract from the overall experience. While the core gameplay has potential and offers interesting concepts, the execution often feels flawed, leading to a lack of immersion and enjoyment for some players.
“I thought this was genuinely a fun game with unique gameplay.”
“The story is incredible and the gameplay is top notch.”
“The density and quality of the world, combined with the innovative real-time mechanic, and the quality of the incidental writing, all combine to create something a little special.”
“A very unique and enjoyable immersive sim experience that is brought down by a massive amount of bugs; these unfortunately compound on the decision to make gameplay sections play out in real time without the option for manual saves.”
“This game is nowhere near interesting or even intriguing enough to justify how monotonous the gameplay is.”
“The reason for my negative review is that this game tries very hard to tell a story, but the gameplay mechanics undermine the story at every turn.”
- graphics39 mentions
- 69 % positive mentions
- 23 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the immersive art style and 1980s aesthetic, while others criticize performance issues and lack of optimization. Although the visuals are described as charming and well-crafted, they are not considered groundbreaking or photorealistic, and some players noted bugs that detracted from the experience. Overall, the graphics contribute positively to the game's atmosphere, despite some technical shortcomings.
“I really enjoyed the 80's aesthetic and having to use an old school OS to print papers for my investigation.”
“It's beautiful, I really love the art style and the soundtrack is top notch!”
“The game offers some nice graphics and a beautiful aesthetic which is pleasant all the same and has some amazing attention to detail even though it is a little rough around the edges.”
“The level design is more focused on realism and aesthetics than having proper level design, where the world is fully made and realized to boost the mechanics and gameplay. There are a lot of mechanical interactions and spaces that serve no purpose and just become a spongy filler that steals your time from actual meaningful interaction.”
“I can't really say anything about the graphics because it wouldn't let me optimize it for smoother gameplay.”
“Graphics [from 2012] 6/10”
- stability34 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including numerous bugs, glitches, and problematic AI behavior that can disrupt gameplay and immersion. Players report frustrating experiences with mechanics that are often unreliable, such as climbing and navigation, compounded by the lack of manual save options. While the game has intriguing core mechanics and a well-crafted narrative, its technical shortcomings have hindered its overall reception.
“Such a buggy mess that completely breaks the immersion.”
“No manual saves combined with glitches and bugs make for a very bad time.”
“The main problem with the occupation is that it hides all the good things (i.e. great concept, strong narrative) under a layer of wrong design decisions, bugs, glitches, and awkward controls.”
- atmosphere21 mentions
- 90 % positive mentions
- 5 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive qualities, effectively capturing the 'office detective' niche with detailed environments and interactable objects that enhance player engagement. Reviewers highlight the tense and dramatic music that complements the stealth mechanics, contributing to a compelling political thriller experience. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature, making it a worthwhile choice for fans of stealth games.
“They create fantastic atmospheres and feature a bunch of details, with many objects being interactable for no real purpose beyond immersion.”
“The music for when you're somewhere you shouldn't be and another character is in range, and when you're spotted, is tense and dramatic, lending a really great atmosphere to the game.”
“The story is good but where it really shines is in atmosphere.”
“I understand their perspective, but the argument that allowing players to save whenever they want, or having autosaves at different intervals throughout a level, would break the atmosphere or immersion of the game doesn't make sense.”
- music16 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 13 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received positive feedback for its quality and ability to enhance the atmosphere, particularly during tense moments. While many players appreciate the overall soundtrack and its match with the charming visuals, some found the in-world music less appealing and opted to turn it off. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature that contributes significantly to the game's potential.
“Loved the music and the great storyline.”
“It's beautiful, I really love the art style and the soundtrack is top notch!”
“The music for when you're somewhere you shouldn't be and another character is in range, and when you're spotted, is tense and dramatic, lending a really great atmosphere to the game.”
“NPCs sometimes move super fast in T-pose, which is scary as all heck when the trespassing music is playing.”
- grinding14 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews highlight that the grinding aspect of the game is overwhelmingly tedious and frustrating, with a poorly designed interface that detracts from the experience. Players feel that the game fails to deliver the intended tension and engagement, instead becoming a monotonous chore, especially due to the lack of a save system and underwhelming AI. Overall, the grinding elements contribute significantly to a sense of disappointment and boredom, overshadowing any initial enjoyment.
“After having spent about 5 hours in the game, I can say this is one of the most boring, tedious, and poorly designed UI games I have ever played.”
“The game is just not worth it; it's boring, tedious, has no save system, so I don't even know why they even bother to have a level select option in the main menu.”
“For the most part, I enjoyed my first playthrough, but ultimately felt disappointed with how quickly the game became tedious and was too frustrated with how my exploration felt meaningless.”
- replayability10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability despite its linear story, with multiple endings and various routes encouraging players to revisit it. While a standard playthrough lasts around seven hours, many users feel the content justifies the price and enhances the overall replay value.
“I think the biggest perk to this game is the replayability.”
“For the price, this game has the right amount of content, tons of replay value!”
“A standard playthrough will go about seven hours max and there is very little replay value.”
“In all truth, this game has so much replayability even though the story is very linear.”
“The routes and leads in the game give it heaps of replayability, especially since there are multiple endings.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that while the game strives to create emotional depth, its writing can sometimes feel awkward, leading to mixed results in evoking genuine feelings. However, some players, particularly those with a background in storytelling, found the game immersive and impactful, enhancing their emotional connection to the world.
“I think this is a great game; as a graduate from a journalism course, this really made me feel immersed in the world.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
While the game offers excellent graphics performance and engaging gameplay, it is hindered by numerous bugs and performance issues that detract from the overall experience.
“The occupation is a unique and intriguing investigative thriller that is sadly ruined by a multitude of performance issues that prevent it from reaching its full potential.”
“The game suffers from severe optimization problems, leading to frustrating lag and stuttering that detracts from the overall experience.”
“Despite its interesting premise, the lack of proper optimization results in frequent crashes and long loading times, making it nearly unplayable at times.”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
While the graphics may not be cutting-edge or photorealistic, the art style and character design are praised for their quality, contributing positively to the overall character development experience.
Critic Reviews
The Occupation Review
Brilliantly conceived but sloppily executed, The Occupation’s potential as an immersive detective sim suffers from too many technical problems to recommend it.
50%The Occupation Review – A Cracked Case
The Occupation structures itself in an interesting way, sets a unique tone, and toys with some potent topics, but lacks the depth or polish needed to live up to its potential. Like a disappointing newspaper article, you’re left with more questions than answers and wishing somebody would do the subject proper justice. The Occupation is, unfortunately, pretty vacant.
55%The Occupation Review
The Occupation is a unique and intriguing investigative thriller, that is sadly ruined by a multitude of performance issues that see it never reach its full potential.
50%
