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We Are Chicago

According to the Chicago Tribune, 4,368 people were victims of gun violence in the Chicago area during all of 2016.
We Are Chicago Game Cover
37%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:story, emotional
Most mentioned negative aspects:gameplay, graphics
41% User Score Based on 27 reviews
Critic Score 60%Based on 1 reviews

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We Are Chicago Game Cover

About

We Are Chicago is a single player simulation game. It was developed by Culture Shock Games LLC and was released on February 9, 2017. It received neutral reviews from both critics and players.

You are harassed at school, your friends are avoiding you, and you need to make sure your sister is safe from the dangers that surround you. Explore the life of Aaron growing up on Chicago's south side as you find out who to trust and how to stay safe. Over the course of a week, stand up to violence, grow closer to your family and friends, and discover more about yourself and the world around yo…

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We Are Chicago screenshot
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41%Audience ScoreBased on 27 reviews
story10 positive mentions
gameplay3 negative mentions
  • Powerful and emotionally jarring story with strong social and cultural relevance, especially highlighting issues faced by Black communities in Chicago.
  • Engaging narrative-driven experience with well-developed characters, good voice acting, and a meaningful, slice-of-life approach that builds empathy.
  • Passionate and sincere effort by the developers to raise awareness about gang violence and social issues, supported by partnerships with relevant charities.
  • Gameplay is unpolished with technical issues including glitches, crashes, janky animations, low FPS, and poor controls, detracting from the overall experience.
  • Graphics and camera mechanics feel outdated and clunky, with some complaints about slow first-person movement and impractical camera controls.
  • Limited gameplay variety and replay value; story progression is linear with minimal player agency, making it feel more like an experience than a traditional game.

  • story

    21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story is widely praised for being emotionally engaging, culturally relevant, and passionate, with compelling characters and a meaningful message. However, some users feel it is limited by linearity and underdeveloped character depth. Overall, the narrative is seen as the game's strong point despite flaws in gameplay and presentation.

    • “This was an emotionally jarring story that had me captivated from start to finish.”
    • “While the graphics might not be top-notch technology, the voice acting is stellar, the story is compelling.”
    • “It was absolutely passionate and a great story.”
    • “To ignore that erodes the message of the game, because the player is left railing against artificial constraints, instead of the story-driven ones of Aaron’s challenging circumstances.”
    • “Not what it seems, small story line, same route no matter what, same things happen.”
    • “The story of the characters is a little lacking.”

  • gameplay

    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is widely criticized for being unpolished, buggy, and lacking depth, with janky animations, poor controls, and technical issues such as crashing and unsaved progress. While the story is praised, players often feel more like observers than active participants, leading to a generally underwhelming gameplay experience.

    • “Fantastic story, great meaning, just bad gameplay.”
    • “I can see how passionate the devs were with this game but I'm a little disappointed that I paid 13.49 (on sale) for a game that only had about 2.5 hours of gameplay time.”
    • “The mechanics were a miss for me - terrible janky animation and FPS control, and the writing felt pretty generic. While I was enjoying it enough to finish, the game crashed for me. Although there seemed to be an auto-save function, it was not well-documented and my game was not saved properly, so I lost all my progress.”
    • “While the gameplay looks like The Walking Dead on the surface, with conversation options that offer different, relatable points of view, these are window dressing: you are more observer than participant.”
    • “This is just solely on the gameplay being unpolished and buggy relative to its price.”

  • graphics

    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics are generally considered outdated, resembling games from over a decade ago, with some users noting technical glitches during character interactions. While not high-end or cutting-edge, the visuals are seen as impressive given the developer's first effort. Camera controls and graphical details could benefit from improvements.

    • “Graphics were quite impressive for a developer's first attempt.”
    • “Maybe the graphics aren't as high-end as 2016/2017 games, but still noteworthy.”
    • “While the graphics might not be top-notch technology, the voice acting is stellar, and the story is compelling.”
    • “Like many reviewers say: the graphics look like 3D games I played 15 years ago, and the camera controls are impractical.”
    • “I can usually go with low fps & simple graphics, but this game constantly glitches while the characters are having interactions with one another.”
    • “I suggest the game developer fix the technical issues and put more details into the graphics and character interactions, as well as increase the game pace a little bit.”

  • music

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music received negative feedback, with users finding the string-based soundtrack annoying and repetitive, causing frustration rather than enjoyment.

    • “One other thing that I like to bring up is the music.”
    • “Why pick the most annoying generic string music!”
    • “It got so annoying that when the song was ending I was so relieved to hear silence until that song looped again.”
    • “My god, the music!”

  • stability

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is notably poor, with frequent freezes and glitches during character interactions, leading to an unpolished and buggy gameplay experience. Additionally, low FPS and lack of support exacerbate player frustration.

    • “I dislike the game because it has been freezing since I got it, and I can't reach anyone for support.”
    • “I can usually tolerate low FPS and simple graphics, but this game constantly glitches while characters interact with each other.”
    • “The gameplay feels unpolished and buggy compared to the price.”

  • grinding

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is described as repetitive and tedious, often involving monotonous activities like going to bed or counting change, which contributes to a feeling of a walking simulation.

  • emotional

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game delivers a deeply emotional and gripping story that keeps players captivated throughout.

    • “This was an emotionally jarring story that had me captivated from start to finish.”

  • replayability

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is considered to have no replay value, with users finding little incentive to play it more than once.

    • “It has no replay value.”

  • optimization

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Optimization is somewhat lacking, with performance issues that could benefit from improvement.

    • “Performance could use some work.”
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60%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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5h Median play time
4h Average play time
3-5h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
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Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

We Are Chicago is a simulation game.

We Are Chicago is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

On average players spend around 4 hours playing We Are Chicago.

We Are Chicago was released on February 9, 2017.

We Are Chicago was developed by Culture Shock Games LLC.

We Are Chicago has received neutral reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked We Are Chicago for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

We Are Chicago is a single player game.

Similar games include The Uncertain, Life is Strange, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, The First Tree, Sometimes Always Monsters and others.