The Operator

It's not very often that we get to become the 'guy in the chair' in a video game. As is the case in movies, more often than not video games see players suiting up as secret agents and field operatives, and not the intelligent and versatile supporting technicians that provide valuable intel and solve problems that the on-site individuals cannot crack. {Bureau 81} has decided to flip that script on its head with {The Operator}, a short mystery game that revolves around an employee of the {Federal Department of Intelligence}, a government body that investigates unusual and often horrifying crimes.

The idea of {The Operator} is to essentially assist field agents. The entire game is played on a computer, an OS within your actual OS, and on this fully functional system (which even includes a completely operational terminal to mess around with) you must assess and pick apart evidence to help field agents determine a connection, advance their investigation, or potentially even save their lives. This could be scouring video footage for hidden clues, cross-referencing names or number plates to a complete database, uncovering a chemical composition, or helping to defuse a bomb. Regardless of what the task at hand is, you do it all through this computer system.

It's a brilliantly crafted system with plenty of depth and variety. {Bureau 81} keeps you on your toes by presenting frequently unique puzzles, challenges, and mechanics, many of which are used once and then unfortunately never touched on again, to ensure that despite the limited visual offering you are always engaged. The puzzles are also intricately balanced in such a way that you never feel overwhelmed or confused when cracking them. They are each designed to be quite straightforward to overcome, albeit with a bit of ingenuity applied, and if you do get stuck, there's a hint system to help point you in the right direction. I do think that {Bureau 81} is a bit too lenient on puzzle solutions in the sense that you can't really get things wrong, as the game will tell you if you mess something up. This takes a bit of the sting out of the experience, but you can see why this is the case, and that's because at the heart of {The Operator} is a very complex and twisting conspiracy narrative.

This game is made to be played once and once only as there are a multitude of plot twists along the way. I won't spoil them here, but as you continue working through the story, you notice that there are increasing connections between the unique cases you're attached to, you discover harrowing information about yourself, the FDI, and the cyber criminal HAL, and who to trust becomes a much more complex and confusing task. It's very Cold War in many senses, and {Bureau 81} has done a brilliant job at weaving a delicate and consistently unravelling story that never fails to surprise.

The fully voiced dialogue and the various mechanics and software that you are constantly introduced to work wonders for improving the immersive qualities of this game, and frankly you won't want to stop playing, especially as the plot twists begin to take effect. Never has the concept of being the guy in the chair, the supporting star backing up the lead, been so enthralling. That's likely partly down to the fact that {The Operator} doesn't overstay its welcome either, with a length of around four hours, meaning you can easily blast through this game in a sitting or two. Yes, as I mentioned earlier, it's not really replayable at all, but it doesn't need to be. This is a coherent and hugely entertaining puzzle project that offers a few basic and simple systems and mechanics and then refines them to great heights.

The best words I can possibly use to describe {The Operator} is that never once during my playthrough of this game did I wish I was on the other end of the phone call, in the heat of the action in the field, ducking under gunshots and evading danger. {Bureau 81} has somehow made being Alfred more exciting than being Batman...