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After finding out that one of the "Narrative Designers" for this game is a guy i find obnoxious on twitter, it made me think more about the biggest failure of this game's plot. (not saying it was his fault or that he had any hand in this, though)
I really didn't like how in a story about the loss of agency and freedom at the claws of capitalism, labor exploitation and the dystopic future, the choice to join the unionization efforts is made for you. You don't get to talk it out with Lou, show interest and a willingness in fighting for better working conditions and a dignified living, she simply adds you to the Union Newsletter on like, your second day on the job, which apart from being a gross violation of operational security, ironically takes away your agency and any sort of weight this represents. I get that this is because you're a blank slate silent protagonist, and the only choices you get to make is your savegame name and the kind of pain grunt sounds you make, but it just makes this sort of plot all the more alienating.
I find that the games that have you doing meaningful acts, for better and for worse, are more powerful if you have the capacity to do the opposite. I find that, for example, becoming a communist in Disco Elysium is made more meaningful because you can just as easily be a neolib, a fascist or simply wallow in your own insanity, but you carved your way into class consciousness and infighting, and enjoy the kind of character you made.
This is not the case in Hardspace.
Another thing that really irked me was how at the end, after having fought the corporation through Industrial Action and the Union reps having gotten to the bargaining table, instead of fighting in any way for safer working conditions for the shipbreakers (take care of the active fusion reactors on the ships before processing, make sure the rooms are not pressurized, no fuel or coolant on board, etc.) they simply demand that they be exempted from the ban on the human cloning scheme, which is being outlawed for "human rights violations". And YES, I get that this is because there's an endgame with you paying off your contract and flying away on your fixer upper ship that you need to work towards, but it's putting the gameplay before the plot, in a game that already has an endless mode. I really do consider that this plot is so bad it actively detracts from the experience, moreso than the unexplicably unskippable audio calls, in a relatively mindless gameplay loop kind of game.
I really didn't like how in a story about the loss of agency and freedom at the claws of capitalism, labor exploitation and the dystopic future, the choice to join the unionization efforts is made for you. You don't get to talk it out with Lou, show interest and a willingness in fighting for better working conditions and a dignified living, she simply adds you to the Union Newsletter on like, your second day on the job, which apart from being a gross violation of operational security, ironically takes away your agency and any sort of weight this represents. I get that this is because you're a blank slate silent protagonist, and the only choices you get to make is your savegame name and the kind of pain grunt sounds you make, but it just makes this sort of plot all the more alienating.
I find that the games that have you doing meaningful acts, for better and for worse, are more powerful if you have the capacity to do the opposite. I find that, for example, becoming a communist in Disco Elysium is made more meaningful because you can just as easily be a neolib, a fascist or simply wallow in your own insanity, but you carved your way into class consciousness and infighting, and enjoy the kind of character you made.
This is not the case in Hardspace.
Another thing that really irked me was how at the end, after having fought the corporation through Industrial Action and the Union reps having gotten to the bargaining table, instead of fighting in any way for safer working conditions for the shipbreakers (take care of the active fusion reactors on the ships before processing, make sure the rooms are not pressurized, no fuel or coolant on board, etc.) they simply demand that they be exempted from the ban on the human cloning scheme, which is being outlawed for "human rights violations". And YES, I get that this is because there's an endgame with you paying off your contract and flying away on your fixer upper ship that you need to work towards, but it's putting the gameplay before the plot, in a game that already has an endless mode. I really do consider that this plot is so bad it actively detracts from the experience, moreso than the unexplicably unskippable audio calls, in a relatively mindless gameplay loop kind of game.
This review contains spoilers
actually i hadn't completed it on the last entry, now i did. it's really good on the gameplay department but it really loses me on the story, it comes off as very rushed, and even with the positive, pro-union message, it's done so poorly it's unbelievable.
I mean, first off, since your character has no interaction options, characters sometimes do stuff on your behalf, which is most evident when your co-worker, Lou, signs you up for the Union newsletter on your second day, which is really stupid to do from the standpoint of being risky for the Union, since they do not know what alliegances or values the protag might have off the bat (or if they're likely to be very easily pressured into giving them up, like how it happened with Kai), and also to involve somebody with the union who is not informed about the potential risk of even being caught with union messaging and not immediately reporting it is insanely dumb.
Then, at a time where the Union is being ACTIVELY TARGETED, to the point of sending in managers to investigate work crews, they publish a newsletter entry with Lou's full name and position in the company.
Then, at the end, when the Union gets a foothold into negotiations with the Company, they both trigger a policy change to ban the clones the company used in lieu of providing any sort of safeguards for the workers, and also make it so they are exempt from the cloning ban, INSTEAD of, again, providing the workers with any safeguards whatsoever.
I get that they wanted to give the game a post-end stage, but in an (ideally) story-driven mode, it would be kind of wanted to have it changing the gameplay. So, for example, you'd have less hazards in the ships, shorter shifts and less stringent quotas, at the cost of maybe for example nerfing your tools so that it would be harder to say, have a seat fly into your helmet at terminal velocity. Fuck it, you have a Freeplay mode already.
i know, it's a small indie studio and they probably would have to put dozens, if not hundreds of hours into implementing even one of my suggestions, but it would've been a much better game without the half baked plot put into it.
I mean, first off, since your character has no interaction options, characters sometimes do stuff on your behalf, which is most evident when your co-worker, Lou, signs you up for the Union newsletter on your second day, which is really stupid to do from the standpoint of being risky for the Union, since they do not know what alliegances or values the protag might have off the bat (or if they're likely to be very easily pressured into giving them up, like how it happened with Kai), and also to involve somebody with the union who is not informed about the potential risk of even being caught with union messaging and not immediately reporting it is insanely dumb.
Then, at a time where the Union is being ACTIVELY TARGETED, to the point of sending in managers to investigate work crews, they publish a newsletter entry with Lou's full name and position in the company.
Then, at the end, when the Union gets a foothold into negotiations with the Company, they both trigger a policy change to ban the clones the company used in lieu of providing any sort of safeguards for the workers, and also make it so they are exempt from the cloning ban, INSTEAD of, again, providing the workers with any safeguards whatsoever.
I get that they wanted to give the game a post-end stage, but in an (ideally) story-driven mode, it would be kind of wanted to have it changing the gameplay. So, for example, you'd have less hazards in the ships, shorter shifts and less stringent quotas, at the cost of maybe for example nerfing your tools so that it would be harder to say, have a seat fly into your helmet at terminal velocity. Fuck it, you have a Freeplay mode already.
i know, it's a small indie studio and they probably would have to put dozens, if not hundreds of hours into implementing even one of my suggestions, but it would've been a much better game without the half baked plot put into it.
Really solid gameplay loop, very good for playing while listening to a podcast. My one issue with this is that the story is heavily advanced through unskippable cutscenes in your home area, and it has you standing around for 5 minutes, unable to check your mail, upgrades or anything else. I think it's reasonable to think that the story could invariably keep playing while you're doing the relatively mindless gameplay.