September 27, 2004
I must be an idiot. – [games]
The debate rages on: Grand Text Auto » Take Back Illinois. It's a political debate, with little discussion about the game itself.
I've tried playing the game, and I have to admit defeat. Before I know it, the game is over and I don't have a clue what I was supposed to do. Clive Thompson at collision detection seems to get it. He writes: "It's incredibly cool, and possibly one of the best political games I've ever seen."
I click on the people. Sometimes I can order them to see a doctor. This has something to do with how close they are to a hospital, but not always. (The menus for making this selection are tiny, and it is easy to click the wrong place. Often, this will select a different person, which is quite annoying.)
Sometimes, when I give someone an order, they walk to the left side of the screen and then out of the city completely.
Meanwhile, time keeps ticking by. If, as is strongly suggested by the partisan materials surrounding this "game", I lower the "Maximum non-economic damages" amount -- whatever that is??? -- it takes away from my game time. And that seems to be a bad thing, because as time passes, the hospitals start closing down, and as far as I can tell, when you run out of hospitals the game is over.
There, I've played again. I thought things were going well, but no, out of nowhere... Game Over!
So, what am I missing about this thing? Am I an idiot, or is there a bit of pandering going on?
[Of course, the best thing about Take Back Illinois Game is the high score list...
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