RIOT: Civil Unrest

Riot: Civil Unrest has the look and feel a good RTS with entertaining yet challenging gameplay sections, but it all feels a bit weird when considering a) these sections are based on real events, and b) that the gameplay is fun and entertaining, but really only when you play as the protesters.

RIOT: Civil Unrest is a protest simulator, between the NO TAV movement, Indignados e Tahrir square, but it is also a very poor RTS.

Translating civil unrest with all its implications into a videogame was not easy. Unfortunately RIOT manages to do that only in part, lacking in narrative and struggling to explain its complex situations to the player.

The direction in art and story is the high point in RIOT – Civil Unrest for sure. It helps depict these events, and teach the player about them – most of them I’d never heard of, but now I feel like I’ve learnt a bit about each. It’s grim and effective in that regard, but its gameplay really lets it down. RIOT – Civil Unrest‘s captivating art style and audio design is worth paying a visit to, and the game has some great ideas, but poor UI design, buggy AI and gameplay glitches really dampen the experience.

After six long years of waiting, RIOT: Civil Unrest fails to tell riots. And that's not funny.

Riot: Civil Unrest attempts to depict complex socio-political upheavals in an extremely unengaging and unintuitive manner, to the point that these events lose their impact in video game form.