The Occupation

An original and intriguing stealth puzzler that will test your investigative skills.

The Occupation brilliantly blends elaborate levels, breadcrumb-chasing, gotcha journalism, and a politically-charged drama to become one of 2019's most interesting games. It deftly adapts to the many successes and failures you can have and always leaves the clues in the open for those with a keen eye, rarely holding your hand. It's ironic that a game that so smartly builds urgency through strict time limits would've done better with some extra time of its own in the studio, but the bugs I saw can't prevent The Occupation from being the game I won't stop talking about this year.

The Occupation is the sort of game you'll find yourself thinking about when you're not playing it, that gets under your skin in ways you didn't even realize. I'm going to play it again. Maybe this time I'll completely crack the case.

The Occupation is a serious and well crafted first-person thriller dripping with nuance and subtleties. It excels in its voice acting and ambient audio, as well as letting the player test their investigative skills without holding their hand. It does, however, suffer from incredibly long load times, awkward climbing and crouching mechanics, and a narrative that can be difficult to follow. If you are looking for guns and explosions, this isn’t the game for you, but if you love solving puzzles and the pressure of a looming time limit, this might just be the occupation for you.

I really love The Occupation and what the team behind it have managed to create. The great story, in an amazing universe, has been brilliantly written and performed. The downside though is that the actual gameplay – you know, the important bit – isn’t quite right, even after the patches have dropped. It is this which has caused huge frustration, particularly in the latter parts of the game, interrupting the otherwise involving concept.

When The Occupation works, it’s a thrilling investigative adventure that allows the player freedom to explore and chase leads in a way that feels incredibly exciting. Frustrating controls can be overlooked, but unfortunately, the bugs in the game are incredibly persistent and capable of completely turning a promising experience into one that’s too annoying to go on.

As a journalistic exercise of a research work, The Occupation shows a faithful representation of the profession and presents interesting playable proposals. Pity that is lost in a myriad of questionable design decisions and errors that break the gameplay and narrative rhythm.

Over time, we have seen ideas become recycled and reskinned and we’ve become used to it. We’ve even labeled them into specific genres. The Occupation is a fresh idea that comes very close to becoming its own. It provides you with a lot of choices. I can see why it shot just at par level with its attempt to accomplish such a difficult combination of stealth and realism. There is a level of complexity that doesn’t match its easy going attitude. It’s labeled as immersive and if that was the main goal, then it has exceeded. While it’s an experience to be had, it struggles to push you into wanting more.

Despite a nice and complex scenario, and a quite original concept, The Occupation has many flaws, from many technical issues to an imperfect AI. Most players won’t see all the different endings because of this.

Despite being held back by pesky bugs, The Occupation is nonetheless an enjoyable and immersive game that handles weighty subject matter with aplomb.

The Occupation have some great ideas and the investigation mechanics are solid, but some technical issues and awful design choices drag the overall impression.