Public Enemy

People have come up with many different ways our society could go wrong in the future, especially when it comes to technology. However, the scariest of them all are those that envision totalitarian regimes lead by cruel people, like in the classic 1984 written by George Orwell. Hence, it’s interesting to think about a world where man’s worst enemy is another man.

Public Enemy is a first-person stealth game in which your goal is to start a revolution by opening people’s eyes, although that’s easier said than done. The whole game is based on classic gameplay mechanics, such as sneaking around, crouching and avoiding the enemy at all costs. However, there are some new ideas in there as well, some of which are quite innovative.

As such, your greatest obstacles are the guards, and there are multiple types of guards you have to watch out for. They come in different colors, and they all have certain routines you have to follow around them. Hence, some require you to look down whenever you are in their line of sight, while others enforce crouching as a way to walk. You can sprint past them to avoid all these, but it doesn’t work all the time.

The end goal is to start a revolution, and in order to do that you have to fill a progress bar. This is achieved by performing various mischievous deeds, such as drawing graffiti on blank walls or destroying statues when the guards are distracted. You can also amuse yourself by sticking fish on the back of the guards when they are occupied with something else.

Lastly, the great thing about Public Enemy is that it plays very smoothly, in the sense that you do not have to learn anything too complicated. However, the gameplay is very challenging and alert, since there’s always a guard with his eyes on you. Even if the graphics are blocky and not very detailed, you can have a lot of fun with the game under the right circumstances.

In the end, Public Enemy is quite the achievement, even if it doesn’t feature an awful lot of content. On the other hand, the gameplay mechanics are engaging enough to keep you playing for a while, not to mention the fact that it’s quite challenging as well.