The Operator

In The Operator, you take the role of a federal agency worker, solving a mysterious chain of disappearances.

Let's start with the looks, huh? Despite the seemingly modern UI, the game is actually set in 1992. I would have appreciated more of a retro style, fitting the era, as the look The Operator ended up setting on is a bit confusing, and so did the technologies we use throughout the gameplay. I really enjoyed all the video sequences, though: you can see it's pretty low-poly Blender, but thanks to cleverly chosen effects, it looks great!

There's one more issue I found with the game's style, which I can't be 100% sure about, but I feel the need to say it: all the portraits look AI-generated. More specifically, straight from thispersondoesnotexist.com. However, I wouldn't say it's a big deal. Bureau 81 is an solo dev, and it's his debut game, so I'd cut him some slack, especially considering it was made before the generative AI crisis.

The Operator has pretty good voice acting, which is important, considering how much you listen to phone calls in this game. I especially enjoyed Troy Holden's portrayal of agent Walker. You might not like that guy immediately, but you'll definitely get attached later!

The game's plot revolves around a series of missing person cases, that all seem to lead to the same conspiracy. Whether it's aliens or some government project, you're about to find out. The game suggests you have a choice, to be an obedient government employee or to uncover the truth, however shady your methods may be. It's not true. As you might expect, only one of those ways actually progresses the plot. I don't mind it, though: as much as I like "oblivious poster boy" runs in such games, it wouldn't really work here.

I loved The Operator's plot and its main mystery. It felt like being a part of a really good detective series: a little cheesy at time, and not without the genre's cliches, but those only bring a special sort of charm to it. One of the twists (I'm not going to tell which one, I'll just say: cat) totally blew my mind. One of main ones was way too corny, though. Seriously, "The Organization"? Capital T "Them"? I don't think we could go more generic at this point. I really enjoyed the ending, though.

The gameplay is simple yet engaging. All the programs like Human DB or chemical analysis tools really make you feel like an advanced investigator, and digging through the files and finally finding evidence feels really satisfying. There are also several moments with special mechanics, like a "Keep talking and nobody explodes"-like sequence!

There is only one thing to complain about, gameplay-wise: despite overall good quality, The Operator is pretty buggy. At one point of my playthrough, crucial dialogue disappeared entirely, which really took me out of the gameplay and left me unable to solve the case until I reloaded the day. I also got softlocked due to input bugs a couple of times.

Overall, The Operator is a solid investigation sim. You just have to pretend it takes place a little later in time to really believe it. I'd recommend it to anyone who's a fan of procedural drama!

And I'll keep doing my job.