The Operator review

• Reviews by Johnny Nys
• Published:

Desk-bound mystery lacks a little agency but is otherwise a smooth, slick conspiracy techno-thriller

There is something alluring about being the “person in the chair.” You know, the sidekick who sits in an office, bedroom or basement somewhere, staying in constant contact with the protagonist of the story and helping them achieve great feats of heroism by doing most of the work for them. You never get the glory, but you do get to play with all kinds of IT-related gadgets while snooping around databases, at a safe distance from anything more dangerous than itchy eyes, neck strains, back problems, and finger cramps.

Bureau 81, developer of The Operator, has done a good job of creating what at first glance appears to be a law enforcement simulation game where you take on the role of a dispatcher. Faced with all sorts of tasks, you are not aiding some vigilante here, but are rather on the payroll of the Federal Department of Intelligence, helping field agents progress in their active cases. While you’ll spend most of your time at your desk, the gameplay is highly entertaining and rewarding, the computer terminal interface quite realistic, and the voice acting cheesily reminiscent of television crime shows.

Before long, however, you’ll discover this is not really a simulation at all, as behind the virtual screen hides a deeper cyberthriller. There’s a clear story being told here, and it’s a very intriguing and suspenseful one, though its linearity and the lack of player decisions that actually matter take away some of that fun. Everything you encounter is connected to the larger narrative, which hardly seems realistic. I would have preferred handling a couple more side cases as well, taking more advantage of all the gameplay elements The Operator has to offer.

You play as Evan Tanner, a real character with his own life, habits and way of words. Evan works for the FDI, which seemed to me like a combination of FBI and CIA. You are not exactly a spy, but at times it feels like it. During your work day, you will get a number of calls from agents in the field requesting information, or even asking for help to assess evidence. You have access to several police databases and other applications with which you can enhance video imagery and examine data. Your assignments include such things as looking up a suspect’s address by tracking down a license plate number, finding inconsistencies in statements, analysing a chemical compound, and even providing support to defuse a bomb.

It’s all fun and games until suddenly your computer crashes and a green skull made up of letters and symbols adorns your screen. Next thing you know, you are chatting with a hacker named HAL. The hacker showing up is foreshadowed on The Operator’s various store pages, where parts of the game’s description have been replaced with strange code, hinting that something is amiss at the FDI. But even without advanced warning, it felt inevitable. After all, the plot in games like this (think of the Orwell series, the Cyber Manhunt games, and even Acolyte) is quite predictable: At one point your system will be broken into by an outsider, you’ll discover that things are not what they seem, and it’ll be up to you to uncover the evil conspiracy behind it all. So, no real surprises here, either.

While the premise might be considered clichéd, its execution here is still very much enjoyable. The way this story is presented feels like you are going through a visual novel, or watching an interactive movie, except from a first-person perspective with nothing but Evan’s computer screen in view. (At least during working hours. More on Evan’s evenings later.) The way the job of an operator works is like this: You will be asked a question by an agent in the field. They will call you up in a live chat, their profile picture appearing at the top right of the screen. You will hear them talk, and what they say is transcribed on your screen as well. Evan himself isn’t voiced, but you can reply by choosing between several dialogue options. Your responses don’t really impact the overall story, however. They simply exist to offer you the chance to personalise the main character.

It is the same with your interactions with HAL. I was disappointed that the game didn’t allow me to defy the hacker if I wanted. When offered a deal, in which I would be provided with information needed for an ongoing investigation that had reached a dead end if I would do something for HAL in return, there were indeed some dialogue options that let me refuse, but they were just for show. As the conversation continued, finally the only option left was to agree. So either I had to do exactly as HAL told me, or quit playing, I guess.

In fact, there doesn’t seem to be much replay value in The Operator. Everything is always the same. The only time I noticed a different outcome was when I had to save an agent from being blown up by a bomb. But even there, with several bomb types explained in the defusing manual, it is always the same one instead of being randomized, which should have been very possible. And other than being yelled at by your superior if you fail, or unlocking an extra achievement if you succeed, it doesn’t affect the rest of the story either way.

The Operator

Genre:	Mystery
Presentation:	Slideshow
Theme:	Technology
Perspective:	First-Person
Graphic Style:	Photorealism
Gameplay:	Research, Simulation
Control:	Point-and-click
Game Length:	Short (1-5 hours)
Difficulty:	Low

Hacker HAL isn’t voiced either, communicating only by typing. What I found a nice touch is how HAL types live on Evan’s screen, mistakes and all. You can actually see them spell a word wrong, hit backspace and then type it right. The voice-overs that are present might sound a bit cheesy, but the actors succeeded in bringing characters to life that are otherwise known only through static profile pics. I had no trouble envisioning them going about their business on the other end of the line.

The characters themselves seem to come right out of a television crime series. Agent Pendell is a rookie, straight from the academy. She’s a very civilized, by-the-book type of agent, lacking the grit of experience and often surprised by what she encounters. Agent Walker, on the other hand, is a veteran who tells it like it is, not afraid to insult, yell and complain. Your supervisor Skinner is a dry pencil pusher, though very bossy when he needs to be, and hesitant when you ask for more information. Director Trench is actually an old friend of Evan who’s having a hard time dealing with you in a professional manner. He’s very jovial, quick to laugh and reminisce about old times, and comes across more as an old drinking buddy than the big boss of the agency.

When you are helping a field agent, their question will appear at the top of your screen. The agent will give you access to some combination of documents, videos, photos, and sound files. The user-friendly interface allows you to search through those files, perhaps use some applications on your computer to hunt for the answer, and then when you think you have found it, you can click the question at the top and then click the on-screen text you think corresponds best with the answer. If you get an answer wrong, the game will indicate an error but there are no further repercussions, so it’s possible to brute force the solution. But you can also ask your supervisor for help by clicking the question mark that appears next to the agent’s assignment. This will open up a direct line to Skinner and he will offer advice. It’s a nice touch, but personally I found it quite unnecessary considering the low level of difficulty.

The Operator takes place across four in-game days, which took me three and a half hours to finish. The game saves automatically at both the start and midway point of each day, which is okay for the beginning of the game when things are still pretty straightforward and easy. But I still missed a manual save function in the second half, when the cases get more complicated and take more time.

When Evan leaves for home in the evening, you follow his movements through stylized arthouse cutscenes. The visuals here are limited to a black screen continually overlaid with hazy blobs of colored light. Listening to the sound effects that accompany them, you can piece together exactly what is happening, which varies somewhat each night: the humming office lights, the elevator call button, outside traffic, a subway, Evan’s cat, his microwave and television set, his buzzing alarm clock in the morning, his shower and wash basin, and finally ending up back to work. You never actually see any of these things in detail, but it’s very obvious what is being hinted at, and I quite admire the technique used, even if they can run on a little long. And without spoiling too much, the ambiguity even serves a function later on during actual gameplay.

Another nice audio touch is that, while Evan is working at his computer, you can hear crowd noises from the other people in his office. When you delve deeper into a case, that chatter will be replaced by music. This accompanying soundtrack, which starts out very subtly with soft pianos and violins, will quicken and elevate in volume and sometimes even add choir vocals when you open up the right document where the answer to a question can be found, indicating that you are moving in the right direction. When things really start to get ugly, or important secrets are completely revealed, you might even notice some bombastic Hans Zimmer influences, the music getting your adrenaline rushing and completely pulling you into this techno-thriller.

The over-arching plot builds in momentum and intrigue as you progress, but in between are the various case assignments to support FDI agents in the field. The first one you’ll work on concerns a homicide in a bar, where you have to identify the killer. Another involves a woman that went missing for a month and testifies upon her return that she was abducted by aliens, requiring you to punch a hole in that theory. There’s also an accidental house fire you need to prove was actually arson, and a grave in the middle of the desert with a skeleton you have to identify. It’s an interesting mix that keeps the narrative feeling fresh.

As engaging and immersive as The Operator’s story is, I still had ambiguous feelings about it. While it all fits together perfectly, everything serving a greater purpose, the plot thickened a bit too fast to my liking. Scouring for clues, identifying victims, and connecting the dots is lots of fun in its own right, and I didn’t get to enjoy being a simple operator enough. I wanted to search more databases, scan more video images, look for more clues and make more connections between pieces of evidence. Of course, this attests to the fact that the gameplay is so good, I simply wanted more of it all!

Final Verdict

While the artsy cutscenes might seem like nothing but filler, this desktop investigation game kept me thoroughly entertained. Not only is the story thrilling, if predictable in its major beats, but it’s complemented by different gameplay elements with which you, as the person in the chair, become crucial to your team's success. It’s a shame you can’t spend more time with all your tech toys in extra cases that aren’t linked to the main story. I would definitely welcome a more sandboxy type of sequel or DLC, without a big conspiracy to uncover but just a bunch of standalone cases you as The Operator help solve. As it is, the emphasis lies on delivering a taut, intriguing cyberthriller that is highly linear but very well put together, and is sure to leave lots of gamers wanting more.

Johnny played The Operator on PC using a review code provided by the game's publisher.