Government agents are abundantly featured as protagonists in video games, but it’s usually the ones draped in camo behind enemy lines and not their well-dressed co-workers back in the office pushing pencils and refilling the printers with fresh toner. The medium’s bias for bullets and bombs frequently forsakes the latter in favor of the former. The Operator, however, flips the script by being a narrative-heavy adventure game starring a federal operative that withholds the firearms and bombast but not the thrills the genre thrives on.
And it almost all happens exclusively behind a virtual computer screen. The Operator pulls heavily from Sam Barlow’s Her Story, as players take the role of an operator at the fictional Federal Department of Intelligence and comb through all sorts of evidence to get the job done. Analyzing records and cross-examining various pieces of data are key to getting to the bottom of each case.
Needing to study details while simultaneously still keeping the bigger picture in mind makes The Operator’s varied puzzles incredibly engaging. The majority of these missions are thankfully laid out in digestible steps to avoid information overload and have clear objectives like identifying a suspect or finding a code to a locked door. It doesn’t highlight key bits of information like many other games, placing the onus on the user to parse out the important bits to make victory taste all the sweeter.
The Operator's Puzzles Are Excellently Tuned
Given the sheer amount of possible data points, it’s nearly impossible to brute force solutions, so there’s little value in relying on unearned shortcuts. Many of the files also require players to think outside the box and remember certain aspects of past assignments to progress, which not only ties it all together narratively but also rewards those following along. Incorrect guesses generally don’t carry a penalty, but its overall slick design means that randomly throwing darts at the target isn’t ever necessary.
The Operator’s intuitive puzzles mean it doesn't lose momentum, a facet exemplified by its well-implemented hint system. Assistance is just one button press away and has fellow agents slyly gesturing at the next step in a gradual fashion that lets players progress without robbing them of the satisfaction that comes with cracking the case. There is one timed mission that locks hints and has a ludicrously convoluted set of clues, but it’s the exception that demonstrates how smooth the rest of the puzzles are.
The Operator Is Full of Well-Crafted Conspiracies
All of these puzzles have greater meaning by being delicately woven into the many conspiracies featured in The Operator’s plot. The intrigue that’s at the very core of each individual case only grows when put into the context of the one before it. Tugging on one thread reveals or recontextualizes another, and The Operator uses this setup to ensure that there’s always more to uncover and ponder about. The thoughtfully designed gameplay systems make piecing a case together mechanically rewarding, while the fruits of that labor are narratively rewarding. It’s a cohesive, dual-layered process that’s cleverly built around giving players an active role in the story.
Despite the few indicators that imply otherwise, players don’t get too active of a role since the choices it presents are often illusions that funnel into the same beats. While the specter of a branching adventure with multiple routes or fail states is alluring, the quality of the critical path is more than enough to compensate. The cold open may prematurely dampen one surprise, but its other twists are foreshadowed well, consistently doled out, and easy to understand. It doesn’t waste time and makes every one of these scenes important, something that is especially vital for a thriller.
Developer Bureau 81’s ability to file The Operator down to its best components and focus solely on what works is its biggest asset. It’s not a bloated campaign with an equal balance of tacky and tactful puzzles. Instead, it’s a taut collection of cases that work in tandem to create a gripping adventure that encourages savvy problem-solving. It’s all cushy desk work, but The Operator makes examining phone records and enhancing grainy security camera footage just as exciting as tiptoeing through an enemy base with a silenced pistol.
The Operator
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 78 /100 Critics Rec: 69%
- Released
- July 22, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Use of Tobacco, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Bureau 81
- Publisher(s)
- Bureau 81, Indienova
WHERE TO PLAY
Welcome to the FDI, Mr Tanner.
Time to clear your head, work through your hangover and start your first day as an Operator. There are plenty of cases to solve. Assist our field agents using your computer console and ingenuity to bring criminals to justice. Ready to make the world a better place?
Investigate Crimes: Solve cases such as murders, missing people, and cyber attacks.
Use FDI Software: Analyze evidence and find clues using cutting-edge tools.
Dig Deeper: Follow the evidence as it twists and turns, no matter where it leads.
Uncover the Truth: Each case is a mind-bending story to unravel, so take notes.
Assist Our Field Agents: When our field agents need support, they’ll call you. Help them by fact-checking, searching databases, identifying killers, and more. Each case will have evidence to evaluate, and it’s your job to dig into documents, connect the clues, and solve the mysteries.
Cutting-Edge Software: You have the finest FDI software to help with those challenging cases. Point and click through the Video and Photo Analyzer, Citizen and Vehicle Database, ChemScan, Notepad and a fully functional Terminal at any point to find out what you need.
In Truth, We Seek: To find the truth, you must follow the evidence and see where it leads, no matter how unsettling. But don’t poke into unauthori$$ed areas without first notifying your superiors {liars}.
- Genre(s)
- Simulation, Puzzle
- The narrative is tightly paced and has some unexpected twists
- Each puzzle is unique and tests the player's investigative skills
- The diegetic hint system ensures users don't get stuck
- The cold open hampers one of the later reveals
The Operator launches July 22 for PC. The Best War Games was provided with a PC code for this review.