I for one love Microsoft`s Game Preview Program. It gives independent developers the scale to develop their game and allow fans to give feedback throughout the production period. A few games have taken part in the program the past year, with games that are yet to be fully released like The Solus Project and Ark: Survival Evolved, to games that have been part of the program and have had their full game release such as Layers of Fear, Prison Architect is the next game to jump into Microsoft`s program, as they bring their hit to next-gen consoles.
Prison Architect was released for the PC back in October 2015, when it`s developers ran a very successful kick-starter campaign, that got them on course to be one of the best-selling and most anticipated games of 2015. Making over 10 million for the Alpha-state version, it was no surprise when it was announced that Introversion Software, announced that they would be taking the game to next-gen, as part of Microsoft`s Xbox Preview Program. The preview program is designed for games to be played at an alpha state, and allow fans feedback to enhance and develop the game before it is release as a fully-fledged game. Priced at £19.99, you`ll be getting a game that will be developed and enhanced over time through updates and patches, into what is a cracking program to be part of and involved in, especially for the ID developers.
So, let`s get down to Prison Architect. Prison Architect is a sandbox-style game, where you have complete control of your very own prison (Think of Rollercoaster Tycoon, and Zoo Tycoon, both sandbox style games). You can either build one from scratch, or you can build a pre-built basic one, and add bits and pieces onto it. There is a tutorial to that you can first under-take (and I`d recommend it, otherwise you`ll go in blind fire not knowing what to do, I found it very different to other Sandbox games). The 5 tutorial missions will take you through the basics of the game, such as prison management and building and developing your prison. What you need in a prisoner`s room, the finance of a prison, rioting control, the lot you will find out about it. Get yourself indulged in a not too long tutorial period before you start hitting the main part of the game.
One thing you will notice pretty much from the off of creating your very own San Quentin, is the vast array of creativity you have at your thumbs and controller. You can choose to put your prisoners in a nice luxurious cell, or throw them into the pits of hell and torture. As I have already said, you have huge control over the prison, and you`ll need to work out your finances to make sure you have enough happy staff to control the whole prison. Want to go for a massive prison? Then you`ll need to make sure you budget and plan wisely so that you have staff all over the place. At the start of the game you can control what you`d like finance wise, whether to start off with the lowest cash possible and source all your money through income, or to give you that sugar daddy status and unlimited cash (Although it does warn you that playing with unlimited money will void achievements when the full game is released). You can also from the management menu arrange to hire in speciality staff such as firefighters or riot controllers to take care of any incident. You`ll see it all in this, and if you`ve seen any prison documentaries, you`ll see how mental and violent some prisons can be, especially in US state prisons.
I think it`s very difficult to review something that is still within the Alpha stage of its production. It still has no official release or completion date yet, so over the course of the next few weeks or months we will see updates and patches to fix bugs and anything else (although I can`t say I`ve found any major game breaking bug so far).
Personally, I`d wonder what the longetivitiy for a game like this could be, as the only real task you are fitted with is running a Prison. There isn’t a story attached to the main game, and although you have complete control over what you do, there isn’t a story to entice you into it further. Although that is critical of me seeing that most sandbox games i.e. Rollercoaster Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon also fill the characteristics of having complete control from something at scratch, and not having a main backbone story to accompany it.
I will find myself indulged in Prison Architect as they bring out new updates, features, all of which to enhance the game, and although it may take a while to get the hang of (Although follow the tutorial, you will be alright), it does tend out to be quite a fun game. The team at Introversion Software have done a fantastic job in it, and I think with the Game Preview Program, they could be on for a real winner.
A huge thank you to XCN for supplying us with a Review copy.
