The Negotiator

While the narrative and choices felt meaningful, I would have loved to have the option to read and listen at the same time! Including different voice actors for different lines and some background music or sound effects would have made it feel more immersive.

I really liked the way you could try to bond with the suspect. Having a more emotionally troubled person rather than someone familiar with organized crime as an antagonist made the conversation feel more open. The emotional stakes were indeed very high for me, as I not only tried to save the hostages but the suspect as well.

For being honest and cooperative, I felt very rewarded by getting the opportunity to save everyone, and by strengthening the trust of the suspect, I also got rewarded throughout the story.

This was an interesting format in a closed narrative, and while I think it would be possible to make another episode, I am happy that this is a one-time experience, as for me all the important topics of a successful negotiation were discussed within this story. I also really liked that we got the chance to find out something more about Officer Martinez’s backstory and could even bond with the suspect through that.

The only thing the quality of the story could have been improved would have been some sound effects or ambiences to underline scenes, in which the suspense suddenly rises. Through only the voice it was a little bit difficult to exactly know what is at stake. -Still I liked the way the insecure voice of the suspect was handeled.

This was an intense, emotional story. The choices really felt meaningful, especially for such a high-stakes negotiation. Like others have mentioned, the voice acting could be stronger, but it doesn’t take away from how cool and engaging the story is overall.

I really loved the game itself. Knowing that my choices could result in the deaths of the hostages made it incredibly engaging and emotional. Freeing every hostage felt rewarding, and I was so relieved when I managed to get everyone out alive. This is one of the games where the responsibility really weighs on you, and making each choice makes you tense while you wait for the consequences.

However, I think that choosing a non-native English speaker for a voice actor was not ideal. I’m saying it as someone who loves accents and finds them beautiful — an interactive audiostory is one of the very few contexts where an accent is inappropriate. It took me out of the story, made it harder to focus, the mispronounced words and the name of the robber constantly pulled my attention away from the narrative. And don’t get me wrong, the voice acting was good, it would just have been so much better in the actor’s native language.

This is a suspenseful negotiation, where you have the lives of people in your hands. It is your choices, that decide what happens, making every choice feel important. The interactive format is definately a fitting choice for this kind of story.