The Negotiator

The story is very gripping. I thought it was really cool how the concept of a hostage negotiation over the phone was turned into an interactive audio format.

The tension remained high right to the end, and every decision really kept you on the edge of your seat.

This negotiation story was actively pulling me in from the very first decision. I liked the many ways to approach the process and how I could build a relationship with the gunman through conversing. Despite the setting, I didn’t have a feeling that I was being rushed too much. The emotion put into voice over was great and added a lot to the story’s flow.

Apparently, I’m not really good at negotiations (I got one of the supposedly worse endings🙃) but this was a truly thrilling negotiation story experience!

The Negotiator is about, you guessed it, a negotiator! Maria Martinez is her name. She is sent to a bank robbery to negotiate with an armed gunman. The choices you make determine the outcome of these negotiations.

As a player, I enjoyed the tactics required to make the right choices and make sure everyone got out of the bank alive. The stakes were extremely high and any wrong move would have ended in bloodshed.

All in all, the tactical nature of the story and the risk-factor behind every presentation of choices made for satisfying ride.

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.