Dystopian Video Editing in Full Release!

I'm always on the lookout for quirky games that offer up something different from the usual buffet of shooty/stabby games.  Several years ago, I came across Not for Broadcast, a game where you play the role of a video editor/producer for a fictional British news channel.  Even though it was in early access and wasn't complete, it had novel gameplay and a surprisingly good story.  Thanks to the pandemic, the full release of the game took considerably longer than what was originally intended, but now that the entire game is available, I wanted to update my review.

Pros:

+ The gameplay is deceptively easy, but to be truly good at it you need to be able to multi-task like a master.  Each segment is scored on an A-F scale--earning an A+ means that you have to make sure that you're keeping the shots interesting (by not remaining on one for more than 10 seconds and making sure that you're keeping the camera on whoever is talking), that you've avoided any potential interference, and that you've censored any naughty words that frequently fly out of the mouths of the many colorful guests on the show.

+ The story is well-balanced.  Parts of it are completely silly and they balance out the very serious undertone of the main story--the rise of a new political faction, called Advance, that has instituted a plan to "redistribute" the assets of the most wealthy members of society and create a more "equal" system.  Of course, not everyone is happy about the changes brought on by the new government and a radical opposition group plots to destroy the new system.

+ The acting is surprisingly good.  The main anchors--Jeremy and Megan in particular are a lot of fun and have very different personalities.  There's a lot of over-the-top goofiness and satire in the game, but the more serious moments are what stand out.  My personal favorite moment was with Stacey, the moody, foul-mouthed teenager.  At one point she shockingly defends Advance--it's totally unexpected and oddly powerful.

+ The choices you make impact the story and characters.  There are an amazing 14 epilogues with different endings.  That's a lot of replayability.  There are also text-based interludes between editing segments where you make story choices that have the potential to impact the story (these are much improved and fleshed out in the full release).

+ The full release has added in a challenge mode that offers up collectible items as a reward.  You have to edit specific segments with particularly tough variables thrown in--mega-interference, buttons that zap you (and you can only get zapped so many times), and many others.  I briefly tried it and it was pretty difficult.

+ There are lots of additional, fun features.  After you've completed a segment you can watch the entire broadcast and see your edits or you can view and listen to the "rushes"--everything that was going on off-camera to hear additional commentary and get some additional story elements from the characters in the game.

Cons:

- At the time I am writing this (about 2 weeks after the full release), there have been crashing issues.  I had them several times--the game would randomly crash to desktop at the end of a segment.  This really sucks because of the fact that the game only saves at specific points and you have to go back and replay the entire segment (and some segments can be almost 15 minutes long).  Hopefully with time this issue gets better.  There have already been some small fixes and patches.

Recommendation:

Not for Broadcast is a unique game that offers up challenging gameplay and a choice-filled story that manages to balance seriousness with absolutely zany goofiness.  If you're in the market for something different to play, I would highly recommend grabbing it.  The full release has only seen it get better and offer up even more of what was already very good.