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This Is Not A Test, an interactive apocalyptic comic book, tasks you with making the right choices to survive in a world given over to chaos. Are the repeated playthroughs worth the storyline payoff?
This Is Not A Test attempts to capitalize on the trending popularity of end-of-the-world movies, TV shows, and games. It has a slick presentation: scroll down the long page of a comic book, interact with people, maybe grab or use some items, then make a choice about what to do next and flip to another page.
Some of your choices have a noticeable impact on future events — get a gun and you can fight off hostile people, otherwise you must run away — get a map and you can find your way to important places — but other decisions have an odd lack of significance, such as gaining a companion only to have them remain silent during key situations.
Your first playthrough will end in death. As will your second. And third. Trial-and-error is a very strong component of This Is Not A Test, and though each failure will glean you some insight into what you need to do next time, you’ll have to start over from scratch. Going through the early parts of the game over and over can be a real damper on your enthusiasm. Compounding things is the fact that you have to choose 3 of 6 skills when the game begins, and if you swap one for another when starting over, you might not be able to retrace the exact steps you took to get back to a choice that seems key.
Something strongly lacking in This Is Not A Test is a sense of connection. The game is fast-paced, meaning minimal text, and this unfortunately prevents you from getting to know any of the characters. The quick nature of the game is great for those replays, but means you won’t really care about any of the people you meet, even yourself. You can do some awful things to people who don’t deserve it, but you won’t even feel bad, because in your mind they’ll be one-dimensional throw-away experiences. As a result, This Is Not A Test feels like a cheap knockoff of The Walking Dead episodic game by Telltale Games, which has compelling character development and forces you to make difficult decisions, the consequences of which will stay with you.
If you don’t mind replaying numerous times and enjoy the deduction required to pick the path to victory, then This Is Not A Test might be for you. However, I suspect that this niche title will only resonate with a small percentage of gamers.
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