Protocol

Review

It must be a feeling of inexplicable pride to serve your country as a professional soldier.  These servicemen and women never know where they will be deployed next; all they care about is to serve their country and fellow countrymen and women well. Nonetheless, they are also looking for promotion and might end up being assigned to classified missions if they reach the top of the crop (so to speak). As luck would have it, you have been offered an incredible mission. You are going to be the first contact between us and an unknown alien species. (Just to backtrack for a minute, the alien’s vessel was shot down in the Arctic, so don’t get too cozy; it’s going to be cold, and make sure to follow the protocol!)

Protocol is an adventure/puzzle game developed and published by Fair Games Studio, and can be played on normal desktops as well as on HTC Vive VR systems, of which I own one.  

You signed up for a mission of a lifetime. Yes, you mainly signed up to be as far as possible from your ex-wife, but this mission is seriously important. First, your pod will crash-land next to a secret complex in the middle of the Artic circle. Then you’ll have to figure out a way to get into the compound where the aliens are imprisoned. Thankfully (well, I am not sure if thankfully is the right word), you’ll also be welcomed by an annoying floating sphere that talks to you in a rather commanding way. From that moment on, this strange object will tell you explicitly what to do and what not to do. If you are a bit of a rebel like me, you’re probably going to make the wrong decision, and will therefore be introduced to “have a nice day”.  

Have a nice day is literally a way to say that you have stuffed up, and your reward will be the atomic self- destruction of the complex - what a nice day! When you think the worst has already come; think again! The strange sphere will display a hologram of your ex-wife, and guess what, she is the one who will tell you what and what not to do. What bliss!

I have really enjoyed the puzzles so far. They are not that hard, mainly because you have to follow the AI instruction, but let me tell you, you‘ll have plenty of . . . Have a nice day!  

My favourite nice day so far is when I broke the protocol because I needed to tap a kidney early on in the game. So, I saw the toilets, took my ding-a-ling out for a bit of a breather, and as most of men do, trickled my pee all over the toilet seat. This unfortunate event broke the protocol, and my appending-a-ling as well as the rest of my body were dissolved by a mushroom cloud! That specific event happened several times before I noticed two important symbols on the wall. The first one was to lift the seat, and the second, do your business. Come on, who does that?! Anyway, last time I went to the toilet I thoroughly checked to see if there were no atomic bombs hidden in my bathroom, and for the sake of caution, I lifted the toilet seat just in case. I had a few nice days . . . too many so far!

I really enjoy the comic element in the game and it is emphasised with good voice-overs. Graphically the game looks good and works well on desktop or VR setup. I must say that I did prefer to play the game on desktop due to the fact it was easy to pick up and use objects. That is my opinion! Regardless which way I’ll play the remaining of the game, I am sure I will have more fabulous days coming my way!