Have you ever wanted to build, manage, and maintain your own prison? Well, here’s your chance! The highly regarded construction and management simulator Prison Architect released for PC last October by Introversion Software is soon to get a full port to console by Double Eleven. A preview build was made available to me via the Xbox One, which showed while there are still some walls to be put up, the plans are coming along nicely.
The main attraction of this preview is Prison Stories. As a way to spice up the normal CMS recipe, Prison Architect combines extensive tutorials with layers of narrative yarn. These tales play out in the form of captions and Polaroid pictures done in 1950s “pop art” styling to offer a visual aid. In all fairness, these “episodes” aren’t the most interestingly written expositions of storytelling, but they do serve their main function very well of providing urgent situations as a catalyst to varied learning opportunities. There are five in the menu, but just the first three were accessible in this preview. The first is entitled Death Row. An inmate is facing two counts of passion fueled first degree and the time has come to meet his maker. While you start to learn more about his circumstances and uncover other personalities at the facility, you are taught the basics of the Construction menu. Each direction on the D-pad will activate a different set of options, materials, resources, plans, et cetera. Construction houses tidbits like buildings, walls, doors, flooring, as well as the ability to designate what a newly built addition is going to be used for. It was clear from the preview that this is a very important mechanic. Once the workers are done with erecting the structure, you then have to highlight either part or the entirety of it and assign a purpose. At this point, the helpful HUD hints will inform you if the assignment can be done as is or if additional work needs to be done such as adding appropriate items or utility lines. Utilities have their own segment within the menus. Power and Water must be run to new places in the correct positions. For instance, it you create a kitchen, the required sinks will need small pipes to feed into one of the “mains” in order to function. Power is done in similar fashion, but depending on what you build, you may have to add more capacitors. During the course of Death Row, you will have to make an execution chamber, complete with an electric chair. To afford enough juice for ol’ sparky, the game walks you through how to modulate the on-site power source to make sure not to overload the circuit. Most of the time, “intricate” items on the “To Do List” will have very specific instructions and how-tos. Every now and then, though, such walk throughs are not afforded and you’ll have to rely on past lectures to decipher what’s needed. When I seemed “stuck,” this terseness was very agitating. But when I calmed down and thought a little outside the box, I was able to complete the objective, which were the most beneficial learning experiences of the tutorials.
Second up is Palermo, a classic tale of the struggles of a mob boss trying to control his empire from behind bars while having to look over his shoulder during his stint within gen pop. In terms of gameplay, the Demolition settings are examined. In “creation” games of any sort, sometimes you just need to get the eraser out and try it again; Prison Architect has a fluid UX for this particular tool. It’s as simple as dragging the cursor over what needs to be demoed and tapping “Go.” Even more useful, though, is the control time function shown in this chapter. Holding Y reveals a rewind and fast forward system that allows the passage of time to be altered ad nauseum. This is a HUGE positive for playability. If it was necessary to wait in real time for each command to happen, it would tremendously hamper flow and fun. The “need” levels of inmates is the last lesson of the mission. A menu shows the status of inmate satisfaction in various categories. From food to recreation, several classifications are listed that must be maintained at a high mark to keep the peace and prevent a drastic display by the occupants like a riot. If that does occur, the last tutorial of the preview called G.A.B.O.S instructs on how to regain control. Administrators have been kidnapped by some unruly perps, and it is up to you to come up with a swift and safe solution. Yet another set of resources list different staff types. Among these is riot control officer units. Order up a band of head knockers to come in and clear house when a cell block glows red. As you adjust their footpaths in a strategic manner, it returns to a more neutral color as things begin to de-escalate. The way to make sure things don’t to back to bad is by assigning regular guards to patrol the area and keep an eye out for more revolt. The last section to garner an explanation is the Bureaucracy system. Certain special items like K-9 units can be “researched” for a certain amount of time and money. Once they are ready for implementation, you can use them for more advanced administration and policing tactics.
Truthfully, I’m not one to spend an extensive amount of time playing CMS type titles. And although completing each Prison Stories entry took me quite a bit of time, I felt like I could manage my own new facility at an adept enough level that I wouldn’t be absolutely overwhelmed by the depth of the game. From the preview build, this could make the treacherous leap from PC to console a successful one. But truthfully only time, and a full release, will determine its sentence. Look for Prison Architect later this spring.
