Being brought up in a country that was neither truly communist nor capitalist, a country that would let everybody in and then keep track of their activities, had goulags and rock'n roll festivals, aimed high and died in a conflict between its petty tribes, I just had to fall in love with this game.In fact I have a love-hate relationship with this title, same as with Bully and GTA, and especially after years of living under sanctions in the 90s and the 00s.
Being a third-rate god stamping passports and deciding on people's fates, you're spotting smugglers, bombers, idlers and regular people as they try to cross the Kolecha border and enter the the promised land of Arstotzka. You are not just checking names, dates, passes, visa details, but are also dealing with bribes, moral issues, personal and family histories and tragedies, and your own humanity in the process. You are a good peson doing reproachable things, even though you appear to have been given an illusion of choice, and you do everything in your power to allow your country to thrive.
Up until 19th century there were no borders as such and our predecessors had greater freedom of movement than we do now. It would be wild if somebody made a game about a 19th century person crossing imaginary borders, doing so in a wold where national states were still just a vague concept.
