Another whim of a picky producer, work with a new format of TV show from a popular online friv games provider Friv2Online Games Studio and long-awaited Russian voiceover with professional dubbing actors - all this and something else in the "Telethon" add-on for the humorous simulator of the 80's broadcast Not For Broadcast. Don't switch!
The dystopian simulator of the evening broadcast is still at the stage of active development, but continues to win the audience of fans of FMV games. Moreover, the project already has all the prerequisites to become one of the leading representatives of the genre.
Despite the situation with COVID-19, which, according to NotGames, somewhat complicated the filming process, the large-scale addition to Not For Broadcast saw the light of day five days ahead of schedule.
In this article, I intend to share my overall impressions of Telethon. For those who are new to this charming indie project, I highly recommend you to read our preview of Not For Broadcast.
The main event of the September update was the appearance of a full-fledged Russian voiceover in the game. The developers assured that the voices of the voice actors correspond to the original as much as possible, and perhaps we can't disagree with it.
In the friv game menu appeared a section with a choice of localization of text and sound. I went on air twice with the first episode, using the basic and Russian audio tracks, and came to the conclusion that the actors were really picked well.
The pitch is a little behind the original. It is noticeable that the dubbers try to convey emotions as authentically as possible, correctly convey humor, and organically incorporate profanity. But despite the high professionalism and generally successful translation, sometimes there are small errors.
However, this is true only if you specifically start comparing. Already by the second edition, playing exclusively in Russian, you are completely immersed in what is happening on the screens and stop noticing any flaws at all.
For gamers who do not speak English, the advantages of sound localization are absolutely obvious - there is a lot of speech in the friv game, it consists entirely of dialogues, and you need to follow the air, interference, angles.
A good half of the text flies away together with subtitles beyond the perception of players, but the sound comes correctly, no matter what you are doing at the console. Feelings from the gameplay change radically and exclusively for the better, for what I would like to express NotGames and the voice-over team a huge respect.
With the update, the game has a new episode called "Telethon," which the developers have shoved between the second and third levels. The title screen of the friv game even has a section with the same name so players can get started on it immediately.
According to the story, an executive asks you to edit an old recording of a charity marathon from around the '50s. The show is black and white, low-budget, and completely unorganized. In addition, the tape contains defects, so players will also have to walk away from spoiled footage in a timely manner.
The story is peppered with humor, sprinkled with drama, and comes with three old commercials in the spirit of the time, promoting dangerous products like lead cleaner for dirty surfaces, promoting sexism and the benefits of smoking.
The only flaw is that the voice actors' voices are not dubbed evenly enough. The mannered host is perfectly audible, but the beautiful women in the show are sometimes impossible to make out.
As a bonus, the developers added another mode for the section with special tasks - "Crazy Censorship". The management will require you to "zap" literally everything, and you will have to try hard to comply with the new quirks of your superiors.
An exceptionally rare FMV copy of Not For Broadcast can delight even the most unperturbed skeptic. Now that the friv game has a full-fledged Russian localization, I sincerely wish every adult PC user, regardless of what genres he prefers and whether he plays games at all, to experience this project personally.
