Format: Xbone (version reviewed), PS4, PC, Switch, mobile
Unleashed: Out Now
Publisher: U-Play Online, Raiser Games
Developer: U-Play Online
Players: 1
Site: http://www.youtuberslife.com/
Game code provided by PR
Let’s get one thing straight right now, okay? If you’re sneering at the very idea of this game, all that proves is that it’s not for you. Strictly speaking, it’s not for us, either – which is why we recruited Luke’s 10 year old daughter to help with the review.
Don’t let the lack of an inverted comma in the game title fool you. The life emulated here belongs to a single YouTuber; you, whatever you decide to call yourself. As the intro promises, you can rise to the decadent heights of a world-famous YouTuber with a mansion and legions of hangers-on. Hmm, sorry, ‘friends’. You’ll have to work your way up though, from very humble beginnings.
The latest free DLC allows you to role play as a fashion vlogger, but you can also choose to run a gaming, music, or cooking channel. Whatever you decide to specialise in, when you first start, you’re going to have to balance your YouTube ambitions with real life. In part, this means keeping an eye on your hunger and sleep meters to ensure that you can function as an actual human. We found that this was pretty easy to keep on top of, though it occasionally led to some odd sleep patterns. Just like a real YouTuber!
“Hi guys! Today, we’re going to…”
Most of your time – to begin with, at least – takes place in a single pokey little room, which contains little more than your bed, computer, and whatever you need for your channel’s content (e.g. game consoles, or clothes workbench). You need money to make money, as the old saying goes, and you’re not exactly raking it in at the amateur stage. You make a little from your videos, but a more reliable way of getting cash is with a real job. Therefore, you’ll need to choose one of a few available positions, and leave your domestic domain to earn money (you don’t actually do the job, you just watch a timer go down). Amusingly, if you spend too much time earning money and making YouTube videos and not enough studying for school, your mum will get angry with you.
You’ll need money to buy better items that more people will be interested in, and better quality equipment for recording. The actual process of recording videos is a minigame. Your avatar automatically performs, and at various stages, you choose how to react (perhaps to a mistake, or a certain event) by selecting a reaction from a sort of card deck. It’s arguably overly simplistic, but the feedback at the end – viewers, earnings, reception – plays a big part in the appeal of this phenomenally successful game.
*to self* Don’t do a racism, don’t do a racism…
Core gameplay is repetitive and cyclical. No matter which discipline you choose, you need to manage your meters and slowly beef up the quality of your equipment and paraphernalia in order to progress. This is, to be fair, buffered by a variety of events that support the life sim side of things, and add appeal for younger players. You can rise to the position where you’ll attend fan events, meet celebrities, and there’s even the option to romance somebody and, eventually, marry them should you so choose.
This is a game aimed at a very specific demographic, namely, young kids who would love to be famous YouTubers. What it lacks in sophistication, it makes up for in being astutely designed for a child’s imagination to fill the gaps. If you have a kid that’s interested in this, you can almost guarantee that they’ll get some fun out of it.