Which of the two routes has a better ending?

[BRS]

I wonder which one is closer to a happy ending.

[creep_]

The game just tells you outright that the rebels are nothing but criminals and they act accordingly. They don't seem to have a political agenda whatsoever, they are using the people who do to make even more money. How and why? Who cares. It's just that. Oberankov is "revealed" to be actually completely insane

Would lean towards government-ending. It is certainly not a good system, corrupt to the core but it kind of works most of the time. With the party overthrown everything will plunge into chaos and the more or less stable living-conditions will be gone. That is exactly where criminals will thrive and most of the civilians will suffer greatly.

[nissan_370z1]

I did both endings, but I prefer the Government Ending

[MoreEvilSquid]

Postat inițial de tobijon:

Postat inițial de Capt. Slappy:

Then you haven't the faintest clue of how evil communism actually is. I am not excusing the rebel actions as some of those are down right ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up. However, the brutality of a communistic regime is beyond ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up. Go read up on some history.

History has nothing to do with this. This isn't an existing country. There is nothing in the game about any of the brutality you speak of. It is clear the government is rather strict and corrupt, but they are not portreyed as evil, the rebels on the other hand are explicitly evil. Maybe the devs should have put more effort in making the rebel side more appealing, by making the government more explicitly brutal and the rebels less so, but thats not the game were playing here.
Its not as simple as communism = evil, therefore rebel = good.

Exactly.

I went down the rebel path, thinking "the end justifies the means" - and if it had JUST been letting terrorist ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ get away with nasty crimes to replace the regime, I probably would have kept that thought.

The problem is, they don't actually even contact you until just before the final mission - despite the fact that you're literally the authority with respect to border crossings. One would think that they would at the very least get someone to sneak some messages to you (like in Paper's Please), or give you opportunities during the missions to side with them earlier - as opposed to literally just shooting at you, forcing you to kill every single combatant until you reach your target, and only THEN you get the opportunity to help them (screwing someone else in the process) - and more importantly, they don't even reward you for helping them, or acknowledge this in any way until just before the final mission.

So IMO it's not JUST about the rebels being very clearly ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ criminals and terrorists, they actively try to kill you time and again despite you helping them in the past, and don't even pay you for it.

Meanwhile, the "communist" Government job you have has a pretty good bonus payment system, where you get paid based on successful seizures and correct paperwork. They actually seem less "communist" and more just authoritarians who are just not that great at keeping their economy going (hence the black market dealing). And they don't even seem THAT authoritarian, all things considered (could definitely be worse).

[GavinGWhiz]

The plot is your classic "the losing side always looks evil" situation where devs in a country neighboring former Soviet Bloc countries have written a plot where a generic blend of Nazi fascism and USSR-flavored communism is "good" while the loosely-defined rebels (simply branded "communists") are bad.

I'll tell you this without spoilers: the pro-government ending is far more tedious and grindy than the Rebel ending, which kind of just goes out on a bang. Pro-government involves a shootout at the bear tavern purely to shoehorn one more shootout in. The rebel ending skips that.

As far as the plot ending is concerned, again without spoilers, they took the cheap and easy way out of having the endings be slideshows that change depending on your choices.

The rebel ending is kind of fun because you get the impression the country will be a better place once the rebels install their government, but the slides are written from the perspective you're a holdout pro-old-government sympathizer so there's still animosity and some half-assed attempts at making them seem like bad people for overthrowing a fascist government and executing those who enabled them.

From a gameplay perspective the Rebel route is more fun and requires you to suck it up and make hard decisions instead of just being A Cop About It every single decision.

[Swatter]

I chosed the government right from the beginning and I am proud I did so. The very first choice spelled that Rebells ain't worth efford. Why the ♥♥♥♥ should I defend Gavrilov, the worthless corrupted liar,traitor,and cop killer who tried to kill us,killed Sorokin,and quite possibly many other people? And for what French ♥♥♥♥ sake why should I allow Timur,the murder who wanted to frame an innocent man go? So that Blood Fist can replaced Akarov criminal ruling with THEIR criminal ruling? ♥♥♥♥ that. The Rebells are very much like Contras, Cursed Soldiers,and Kuomintang who think that fighting comminism makes them good guys and by that they can commit whatever crime and atrocity. That ♥♥♥♥ doesn't work that way and I am happy that Contraband Police eviscerated this worthless trope along with gangster romanticism of the 80/90 era
About time someone had the courage to speak about it

[null]

i honestly don't get how people are willing to write 200 word essays on this stuff

[CyberDildonics]

Postat inițial de Dat Scharger:

If we just go by what our player character experiences, then our employer and colleagues are nice people and as long as we're doing our job well, it's a nice place to live.

Late to the party, but my takeaway is that this is kind of the point? The devs put you in a situation where you're benefiting from an oppressive structure, so you're more likely to be loyal to it.

As Shiver says:

Postat inițial de Shiver:

If you read the guards' bios you'll learn that nearly all of them have been screwed over by the communist regime.

The government is actively terrible and unjust to both its citizens and neighboring refugees. But as long as you're in the power structure and follow the rules, it's decent to you .

IMO, the devs have successfully made a "Just following orders" / "wearing privilege blinders" simulation, and most players fall for it without realizing!

It's good stuff!

[Cursed Hawkins]

Postat inițial de Dat Scharger:

I think this is the game's biggest problem.

Paper's, Please shows to great lenghts how much the government sucks. It pays you in peanuts, you get into major trouble if you can't sustain your family, you get arrested for trying to help the police, and your direct superior will send you to the gulag on false charges if you don't violate the law for him. Also, jealous neighbours will report you if you get more money than you should have. At least the rebels in that game help you out if they screw up.

But in Contraband Police? Outside of people telling you how evil the government is, what does it actually do? As far as the player is concerned, they pay well and even promote you if you're good at your job. And the worst that can happen is them firing you if you put the station into debt. And... that's pretty much it.
And the rebels? Outright terrorism, paying criminals to get innocent people killed, and smuggling drugs into the country. And, as said by Bez, they try to kill you at the sawmill, and don't even attempt to make up on it.

This game makes it impossible for me to sympathize with the rebels, since they do some pretty evil stuff. The government on the other hand clearly values me. So far the only reason someone would side with the terr-, uh, "rebels" is "Communism bad". And that's not exactly enticing.

Old thread so apologizes in advance but from all the gameplay footage I've seen the debate about what side to pick, might draw similarities to when Russia did have two split sides in terms of how people wanted a new government to form after WW1, some were communist-focused (Red Army) while others were more democratic-focused (White Army) with some third-party groups here and there as any civil war likely sparks.
That's my take anyway since this is a small picture that keeps information regarding what's going on in the background obscured unless the player goes looking for it.

[MoreEvilSquid]

Postat inițial de CyberDildonics:

Postat inițial de Dat Scharger:

If we just go by what our player character experiences, then our employer and colleagues are nice people and as long as we're doing our job well, it's a nice place to live.

Late to the party, but my takeaway is that this is kind of the point? The devs put you in a situation where you're benefiting from an oppressive structure, so you're more likely to be loyal to it.

As Shiver says:

Postat inițial de Shiver:

If you read the guards' bios you'll learn that nearly all of them have been screwed over by the communist regime.

The government is actively terrible and unjust to both its citizens and neighboring refugees. But as long as you're in the power structure and follow the rules, it's decent to you .

IMO, the devs have successfully made a "Just following orders" / "wearing privilege blinders" simulation, and most players fall for it without realizing!

It's good stuff!

It would be a bit better (and also more believable) if the rebels who want to overthrow the Government would ALSO be nice to you, if you've supported them in the past - or at least offer something to you to help them.

I get that they're supposed to be ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, but surely having a border guard on their side would be to their benefit - so if you've previously sided with them, it's a bit crap that they still actively fight against you - and it's only AFTER you've killed a whole bunch of them and reached the "decision point" that you get to choose the side you go with.

Papers, Please handled this much better - they even had the rebels be ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ there too, even going so far as to effectively blackmail you once you've taken up their offer, yet it made much more sense, and they warned you when they were attacking and didn't actively go for you (well some of the time anyway).

[Cursed Hawkins]

Postat inițial de MoreEvilSquid:

It would be a bit better (and also more believable) if the rebels who want to overthrow the Government would ALSO be nice to you, if you've supported them in the past - or at least offer something to you to help them.

I get that they're supposed to be ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, but surely having a border guard on their side would be to their benefit - so if you've previously sided with them, it's a bit crap that they still actively fight against you - and it's only AFTER you've killed a whole bunch of them and reached the "decision point" that you get to choose the side you go with.

Ask yourself this question! "Would it look suspicious if a border checkpoint suddenly stopped being attacked after being assaulted numerous times in the past?" You're in a Commie ran country with a Commie ran government, put yourself in the mindset of a Commie.

[Lucas_WAZZAA]

Postat inițial de Shiver:

If you read the guards' bios you'll learn that nearly all of them have been screwed over by the communist regime. One was forced to move from his life-long home and previous life after state construction started on a nuclear plant. One was demoted and sent to the border post after standing up to a corrupt superior. One lost his parents after they were falsely reported by a neighbor. One lost his whole family after winning the housing lottery, because the government building collapsed due to bad construction.

Don't forget that you the player are in a position of power here. You are the superior officer in charge of this post. The state doesn't oppress you, except don't think it values you. The post is a dump. You're given a small trailer with no bed to sleep in, and the post is only half full of guards who are all pitifully armed. Your pay has to go towards hiring, maintenance, tools, upgrades, weapons, and ammo since the state isn't going to provide you any of that.

To be fair, if you let the rebels win, most of your collegues will be left to rot in prison.

[Cursed Hawkins]

Postat inițial de Lucas_WAZZAA:

Postat inițial de Shiver:

If you read the guards' bios you'll learn that nearly all of them have been screwed over by the communist regime. One was forced to move from his life-long home and previous life after state construction started on a nuclear plant. One was demoted and sent to the border post after standing up to a corrupt superior. One lost his parents after they were falsely reported by a neighbor. One lost his whole family after winning the housing lottery, because the government building collapsed due to bad construction.

Don't forget that you the player are in a position of power here. You are the superior officer in charge of this post. The state doesn't oppress you, except don't think it values you. The post is a dump. You're given a small trailer with no bed to sleep in, and the post is only half full of guards who are all pitifully armed. Your pay has to go towards hiring, maintenance, tools, upgrades, weapons, and ammo since the state isn't going to provide you any of that.

To be fair, if you let the rebels win, most of your collegues will be left to rot in prison.

Given that the announced DLC confirms that the Government ending IS the canonical ending for this game, it doesn't matter anymore about which ending is the better choice, it was made for you and the character we play as in the campaign stayed loyal to the Government.

[Shawn]

Postat inițial de Cursed Hawkins:

Postat inițial de MoreEvilSquid:

It would be a bit better (and also more believable) if the rebels who want to overthrow the Government would ALSO be nice to you, if you've supported them in the past - or at least offer something to you to help them.

I get that they're supposed to be ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, but surely having a border guard on their side would be to their benefit - so if you've previously sided with them, it's a bit crap that they still actively fight against you - and it's only AFTER you've killed a whole bunch of them and reached the "decision point" that you get to choose the side you go with.

Ask yourself this question! "Would it look suspicious if a border checkpoint suddenly stopped being attacked after being assaulted numerous times in the past?" You're in a Commie ran country with a Commie ran government, put yourself in the mindset of a Commie.

no it wouldn't be suspicious considering they lose 100+ people each attack against 4 people at best it makes sense after losing 1000+ men they find a new target before every single rebel is killed by 4 border officers barely equipped

it actually make no sense why they keep attacking our checkpoint when its clear they can't do anything there

[Cursed Hawkins]

Postat inițial de Shawn:

Postat inițial de Cursed Hawkins:

Ask yourself this question! "Would it look suspicious if a border checkpoint suddenly stopped being attacked after being assaulted numerous times in the past?" You're in a Commie ran country with a Commie ran government, put yourself in the mindset of a Commie.

no it wouldn't be suspicious considering they lose 100+ people each attack against 4 people at best it makes sense after losing 1000+ men they find a new target before every single rebel is killed by 4 border officers barely equipped

it actually make no sense why they keep attacking our checkpoint when its clear they can't do anything there

Again, you have to think like a Commie in this situation, they would find it to be suspicious that a border checkpoint that's been attacked numerous times in the past to suddenly stop being attacked, even the main story line has you investigating a random noise coming from the hotel as well as aiding the investigation of a murder when you're just a border checkpoint officer, what jurisdiction would you have anywhere else EXCEPT the border checkpoint!

[Shawn]

Postat inițial de Cursed Hawkins:

checkpoint that's been attacked numerous times in the past to suddenly stop being attacked,

No again after loseing 1000+ men to four guys not even getting a single kill even a commie would understand "ya they clearly stopped cause they were doing nothing and just lost all their man power"

commie or not even a moron can understand a loseing battle and cutting costs and moving on to something they might have a chance at doing.


after 500 battles and losing a good size of man power that equals the size of some small country against 4 poorly equip border patrol guys i would be questioning why they are still attacking that one spot more so then why they decided to switch targets. switching target makes fa rmore sense then attacking the same spot over and over agian and expecting a different result

that is literally the definition of insanity, "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results"