Gaming – computer game “Mexico, 1921”: Everyone is suspicious

Mexico in 1921. The country does not come to rest. First there was a revolution against the politically petrified conditions, then civil war. Different opposition groups have been working on the revolution of the Mexican state and its institutions for eleven years. President and several politicians came and went. The entire country is covered by unrest. Bloody fights take place in all places.

The social revolutionary zapatis movement called in 1911 to the revolution, since the liberal hopes were all corrupted. The zapatists were based on the ideas of the anarchist Magonistas, which propagated indigenous collectivism and libertarian socialism under the slogan “Land and Freedom”. At the top of the state, two presidents and a dictator changed, while the situation of the population continued to deteriorate.

In this political environment, smaller regional uprisings quickly grew to large surface fires and several surface fires into a revolution. One of the most important protagonists and a lot of sung hero of that time was Pancho Villa (1878–1923). A guerrilla commander who was also called the “Mexican Robin Hood”. He fought in the Mexican revolutionary turmoil and was declared an icon, by Ebene’s government, which probably had him killed.

The new video game “Mexico 1921. A deep slum” announces of these turbulent times. It is a furious journey through one of the most important epochs of Mexican history. For this one slips into the role of a journalist who examines the murder of the last president. The story -driven detective drama comes without a big gameplay, reminds of the graphics of the games around the turn of the millennium and is only available in Spanish and English. Nevertheless, it is a gem, in action and setting of surprising historical depth.

The story of the protagonist Juan Aguirre is flipped by side by side, like in a novel. At first he is caught, surrounded by a dark atmosphere that makes the aftermath of the president’s murder. An entanglement of the Cristeros – a reactionary uprising against the restrictions of the Catholic Church by the 1917 Mexican constitution – is brought into play right from the start. But it is far from the only track. For the deeper understanding of events, it is helpful to know at least some facets of Mexican history.

The examination of Aguirres, which works for a newspaper that is far closer to power than the truth, leads directly into the swamp of political corruption and conspiracy. Who removed the president? Whether dodgy civil servants, semi -silk union bureaucrats, the dubious newspaper editor or the right hand of the president: everyone is suspicious because everyone benefits from one or the other. The task for the player is now to find out and – more importantly – to prove exactly what happened on the murder night.

The entire game is characterized by a Mexican -inspired art style, which contributes strongly to the inversion. The graphic is reminiscent of days by long, even partly looks a bit old -fashioned, but that does not bump off, but pulls you into it: nothing is rounded and smoothly ironed. The edges and corners hit the core of the characters and history. Nobody is perfect here. In order to capture everything, Aguirre photographs its surroundings, hoping to catch further references to the clients of the presidential murder.

The scenes to be explored in the video game are provided with plenty of collector’s pieces, which often take up the wide cultural history of Mexico. The armament of the protagonist with a camera is the best idea of ​​the game. Instead of incorporating further distracting gimmicks, the game focuses on its core: exploration and precise observation of the diverse playing world.

»Mexico, 1921. A Deep Slumber« (Mácula Interactive), 19,50 €.