Time-Wasters: Traitor

I enjoyed Traitor very much. It's a shoot 'em up, with all the usual elements of typical games in its genre. You are a pilot, and you have a ship. You fight waves of enemies in ships bigger than your own. You are able to defeat these enemies even though you are outnumbered one-hundred to one. Killing enemies gives you credits to spend on various upgrades. There are final bosses who are bigger and uglier than the usual mooks.

The difference is in the storytelling. After the first few missions, the game becomes non-linear, and releases you into a map which you can use to visit various sectors, in any order you prefer. In each region, you can purchase upgrades or take on missions to earn cash. However, you can't just pop in wherever you like. Some places won't hire or sell to you unless you have a certain degree of reputation, which you can acquire by performing more missions.

The game's universe is rich with details. There are more well-off sectors, which charge more for upgrades and won't admit suspicious characters. There are the poorer regions which don't pay too well, but will ignore the fact that your ship is clearly stolen. There are the dirt-poor sectors which border on desperation. There are geographical differences - some places cannot be accessed without special equipment, and types of enemies encountered in battle vary from place to place, some looking more alien and organic, others more mechanical. Even the people are different - there are miners, farmers, pirates, officials and aliens who live in hives and refer to you ship shields as "skin"; there are people who are excited to help you, people who are cautious, people who are simply tired. Half the fun - the fun that's not blowing things up with overpowered weaponry - is exploring all these details, uncovering the story bit by bit through various conversations and briefings.

The writing is also excellent. While the particular story - your employers turn out to be power-hungry jerks, so you turn against them - isn't at all uncommon among shoot 'em ups, it is handled carefully. You aren't told that there is something wrong with what they are doing - you see it. And when you turn traitor, you end up having to work for a lower pay than you are accustomed, making you feel that your choice had consequences. Little things like that. 

There is an early decision you have to make, between a cruel and a pacifist course of action. I chose to be good and finished the game, then came back to try the evil option. It was hard. With a few well-chosen lines, the game managed to make me feel guilty over harming some innocent pixels - so guilty, that my conscience would not shut up until I had to restarted the game and taken the good option again. Within only a few missions, I was so drawn into the game's universe that the morality of my character mattered to me.

Traitor is not a very big game, nor is it very difficult. The missions are very forgiving - you can quit at any time and restart them, and there is no penalty for being killed. It's a pleasant game, encouraging you to take your time to explore and read through each conversation slowly, and not worry too much about losing. All in all, it's an intelligent, thoughtful distraction to spare a few hours on.