WELCOME TO THE DEPTHS

Umurangi Generation is a photography-based game set in Tauranga, Aotearoa (New Zealand), that focuses on you, a courier for the Tauranga Express known as The Photographer as you take photos of the events unfolding around you. It also follows your four friends: Atarau, Kete, Micah and Pengi.

Later levels also introduce a fifth character 'Maxine', a deceased friend of the group.

There's a lot more to the game than just that, as it turns into a discussion about governmental incompetence and apathy. Which is of important note considering the game was made in response to the poor handling of both the 2020 Australian Bushfires and the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This game has a special place in my heart. Not only do I find the low-polygon look of the game endearing and the story around it to be great, but the usage of the decolonisation of art within it is beautiful. Mahi Toi is shown in multiple areas of the game, whether that be in the fashion of your friends and others or in the graffiti you see around you. It's this really lovely marriage of Māori symbolism and urban art with the current political climate.

The huia feathers in Kete's hair, the Māori inspired designs and the Taniwha on Atarau's jacket. The Hei-tiki shown doing peace signs, and the voyagers shown in this almost mosaic-like style. All of this, while we're shown commentary about the current situation the world is in.

It's more than obvious what the situation in Umurangi Generation is supposed to represent. As I mentioned earlier, the game's development was due to the creator (Napthali Faulkner)'s frustrations with how the Australian government had handled both the 2020 Bushfires and the COVID-19 Pandemic, and it's clear in the game too.

In the level 'Karangahake', you can even find a newspaper where the headline mentions the Prime Minister's holiday in Rarotonga, a clear nod to Scott Morrison's own holiday to Hawai'i during the bushfires.

There are also spray-painted caricatures of the prime minister shown in certain levels, showing his lack of empathy for the situation and brushing it off as just another inconvenience. People are dying, and all he can say about it is, "It's just the end of the world".

The protest level in the Macro DLC only makes this more obvious. A peaceful protest about the mecha built to protect Aotearoa and how it's being used against civilians. A peaceful protest that only ends in explosions, rubber bullets, and you being knocked out, all while one of the aforementioned mecha looms over you all. Afterwards statistics displaying information such as damage costs and people missing display, before the DLC ends.

While the ending is grim, to the point of the game dedicating itself to "The Umurangi Generation: The last generation who has to watch the world die." There's still a lot to be loved about this game, which is why it feels a little disheartening to me that it's overlooked quite a bit.