I got through the whole thing in 90 minutes, counting a puzzle I gave up on and googled; call it 2 hours. Thats $1.50 an hour, which I think is steep, judge for yourself.
The "political" story isnt there, unless you count "dystopian repression = bad" as food for thought. The society is unchanged at the end, major tragedies (and the characters on whom they befall) come and go in three pages, theres one major plot twist that is never explained, and another that is inexplicable. Id like to back it up with examples, but I wont inflict spoilers on readers who might want to give it a try anyway.
Because if you like word puzzles and can get past the merely-decorative plot, you should consider this game. The screenshots give a fair impression of what you can expect.
WT9T about Blackbar