For those of you that are aware of this you might be wondering why I'm reviewing this here. Back in the nineties FMB games were all the rage, despite many of them not exactly being all that good. Terrible resolution and mostly of dubious quality. Some of them were fun though and added a different and new slant to the gaming industry and experience. Over the last few years interactive video games have made a little bit of a resurgence and this must be up there with the very best of them. A video game this is most certainly not though.
Dubbed as an interactive film, this little swiss produced feature is at its heart a full feature film. The only 'game' elements that exist are you making choices for Matt (Sowerbutts) as you follow him during perhaps the worst night of his young life. This is done very well though, with no break in the film or action. Any of you familiar with quick time events in video games will be used to the decisions that appear and subsequently need clicking. There is a timer bar on these so one must think quickly before the decision is lost (and presumably defaults to a cannon decision).
So to the actual story. The film opens to beautiful and atmospheric overhead shots of London at night. Matt is a student studying mathematics and we join the film as we see Matt making his way to what we find out is his evening part-time job. He works in a secure underground parking complex where he wearily and sadly comments that the array of expensive machinary on show are the only meaningful relationships he has ever had. After a brief conversation with a patron and his date Matt settles down to read his study material over what will be his late shift.
The patron's date arrives at Matt's little guard hut and after some eye batting and cute smiling says she needs the keys to the car. This is where the start of the decision making takes place proper. A I will say no more as the actual real plot of the story then quickly unfolds. Needless to say (presumably regardless of which decisions you make), Matt's night quickly heads south at an alarming rate as he is shot at, threatened and ends up as part of a hesist on an auction house. Things could definitely have gone better for him.
So why the review? Well, this interactive movie (and there is not that much interaction in all honesty) is pretty much all film. Again, any interaction is soley reduced to making a yes or no decision etc. As a film though, well this is pretty good and if we go by other recent british crime thrillers (notably with Danny dyer in them) then this is far above them all as a gritty crime drama. While there are a couple of jarring plot contrivances and script errors overall this is a good production, though I appreciate some of those may have something to do with the multiple choice aspect.
Writer and director Weber is not known to me for anything else so this makes this feature all the more impressive. Funded by a fund for cultural projects as well as a Swiss televeision network helped Weber get the project going though this mostly privately funded. As mentioned before this all very impressive given the experience and budget. Cinematography is fantastic and London looks absolutely gorgeous in the night scenes, from bustling areas to the lesser known back alleys and other districs. Likewise direction is sharp and you are never in doubt as to what is happening or why.
My only complaint (as is usually the case) is the audio. The soundtrack is is reasonably good and fits the overall theme of the movie but in far too many places it drowns out the audio. As is usual with a 'video game' you get the option of subtitles. I usually choose not to have these hsowing but within ten minutes decided it would perhaps be wise to use them. Your mileage may vary here depending on system setup and whether you use headphones or not. But be warned, it is an issue in places. That is though perhaps a minor annoyance in an otherwise good production.
As previously mentioned, the script does suffer in places but is otherwise acceptable and all the cast do their best with what they have. Barring a couple of characters I would say the cast do an excellent job and as television regulars I'm sure they adapted to this production well. An interactive 'movie' that seamlessly merges the decision making you choose for Matt into what you are watching. If when watching a film you always wanted the hero to go left instead of right, fight instead of run, then give this one a try, I think you might be pleasently surprised.
The Sage's Rating: 7/10
Dubbed as an interactive film, this little swiss produced feature is at its heart a full feature film. The only 'game' elements that exist are you making choices for Matt (Sowerbutts) as you follow him during perhaps the worst night of his young life. This is done very well though, with no break in the film or action. Any of you familiar with quick time events in video games will be used to the decisions that appear and subsequently need clicking. There is a timer bar on these so one must think quickly before the decision is lost (and presumably defaults to a cannon decision).
So to the actual story. The film opens to beautiful and atmospheric overhead shots of London at night. Matt is a student studying mathematics and we join the film as we see Matt making his way to what we find out is his evening part-time job. He works in a secure underground parking complex where he wearily and sadly comments that the array of expensive machinary on show are the only meaningful relationships he has ever had. After a brief conversation with a patron and his date Matt settles down to read his study material over what will be his late shift.
The patron's date arrives at Matt's little guard hut and after some eye batting and cute smiling says she needs the keys to the car. This is where the start of the decision making takes place proper. A I will say no more as the actual real plot of the story then quickly unfolds. Needless to say (presumably regardless of which decisions you make), Matt's night quickly heads south at an alarming rate as he is shot at, threatened and ends up as part of a hesist on an auction house. Things could definitely have gone better for him.
So why the review? Well, this interactive movie (and there is not that much interaction in all honesty) is pretty much all film. Again, any interaction is soley reduced to making a yes or no decision etc. As a film though, well this is pretty good and if we go by other recent british crime thrillers (notably with Danny dyer in them) then this is far above them all as a gritty crime drama. While there are a couple of jarring plot contrivances and script errors overall this is a good production, though I appreciate some of those may have something to do with the multiple choice aspect.
Writer and director Weber is not known to me for anything else so this makes this feature all the more impressive. Funded by a fund for cultural projects as well as a Swiss televeision network helped Weber get the project going though this mostly privately funded. As mentioned before this all very impressive given the experience and budget. Cinematography is fantastic and London looks absolutely gorgeous in the night scenes, from bustling areas to the lesser known back alleys and other districs. Likewise direction is sharp and you are never in doubt as to what is happening or why.
My only complaint (as is usually the case) is the audio. The soundtrack is is reasonably good and fits the overall theme of the movie but in far too many places it drowns out the audio. As is usual with a 'video game' you get the option of subtitles. I usually choose not to have these hsowing but within ten minutes decided it would perhaps be wise to use them. Your mileage may vary here depending on system setup and whether you use headphones or not. But be warned, it is an issue in places. That is though perhaps a minor annoyance in an otherwise good production.
As previously mentioned, the script does suffer in places but is otherwise acceptable and all the cast do their best with what they have. Barring a couple of characters I would say the cast do an excellent job and as television regulars I'm sure they adapted to this production well. An interactive 'movie' that seamlessly merges the decision making you choose for Matt into what you are watching. If when watching a film you always wanted the hero to go left instead of right, fight instead of run, then give this one a try, I think you might be pleasently surprised.
The Sage's Rating: 7/10