Summary
Fans of video games havealways wanted them to be more realistic. With the permanent push for better graphics, more life-like animation, and huge improvements in the quality of storytelling, it was only a matter of time before real video began to be used in the interactive medium. FMV, or Full Motion Video, has featured in gamingsince arcade cabinets, meaning that entirely acted and filmed sequences can be used.
While some Full Motion Video games end up not utilizing the format to its full extent, or limiting player action due to the restrictive nature of FMV itself, some games use the medium to tell impressive stories, make for fully interactive films and create lovable characters. Here are the best games that are entirely FMV — and that are well worth playing for any fans or newcomers to the genre.
7Super Seducer 2 - Advanced Seduction Tactics
Ridiculous Seduction Training With Branching Narratives
For fans of off-kilter andrandom humor that is hard to predictand harder to resist,Super Seduceris the viral FMV game that brought Richard La Ruina to the screens of thousands of ‘players’ (pun intended). Richard acts as the protagonist, and fans can select the actions that he should take in a selection of situations where the ultimate goal is to get a girl’s number.
While at first glance, this appears like anuncomfortable dating sim, looking a little deeper reveals wild writing, truly absurd options that Richard will act out dutifully on screen, and a strange approach that really takes itself seriously as a teaching tool — despite how ludicrous the game becomes.
One of the first fully FMV video games that lives in infamy for its campy tone and strange plot,Night Trapwas produced for theSega CDand saw the player manning security systems through a mansion where they had to flick between cameras in different rooms to step in and save some slasher movie teens from the clutches of a gang of evil vampires.
Managing the residents in eight different locations can prove difficult, and listening in to the conversations that happen when characters are safe will be necessary for the player to piece together the plot and to ensure that they hear whenever the password for the security system changes.The game feels like a B movie in the best possible way.
When players startDark Nights with Poe and Munro,they are thrown into the deep end and expected to find their way. The protagonists, two small-town radio hosts who tell supernatural stories to a dwindling audience, are on screen for most of the game.
Players will have to interact with the video as it plays to make choices for both of the hosts to lead them on their way and protect them from harm. Managing to walk the line between tense and silly,Poe and Munropits the lovable heroes against strange visions, murderous listeners, and mysteries galore.
Taking control of what gets screened on television gives players a surprising amount of power; there is a reason thatNot For Broadcastis known as a propaganda simulator. Players can decide on what adverts play and which headlines the audience is shown toinfluence the politics of the uncertain countrythe game is set in.
The protagonist is also in charge of censoring and presenting different broadcasts to the audience, and they must ensure that ratings are up and the government is shown in a good light — unless they have ulterior motives.
A randomly generated murder mystery,The Shapeshifting Detectiveallows fans ofcrime-solving puzzle gamesto take on mysteries with fresh new answers using paranormal powers that can be both a blessing and a curse. The protagonist can take on the guise of any of the suspects they have spoken to, which pressures others to confess information, talk about secrets that only two people are privy to, or let down their guard in a way that can only be achieved with these dynamic abilities.
Every conversation has consequences, though, and some decisions can make crimes unsolvable along the way. With incredible performances and brand-new results after numerous playthroughs,The Shapeshifting Detectiveis a must-play for budding investigators and FMV fans alike.
Putting players in the role of a graveyard shift parking lot attendant,Late Shiftexplores the cinematic plot of a normal person beingcaught up in the criminal underworld of London. Matt Thompson has to work with some established robbers, and players can intervene to make decisions in real time to dive deeper into the nefarious world and to grow closer with the criminals.
With a potential romance and seven distinctly different endings, players who explore this entirely FMV interactive film will grow to love Matt and the cast of criminals that he becomes a part of.
Playing out like some kind of conspiracy cover-up likeThe Davinci Code, players ofImmortalityare given the lost film reels of a fictional actress, Marissa Marcel. Marcel was a model who took to the screen in three movies before she went missing mysteriously; players have the chance to scroll through scenes from the films, interviews with the actress and her colleagues, and to explore clues and strange standouts that can be picked out on the screen.
Playing out like a discussion about film and fame, as well as a gripping supernatural investigation,Immortalityis one of the most experimental and innovative games of all time, within both the FMV genre and outside of it.
