Having played Her Story years ago and appreciating the concept though never really getting hooked by the story/ending, and having stayed away from Telling Lies due to bad press, I was a bit skeptical of Sam Barlow's newest title Immortality. However, I finished it earlier today, and I now think it's solid. Flawed, certainly, but I can't help but appreciate the craft.
The story goes like this: found footage of three unreleased films starring the fictional model turned actress Marissa Marcel has been recently unearthed (unreleased due to enigmatic circumstances), and it's up to you to uncover the mystery of what happened and why she disappeared. You start with a clip of a TV interview, and jump around through various clips by pausing/parsing footage and clicking on items of interest, such as the faces of those who appear and common objects. For example, clicking on a lamp in one scene may send you to another clip in another scene that has a different lamp present, clicking on water will transport you to a scene with water present, clicking on Marcel's face will transport you to another scene with her present, and so on so forth. It's an ambitious concept of scrolling through the database (as opposed to typing in keywords in Her Story), and while it seems to hasten the pace, it also introduces an element of randomness in that some scenes can only be accessed with certain objects, and you'll be transported to a random scene every time you click with no way to control the exact scene you jump to. This disjointed narrative telling, while broadening the mystery, could also potentially result in the mystery being spoiled prematurely if you accidentally bump into a crucial scene like 25% into the game and having it all not really make sense. If you're trying to collect all the scenes and see everything, this is probably more of an impediment than a boon.
Also without going into too much depth, let me give you a few pointers regarding the system that will aid the process, that I really wish I knew about before I started this up. The game's unfortunately not the best at explaining its various tools & gadgets.
- You can use the left and right arrow keys (or left and right on the d-pad if using a controller) to parse through all clickable objects of interest when the scene is paused.
- If you're using a controller, then the controller will vibrate at certain instances (or you'll be clued in on something strange going on when you notice flashes of black and white interspersed in the footage or the backing track turning "creepy"). That's your cue to parse the footage backwards at a very specific speed; on mouse and keyboard, you need to hold shift and tap the left arrow key twice, or on the controller, tap the left stick to the left twice. I won't say anymore on this.
- While paused and selecting clips, you can click on the clapperboard symbol to switch to object classification, which will give you a little subtitle for each shot indicating what category it falls under for that type of object.
Again, without going into spoiler territory, I think Immortality's strength is presenting layers of narratives and social commentary including the relationship between viewer and creator, art as a creative medium, meaning within art, and of course the norms & fads of filmmaking throughout the industry and its various eras; I won't comment too heavily upon these themes as I don't feel qualified to do so, but there is a lot to unpack between the narrative of the films themselves, the meta narrative of what happened as part of the creative process, and the meta narrative as part of the player's discovery. By instilling you, the player, as an active participant engrossed in the meta-narrative and not merely roleplaying an observer such as that in Her Story, Immortality is able to convey its thoughts and feelings in a much more direct and thought-out way; it is aware of its audience seeking meaning, and is not afraid to provoke the question of whether or not that meaning even exists in the first place. To boot, the attention to detail regarding its characterization of the common movie tropes and aesthetics of each era are definitely on point, down to the grainy film textures and static background buzzing in some cases, and I found the acting, especially that by lead actress Manon Gage, to be quite convincing.
While its main draw via its structure and formula is also most likely its biggest issue due to its variability, and potentially leading to tedium through constant, repetitive searching or early disappointment if key moments are brought up too early, it's nevertheless an ambitious and more realized work than Her Story and a fantastic example of how interactive media can convey a wide range of emotions in ways that are simply not possible in more static mediums such as books and films. Give this a shot if you're looking for an engrossing mystery with plenty of twists and turns to be uncovered by the player, and be prepared to experience a wide variety of emotions. I will say this is not for the faint of heart (despite having nothing I would consider a "jumpscare") but if you give it a chance, then perhaps Sam Barlow's latest thriller may give you quite a ride.
The story goes like this: found footage of three unreleased films starring the fictional model turned actress Marissa Marcel has been recently unearthed (unreleased due to enigmatic circumstances), and it's up to you to uncover the mystery of what happened and why she disappeared. You start with a clip of a TV interview, and jump around through various clips by pausing/parsing footage and clicking on items of interest, such as the faces of those who appear and common objects. For example, clicking on a lamp in one scene may send you to another clip in another scene that has a different lamp present, clicking on water will transport you to a scene with water present, clicking on Marcel's face will transport you to another scene with her present, and so on so forth. It's an ambitious concept of scrolling through the database (as opposed to typing in keywords in Her Story), and while it seems to hasten the pace, it also introduces an element of randomness in that some scenes can only be accessed with certain objects, and you'll be transported to a random scene every time you click with no way to control the exact scene you jump to. This disjointed narrative telling, while broadening the mystery, could also potentially result in the mystery being spoiled prematurely if you accidentally bump into a crucial scene like 25% into the game and having it all not really make sense. If you're trying to collect all the scenes and see everything, this is probably more of an impediment than a boon.
Also without going into too much depth, let me give you a few pointers regarding the system that will aid the process, that I really wish I knew about before I started this up. The game's unfortunately not the best at explaining its various tools & gadgets.
- You can use the left and right arrow keys (or left and right on the d-pad if using a controller) to parse through all clickable objects of interest when the scene is paused.
- If you're using a controller, then the controller will vibrate at certain instances (or you'll be clued in on something strange going on when you notice flashes of black and white interspersed in the footage or the backing track turning "creepy"). That's your cue to parse the footage backwards at a very specific speed; on mouse and keyboard, you need to hold shift and tap the left arrow key twice, or on the controller, tap the left stick to the left twice. I won't say anymore on this.
- While paused and selecting clips, you can click on the clapperboard symbol to switch to object classification, which will give you a little subtitle for each shot indicating what category it falls under for that type of object.
Again, without going into spoiler territory, I think Immortality's strength is presenting layers of narratives and social commentary including the relationship between viewer and creator, art as a creative medium, meaning within art, and of course the norms & fads of filmmaking throughout the industry and its various eras; I won't comment too heavily upon these themes as I don't feel qualified to do so, but there is a lot to unpack between the narrative of the films themselves, the meta narrative of what happened as part of the creative process, and the meta narrative as part of the player's discovery. By instilling you, the player, as an active participant engrossed in the meta-narrative and not merely roleplaying an observer such as that in Her Story, Immortality is able to convey its thoughts and feelings in a much more direct and thought-out way; it is aware of its audience seeking meaning, and is not afraid to provoke the question of whether or not that meaning even exists in the first place. To boot, the attention to detail regarding its characterization of the common movie tropes and aesthetics of each era are definitely on point, down to the grainy film textures and static background buzzing in some cases, and I found the acting, especially that by lead actress Manon Gage, to be quite convincing.
While its main draw via its structure and formula is also most likely its biggest issue due to its variability, and potentially leading to tedium through constant, repetitive searching or early disappointment if key moments are brought up too early, it's nevertheless an ambitious and more realized work than Her Story and a fantastic example of how interactive media can convey a wide range of emotions in ways that are simply not possible in more static mediums such as books and films. Give this a shot if you're looking for an engrossing mystery with plenty of twists and turns to be uncovered by the player, and be prepared to experience a wide variety of emotions. I will say this is not for the faint of heart (despite having nothing I would consider a "jumpscare") but if you give it a chance, then perhaps Sam Barlow's latest thriller may give you quite a ride.
Reviewed on Sep 08, 2022
2 Comments
No problem, I hope the tips I gave will help you navigate the system more efficiently and effectively!
ItsChrispyChips
1 year ago