Late Shift (Xbox One, 2017)

Late Shift
Developed by Wales Interactive Ltd
Released for Xbox One (11/2017)
Also on Mac/PC/PS4/Switch

 

Late Shift is an entry into the often forgotten full-motion video (FMV) genre, meaning the entire game is comprised of real footage with live actors. Gameplay is comprised of making key decisions for your character throughout, each affecting the outcome in different ways. While I'm sure there are still FMV games being produced at least to some extent, it's rare to see one released on a home console.

The story involves your character, Matt, who works the late shift in a parking garage. While on the job he gets dragged into a robbery attempt to steal a precious Chinese rice bowl. I'm not going to go into any spoilers here, but things escalate in a hurry and the story wraps up in roughly an hour, depending on which decisions you've made along the way. There are a total of seven different endings to see, so there's some decent replay value. The actors all do a great job and the dialogue is well-written. There are a few things here and there that require some suspension of disbelief, but isn't that the case with the majority of movies? Overall Late Shift does a good job keeping the player engaged in the story and is somewhat reminiscent of the old Choose Your Own Adventure books with its branching storylines.

Modern technology allows Late Shift to look and play vastly superior to the FMV games of the old days. Back in the day when the FMV genre was first realized and most popular, the only media format that had the capacity to store the data were compact and laser discs. After entering your input there would always be a delay as the game accessed the disc to load the result. This has mostly been eliminated in Late Shift, though there were spots where I could tell it was loading the next screen but even then those moments were extremely brief. For the most part the scene transitions are seamless. The video quality in Late Shift looks great and I felt like I could have been watching a major motion picture release on Blu-Ray.

While Late Shift is a rather brief experience, the multiple endings and different outcomes available help add some replayability. If you enjoy FMV games in general this one's easy to recommend. Many gamers likely won't care to play a game that mostly consists of watching, but if an interactive cinematic experience involving a heist gone wrong sounds interesting to you then Late Shift is worth a look.

Final Verdict: Late Shift is a short but enjoyable attempt to make in interactive movie. Different outcomes and multiple endings help add some replayability.

Related Links:
Late Shift - GameFAQs
Late Shift for Xbox One- Microsoft Store
Late Shift for PC - Steam
CtrlMovie - Official Site 
Wales Interactive - Official Site
Late Shift Achievement Guide - Xbox Achievements
Late Shift - True Achievements

Sword and Hammer (XBLIG, 2011)

Sword and Hammer
Developed by BM Games
Released for XBLIG (1/2011)

Sword and Hammer comes from the long-lost genre of full-motion video games. These were big mostly back in the early '90's, just as compact discs were reaching consumers but was started back in the '80's by Dragon's Lair. The entire game is made up of quick-time events. The game will play a movie clip and when it's time for an event the action will pause and the screen will display the button you need to press to progress. If you take too long or press the wrong button you'll lose some of your life meter. Since the events are somewhat randomized, you'll have some playthroughs when you'll see the exact same footage several times before moving onto something else. The video quality is quite grainy, which in a way gives it that authentic old-school feel. The actors have some pretty cool armor suits and seemed excited to show it off for this game. The entire movie aspect of the game has a b-movie feel to it, which is the primary reason I enjoyed playing through this one. The game will only last about fifteen minutes and you should also take into account that you'll likely see the same footage several times over even just in a single playthrough. The game definitely would have benefited from some more footage to add a little variety, but as it is Sword and Hammer is kind of a neat throwback to a forgotten and often hated genre. The game used to retail at $2.99, but the price was later dropped to $1. As far as I can tell, this one never made it off XBLIG so it will be forgotten in time now that the service is dead.

Final Verdict: If you're one of those odd folks who enjoys full-motion video or quick-time event games, then Sword and Hammer is for you!

Related Links:
Sword and Hammer - GameFAQs