FMVs continue to represent an interesting method of storytelling. While the interactivity might vary from game to game, I’d argue they are ultimately neither a film nor a game, but a fascinating blend of the two. Ideally, which way they lean more heavily towards ought to be a result of the story it’s telling. What’s interesting is seeing what happens when an FMV leans the wrong way for the particular story it’s telling.

I just want to know how her ponytail still looks that good. Mine never looks that good.

The Complex is an FMV, or essentially, a choose your own adventure film. It follows the story of Amy, a researcher researching the potential of nanocells as a universal panacea. When her nanocells are stolen from her lab, however, she finds herself thrust into the midst of a heist, an international conspiracy, and a bevy of moral dilemmas.

Much like any other FMV, the gameplay is less centred around movement or gameplay as such, but rather on making choices and watching their consequences play out. The Complex, specifically, focuses on Amy’s relationship with those around her, and uses those relationships to shape which scenes play and how storybeats play out. While the decision points are ordinarily quicktime events - and I played the game with them as such - there is the option to pause these events and deliberate on the options.

Space, space, gotta go to space

I’ll get it out of the way - there is a lot about the plot of the Complex that makes no sense. The science makes no sense. The set-up makes no sense. There are logical skips and jumps that don’t follow from one another, plot threads that go nowhere, and the occasional plot hole that has to be dodged. Storywise, it is not the greatest story ever told, nor does it always make sense. It’s a story that asks for disbelief to not only be suspended, but perhaps airlifted out of the picture entirely for its own safety.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, nor do I think it’s particularly the game’s fault. A certain amount of disjointedness is inevitable when a story has to incorporate a myriad of different choices a player might make at any given time. Indeed, the Complex does a fairly good job of remaining coherent within the understanding that players’ choices might go any number of ways.

What is a bit more problematic is the shallowness of the choices presented, or the presentation of a false choice.

I’ll be honest, this is a lot of numbers, and I don’t necessarily know how I got to any of them.

Part of the game’s mechanics is Amy’s personality and her relationship with those around her. Interestingly, despite the game’s plot being a high stakes action plot, the game itself remains fairly concerned with how Amy relates to those around her, and how her choices relate to them specifically. It’s never particularly clear how any given choice moves these stats, or what a choice actually entails. Seemingly minor choices that make sense in the moment might have outsize consequences, with no indication to the player that they might do so. As an example, the choice of whether or not to undress in front of a male colleague apparently has potentially as large an impact on Amy’s relationship with him as choosing whether or not to save him later. For a game that focuses so heavily on player choice, not making it clear what the impact of that choice is, or even what action stems from it limits how meaningful that choice can actually feel.

Similarly, on multiple occasions, I made a choice, only to have the game railroad me into the opposite choice. I would choose to accept a phone call, only for my companion to reject the call. While I again understand there are a limited number of strands the story can follow, presenting a false decision point raises the question of what the distinction in all the other decision points actually is. It makes all subsequent decisions feel less meaningful, as there’s always the lingering suspicion that nothing I choose makes a difference either way.

I think they forgot the whiteboard that lets them talk to the aliens.

Still, I can’t deny that I had a lovely time with the Complex. As silly as its story might get, and as shallow as the decision points are, it still presents its mishmash of a story well, and immerses the player in the world. The world never felt quite believable, but that didn’t mean it felt meaningless. The Complex fills the same niche as a popcorn action movie - fast fun that flashes by, hoping the viewer doesn’t dig in deeper, but knowing that it doesn’t matter either way.

Developer: Wales Interactive

Genre: Fmv

Year: 2020

Country: United Kingdom

Language: English

Play Time: 1.5-2 Hours

Youtube: https://youtu.be/qGk50dr6miI