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Late Shift is outstanding (PS4)

fvng

fvng

Member
Never thought I'd love an FMV game again but here we are. Bought it on a whim on PSN last night, played with a group of friends and had a blast. The production values and writing are very professional and it never feels cheap. Haven't seen any other threads on this game but it deserves its own thread. The story is good enough where if it was released in theatres as a traditional film, I would have easily paid to see it. If you're into British crime films then this will be up your alley as well.

Anyone else dive in on this game? I'm looking forward to future playthroughs. I hope there are more games like this, for $10 I felt like I got more than my money's worth.


(it's on PS4, Xbox, Steam, iOS)

PS4 Announcement Trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFXPQmrfY5w

ngUr80L.jpg
 
Yep, it is. Our review talked a fair bit about what it did right, too. Late Shift was made by the same dev who made The Bunker (Wales Interactive). Late Shift has more replay value and the choices matter more, which is good.

Younger gamers won't know how awesome FMV back then. It was mind blogging to see actual people in games way back during the SEGA CD days.
 
excaliburps said:
Yep, it is. Our review talked a fair bit about what it did right, too. Late Shift was made by the same dev who made The Bunker (Wales Interactive). Late Shift has more replay value and the choices matter more, which is good.

Younger gamers won't know how awesome FMV back then. It was mind blogging to see actual people in games way back during the SEGA CD days.
Click to expand...

The only FMV games I liked back in the day were Night Trap, Under A Killing Moon, and Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within, but it's great to see it being done well and taken seriously. There is no cheesy or tongue in cheek acting here. No campy storyline. Feels almost like a Guy Richie film when he was good.

(Not that there is anything wrong with campy FMV games, I think they're fun, but its nice to see one not done on a shoestring budget)
 
I'm looking forward to checking this out once I've dug myself out of this persona-shaped hole. I've had a soft spot for FMV games since the CD-ROM adventure titles of the 90s, but this seems like it carves a very modern niche of its own.
 
Hyun Sai said:
Define "Hollywood tiers" in term of writing. Because I just saw Kong in theater this week, and well...
Click to expand...

I would define it as obviously being done by professionals who knew what they were doing. the writing is great and isn't cringe. I saw Kong, and this is definitely better than Kong, haha. I edited Hollywood Tier to Professional because that's more in line with what I meant.
 
Friend of mine was talking this up last night so I grabbed the XB1 version (think the launch discount runs for another week). Figure for $10 it was worth giving the game a chance; I do love me some FMV.
 
Hadn't heard of this but I might give it a try. I used to love FMV games in the Sega CD era. In fact, my favorite game of all time is Tomcat Alley.
 
The Bunker was good. Glad to see the dev back.
 
This looks like it's worth trying, but unironic affection for 90s FMV games is catching me off guard. I'm all for respecting varying dregrees of taste, but that principal has limits people.
 
Think I might get this. I like how you don't have to do the boring stuff that's typical of a Telltales game like walking around and looking at an object when it really doesn't add anything to the experience since they aren't puzzle games.
 
It's one of the most polished cinematic film games out there, but functioning as a game, I had several problems with it.

-Terrible audio mixing: I had to turn on subtitles at the beginning due to the inability to hear the protagonist's opening monologue. The score overrides the dialogue multiple times throughout the game.
-Inadequate interactivity: Despite labeling itself as an FMV adventure game, there's little adventure at all. You're not actively picking which directions to go in an area or choosing more than taking Door #1 or Door #2 a select number of times. FMV adventure games are games, but this feels less like a game than anything I've played.
-No scene selection (PC; seems to be only on Apple TV version): There are seven endings to the game, but no fucking way am I going to play through 70-90 minutes at a time to see them all. It's absolute insanity this isn't included.
-Too on-the-nose dialogue: The protagonist, simply named Matt, is obsessed with probabilities, mathematics, and game theory. This realm of consciousness is brought up constantly in an increasingly aggressive, non-subtle manner.
-Substandard acting: Richard Durden does a great job, but he was criminally underused. I understand due to the miniscule budget ($1.5 million for filming), but everyone else comes off as second-rate.
-Story spoiler
Forced romance option: Your character is kidnapped at gunpoint by a group that all but perishes, except for one woman. When you two are on the run, you will suddenly fall in love with each other because you're a guy and she's a girl.
It's so inexplicably forced for plot contrivance.

I appreciate the thought and effort put into creating this game, and I feel like it's an excellent first step towards an action FMV film, but too often people overlook numerous red flags that are present in service of appreciation for the genre.

Try out Contradiction instead.
 
biggersmaller said:
This looks like it's worth trying, but unironic affection for 90s FMV games is catching me off guard. I'm all for respecting varying dregrees of taste, but that principal has limits people.
Click to expand...

Depends on which FMV games you were playing. Gabriel Knight 2 won game of the year and it's excellent. Under A Killing Moon was awesome as well (Not surprised a sequel was successfully funded on Kickstarter). Stuff like Night Trap is appreciated on an MST3K level for sure, I dont think anyone actually thinks the story or acting is good.
 
McDougles said:
It's one of the most polished cinematic film games out there, but functioning as a game, I had several problems with it.

-Terrible audio mixing: I had to turn on subtitles at the beginning due to the inability to hear the protagonist's opening monologue. The score overrides the dialogue multiple times throughout the game.
-Inadequate interactivity: Despite labeling itself as an FMV adventure game, there's little adventure at all. You're not actively picking which directions to go in an area or choosing more than taking Door #1 or Door #2 a select number of times. FMV adventure games are games, but this feels less like a game than anything I've played.
-No scene selection (PC; seems to be only on Apple TV version): There are seven endings to the game, but no fucking way am I going to play through 70-90 minutes at a time to see them all. It's absolute insanity this isn't included.
-Too on-the-nose dialogue: The protagonist, simply named Matt, is obsessed with probabilities, mathematics, and game theory. This realm of consciousness is brought up constantly in an increasingly aggressive, non-subtle manner.
-Substandard acting: Richard Durden does a great job, but he was criminally underused. I understand due to the miniscule budget ($1.5 million for filming), but everyone else comes off as second-rate.
-Story spoiler
Forced romance option: Your character is kidnapped at gunpoint by a group that all but perishes, except for one woman. When you two are on the run, you will suddenly fall in love with each other because you're a guy and she's a girl.
It's so inexplicably forced for plot contrivance.
Click to expand...

I would have hated this if it was bogged down by 'choose which direction you want to go to' it would have completely hurt the fluidity of the story if you had to stop to make decisions on where you'd be walking to. I think giving a time limit on choices is done in service of keeping the flow of the story going, and it works.

Agreed on audio mixing issues, only experienced it during one scene
the kissing scene between the two protagonists and was confused how they overlooked that

I thought the acting was great, can't co-sign on your complaints on that. All of it was believable to me....

as was the romance... I didn't really roll my eyes when
they started making out
I bought that there would be some attraction between the two of them throughout the night.

I just read that this was the director's first film which is fucking mind boggling to me.


cj_iwakura said:
I'm planning on it unless someone beats me to it.
Click to expand...

Please do
 
Isn't it also available on PC? And even mobile?

McDougles's post makes it sound disappointing though. I wish it was more like Contradiction.
 
nynt9 said:
Isn't it also available on PC? And even mobile?

McDougles's post makes it sound disappointing though. I wish it was more like Contradiction.
Click to expand...

I think iOS. Not sure about PC. I disagree with half of McDougles' points, most of what he said is pretty subjective. Objectively speaking there was some head scratching audio mixing oversights a couple of times.

For ten bucks you can't go wrong, I spend that much at chipotle, haha
 
I played this last night with my wife and mother in law and it was fantastic. We all enjoyed it and will definitely try another way later today. Only criticism I have is that once played through, previously viewed scenes can't be fast forwarded.

Absolutely loved this though and hope more appear on psn. Want the bunker now
 
Yeah I got to check this out.

Smax said:
Isn't this that unoptimised mess that runs at 24fps throughout the entire campaign? Even on PS4 Pro?
Click to expand...

Isn't 24fps the standard for movies though?

Edit: Fell for that like a ton of bricks, Smax lol
 
oh nice, I didn't know they brought this to ps4 and xbone!
Sw it at the movies last year. I imagine it's more fun with friends only, though!
 
Playing The Bunker with friends at this minute, fantastic production values for an FMV game. Will definitely get Late Shift afterwards.
 
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