She Sees Red (2019)

Не успеет игра начаться, как ее зритель уже вовсю смотрит в рот. И пока одни увидят под этим лишь буквальный спойлер, другие оценят фразеологизм в значении «прикованный вниманием». Зрелищная картинка, динамика на протяжении всего хронометража и даже наличие достойных экшен-сцен. Но самый сок, пожалуй, в атмосфере и вытекающем из него напряжении. Благодаря параллельному повествованию герой и игрок оказываются словно меж двух огней. Впереди их ждет неизвестность еще не раскрывшегося сюжета, а также непрогнозируемые последствия принимаемых решений. Но они обязаны туда спешить на свой страх и риск, поскольку в настоящем их вот-вот нагонит шанс быть пойманным.

Однако ветвистостью своих выборов игра похвалиться не может, из-за чего быстро проходится и теряет в реиграбельности. После двух получасовых заходов некогда завораживающее приключение становится рутинным «Что, если?», где игроку только и остается что разыскивать оставшиеся сцены. Отличий в них минимум, а сюжетный вес идентичен оригиналу, из-за чего о новой концовке можно и не грезить.

И тут уже не «Она сердится», а сам зритель, ведь удовольствие было чересчур скоротечным. Первые эмоции не вернуть, Типси Типу в касте больше не удивиться, красотой здешних актрис вновь не заглядеться, а голосом Татьяны Шитовой уж не заслушаться. Вот и остается напоследок лишь согревающее чувство радости за своих, собравших такую классную, но все же эфемерную игру.

Gameplay: 8 Graphics: 8 Longevity: 3 Personal Impression: 5 Final vote: 5

I really like the genre. Aesthetically it is very beautiful. The story is engaging. The multiple choices open up many possibilities, including original ones. Unfortunately, some problems do not allow it to reach sufficiency. The Italian translation is bad, it would have been better with google translate. The game is really short: about half an hour. With replayability an hour. The conclusion could have been better; it feels like a first part of something that is not continued, however. There are some good elements and the idea is compelling. I really hope the team works further in this direction because there is potential.

Very brief, but as well shot and satisfying an FMV story as I've encountered. Its modest ambition as interactive entertainment won't bother you whilst you're consumed by its scenes. I see potential.

Trying not to spook your electrician when you bring him a cup of tea.

FMV used to strike us as a glimmer of the future - gamified cinema. Or, as it's mostly worked out, cinema-ed gaming. With gaming reaching for photorealism like a Michelangelo painting and cinema and TV without a novel mainstream gimmick since 3D, it seemed obvious that we'd be lounging into quilted fabric and plunging our meat digits onto greasy choose-your-own-adventure armrest-integrated buttons in only a matter of time. Time has a way of dulling the sheen on progress for progress's sake. Perhaps, unless there's a major edge to be gained from the disruption, a solid story told straightforwardly can't be beaten?

She Sees Red as an interactive short film doesn't entirely justify its format, but it does flirt with it. Running a blazing thirty minutes a playthrough, it succeeds in being the most cinematographically impressive game in its space. Within minutes you are assured of its lack of compromise in its interesting shots and transitions, vivid colours, great staging, subtle acting flourishes and impressive fighting choreography in all its playthrough permutations. My only recommendation to get the most out of it is to avoid the English dub and rely on the subtitles. You can perfectly imagine it being released with no interactive elements at all. Something for which is both a compliment but ever so slightly damning too.

Cracking the case so hard you'll be eating omelettes for a month.

She Sees Red's claim to interactivity is the bare minimum in timed binary choices. Miss a choice and it will even select one for you, so you can always kick back if you so wish. Where She Sees Red really surprises is in its framing. We follow a dual-narrative of a hooded figure carving his way through nightclub personnel towards an unknown objective and a female detective guiding the owner and his bodyguards after the fact through how events must have played out. Ingeniously, player choices shape ONLY the hooded figure's actions and the detective reacts in turn. It's this intriguing setup that helps justify She Sees Red as an interactive endeavour.

Whilst the number of meaningful scene splits is fairly limited and there should really be a scene skip function, obtaining all four endings is well worth the effort to get a full grip of the story. It's brief enough that replaying doesn't hold the same mental barrier it otherwise would. Whilst an hour and thirty minutes of scenes is on offer, the essential playthroughs won't be comprehensive and it's not worth the effort. Most importantly to me, thanks to the intelligible use of cause and effect on more than one occasion, you can steer towards scenes/endings you want to see play out. Unlike some Telltale games, for instance, it doesn't cheat you out of consequences by having every electron in the universe shift to put you back on exactly the same track (with one exception). It all builds to a resolution that can initially be confusing due to the presentation throughout but then hits with a greater impact than a thirty-minute story has any right to. The pervading tension and excellent production values throughout hold it together, but its the final five minutes that completes the bow.

The toughest choice of all.

As a value proposition, even at its cheaper price point, an intense appreciation of FMV games is a must to equipoise its abruptness. As a fan of the genre myself, She Sees Red is as well shot and satisfying an FMV story as I've encountered. Its modest ambition as interactive entertainment won't bother you whilst you're fully immersed in its economy shower of intrigue. In She Sees Red I see potential.