In the 80’s, the first full-motion video (FMV) wave appeared. Then, thanks to the popularity of the CD-ROM, it flourished in the 1990s. This success also came from the support of countless popular console systems at the time, such as 3DO, CD-i and SegaCD. However, due to many limitations in technology, plus gameplay brings low replay value, this game has gradually degenerated and completely disappeared up to now. Only in recent years, FMV games have been re-exported with significant improvements. Or at least that is also the case with Late Shift.
Late Shift brings players to student guy Matt Thomson. In addition to going to school, he protects the basement for a wealthy neighborhood with many cars in the evening. Matt’s life revolves when accidentally caught a robbery during night shift. Actually, content like Late Shift is not new, you can see many in Hollywood movies exploit this subject. But late shift is not just a movie or a game. In fact, you could call this a game with real-life footage, or a movie with interactivity. The player has just followed and made the decision to create complete content for the film.
Saying that Shift is an interactive movie is also true, which is called movie game is not wrong. With this specific genre, the gameplay of the game can not be easier. Players only track the movie and make the choices on the screen appear. Depending on how the movie will be connected to each other to create content. These decisions will help guide the plot to the end of the film. There are all seven different endings, and in it there is only one “beautiful” end in the literal sense.
In the past, FMV games were designed to wait for the player’s choice before moving on to the new scene. In the meantime, the game is often “to rewind” a clip, such as a smoker or looks at the nail etc., is quite boring. Late Shift has solved this problem by designing a meaningless waiting timeout. If you do not make a selection within the allowed time, the movie content will continue. I do not know if it’s done in a pre-arranged scenario, but with a pretty fast paced movie, it’s unlikely to make it all the way.
In fact, the options wait for players to pick up time is extremely short. Usually you only have a few seconds to make a decision, but all are difficult situations. Continuous on-screen progress, it is not easy to make any important selection in that short time. On the design side, this creates an attraction the player to experience the content from beginning to end. With the fast paced, obvious “you do not decide to make this game” can not satisfy all players. But think a little bit, it is the price difference so that you do not have to watch the “waiting movie” repeated boring.
I personally quite like this design. It forces the player to always place himself in the character’s position, with pressure not small between the important choices. As for moviegoers, this design allows you to enjoy the movie relatively completely without any interaction. Interesting?
Although Late Shift was beginning to be dramatic, the content was too fast. Actually, bottlenecks are important to any story. And how it is opened will determine whether the story is compelling. Unfortunately, the content in Late Shift is quite intensive, the knot has just opened and jumped to the new knot. The progress so quickly that I constantly swept the circuit, not feel anything. On the face of the receptor, it accidentally destroys the story of the game.
Matt Thomson character played by Joe Sowerbutts. Of all the films you have done, I have never seen a movie before. Also in Late Shift, Joe Sowerbutts’s role was good. However, due to the texture of the content, or maybe directed by the director, most of the way to the end of the film you only make the decision to solve the problem for Matt. But not to the point that character Matt Thomson “self-acting” from beginning to end, but if more focus on other characters will be better. On the other hand, the rushes but Late Shift does not add funny moments, fun to create more “life color” for the game. In a sense, my experience is not satisfied. It was halfway up and quickly ended before I could feel the content.
Late Shift has a total of seven different “ending”. It means that the player’s decisions will push the story in different directions, impacting not so little on the outcome of the content. The beauty of the game is that building a good interaction, the player or the viewer is unpredictable. Which choice will lead to the situation? This design makes you always have to consider every decision. But because of the relatively short duration, it is usually only a sensory choice. This is probably also a way to create replay value for the game. For the first time, I could not get the “happy ending”. After a one-off experience, knowing in advance what content I can make a landmark decision, pushes the story in a new direction. In other words, the manufacturer of Late Shift has deftly engineered every option has the same weight, bringing the gameplay value back to what the previous FMV games did not do.
In life, choices make up people and their lives. It is difficult to know how they affect the future of each person. The decisions of each person in life are very important turn that everyone at least once face in life. That’s what you will learn in Late Shift.
Late Shift is currently available on PC platforms, Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One, iOS, and Apple TV. The PC configuration requires a 2.4GHz Core i3 / AMD A6 CPU, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 / AMD Radeon HD 5750 GPU, and 7500 MB free space.