With the advent of the CD-ROM, game console manufactures could not wait to bring the new
medium to gamers.
Companies touted how the vastly increased storage space would bring new experiences
to market.
Unfortunately, this also ushered in the era of Full Motion Video, or FMV for short.
While initially selling well, and receiving decent critical acclaim, it turned out to
be a fad.
And by the end of the 90’s, the genre was all but dead.
Now, I’m not biggest fan of FMV games but one can’t deny the impact they had on gaming,
which is still felt to this day.
Things like quick time events still linger in blockbuster titles, and many games still
utilize voice actors and plenty of scripted sequences, to tell a story.
And this all began with FMV.
So to celebrate a bygone genre I present 5 Full Motion Video, games.
They very first FMV game I ever played was Sewer Shark for the Sega CD.
This was a pack-in game with my model 2 system, and I suspect for many console gamers, this
was their entry point as well.
Sewer Shark takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where humans are forced to live under
ground.
Sort of like the Matrix.
Your new job is as a sewer jockey and it is your duty to rid the sewers of ratigators,
bats, and other critters for the sake of humanity.
Along the way, a robot, which reminds of me of guilty spark, barks out directions you
must follow in the sewers.
If you take a wrong turn, or fail to turn, you’ll eventually hit a dead end and die.
Immediately after dying, the credits roll and you have to start all over.
While playing this twisted game of Simon, you also have to shoot at the pests found
in the sewers, which become more deadly as the game progresses.
It’s semi-interesting from a gameplay perspective but plays about as simple as it looks.
Thankfully, the acting is simply sensational.
Every character from your co-pilot Ghost to Commissioner Stenchler overacts in the most
amazing way and I can’t help but smile every time I fire this up.
Sewer Shark was later ported to the 3DO with beefed up visuals but the low-res grainy Sega
CD graphics do have a certain charm.
While it’s certainly not the greatest game I’ve ever played, it’s also far from the
worst, and a good starting point for any FMV collection.
If you happen to own both a Sega CD and Sega 32x, you can play one of the 5 Sega CD 32X
games made for this configuration.
These are all ports of existing games but do feature a higher resolution as well as
more on-screen colors.
Here we have Corpse Killer developed by Digital Pictures, the same folks behind Sewer Shark.
You play the role of a marine dropped onto a tropical island to stop the evil Dr. Hellman
and his army of zombies.
This really should be played with a light gun but I don’t currently have a way to
do this so I’m using the standard controller.
Anyway, the core of the game is shooting some ridiculous looking zombies as you travel around
the tropical island collecting goodies and assisting two other characters.
First we have a stereotypical Rastafarian who helps keep everything moving along with
plot points and gameplay tips.
Second we have a journalist who is working to uncover the government’s role in Dr.
Hellman’s zombie apocalypse plans.
Both characters are incredibly likable and are really the highlight of the game.
Corpse Killer was also released on the Sega CD, Sega Saturn, 3DO, Mac and possibly Windows,
but I couldn't find a box to confirm this claim.
Someday I’ll track down the appropriate light gun, as this doesn't work with Konami’s
justifier, and play this game the way it was intended.
Until then I’ll enjoy the over the top acting and some of videogame’s worst zombies.
Next up is Chaos Control on everybody’s favorite game console, the CD-i.
It was also available on DOS, Mac, Saturn, and PlayStation, which may be better options
as the CD-i version requires the expensive Digital Video Cartridge.
Chaos Control was actually developed by Infogrames, making it even more surprising it made it
to the nearly dead CD-i in 1995.
Unlike the Digital Pictures games, Chaos Control takes itself a bit more seriously with rather
amazing voice acting and a decent mix of hand drawn, and CG, graphics.
Chaos Control takes place near the end of a war which the humans were last defeated
while defending Mars.
Now the alien invaders have their sights set on Earth and it’s up to us to finally defeat
them.
The gameplay itself is extremely simple.
Basically, there is a video streaming and you shoot designated spots on the video.
If you hit them, a smoke sprite moves along the screen, but the enemies are still there,
on the video.
It’s kind of jarring at times as the smoke sprites will block other enemies you haven’t
hit yet, and if you wipe out an enemy early on, you sit there and watch as the smoke moves
across the screen.
The occasional boss battles are even more awkward as you might be sitting there for
a dozen seconds are so waiting for the boss video sequence to end.
Still, it’s not all bad and plays remarkably well using the CD-i mouse.
The story is coherent and again the highlight of the game.
It sets up the next area you have to fight, including New York City, a cyber-network,
and even space.
The ending is satisfying and the game is rather short, which is a good thing since the gameplay
is so basic.
This one is fairly cheap on the CD-i, and while not the best game on the platform, it
is definitely worth a look if you happen to own one.
Moving onto the next-generation of game consoles is Cyberia on the 3DO.
This was released on pretty much every game console and home computer of the day so I
won’t bother to list them all.
If I had to use one word to describe this game, it would be ambitious.
The developers at Xatrix seemed dead set on pushing FMV to its limits with Cyberia and
used every trick in the book to create a unique interactive experience.
There are multiple pathways to traverse, interactions with buttons, light puzzle elements, plenty
of on rails shooting, and even some cover-based shooting.
Like I said, the developers really did throw everything they could think of, at the genre.
Of course, being an FMV game there is a lengthy story here.
You play the role of a cyber-hacker who has been pardoned by the First World Alliance
to infiltrate an enemy Cartel base.
It’s a classic cold war, East vs. West plot, with plenty of cyber punk mixed in for good
measure.
Unlike the previous three games, Cyberia is probably best played with a guide.
It isn’t always obvious where to go, and traversing the wrong way will often result
in instant death.
The puzzles too can be confusing and having a guide available will be invaluable.
Hardcore types may frown upon this, but I don’t find the gameplay mechanics worthy
of the headaches a guide-free experience would entail.
But back on topic, Cyberia is an interesting game with some great ideas.
The story is adequate and the set pieces for the most part look terrific.
If you keep your expectations in check, you might find a clever moment or two worthy of
your time.
Wrapping things up is my favorite FMV game to date, Kenji Eno’s D.
This game takes a different approach to the genre, instead aiming to be an interactive
movie.
Even more interesting is the adventure takes place in the first person, putting you right
into the middle of the experience.
The game opens with a cinematic explaining a man has gone mad and taken hostages at a
local hospital.
His daughter Laura arrives at this scene and is allowed in.
From here, the hospital transforms into a castle and the adventure begins.
Being an FMV game, you don’t have the freedom to wander around, but there are enough scripted
paths to choose letting you navigate easily without feeling too restricted.
Soon enough you’ll discover you can interact with various items and start making progress.
Basically, one item will unlock the next and so on until the area is cleared.
There are light puzzle elements thrown in as well, and unlike Cyberia, these are much
simpler and less confusing.
Still, D isn’t without its flaws and again I would recommend using a guide if you find
yourself stuck.
D doesn’t contain any checkpoints or save points, so if you fail to complete the adventure
in two hours, you die and the game ends.
The eerie sound stage, epic score, cheap jump scares, dark story, and exceptional ending
all add up for a must try if you're mildly interested in horror games or the FMV genre,
and D is the perfect game to close out this video.
So there you have it, 5 full motion video games spanning some of gaming’s most notorious
hardware.
Now this is not a definitive list, and certainly not a best of, and there were hundreds of
FMV games released during the 90’s, so be sure to leave a comment, and let me know some
of your favorites.