FMV, My Sweet

Written by Marek Bronstring — August 7, 2007 at 00:56

Fate By Numbers is an English language full-motion video (FMV) game where you play as a private investigator in a futuristic city. It is also the graduation project of four students in Communication and Multimedia Design at Breda, the Netherlands. On a minimal budget, they have recreated the FMV era of adventure gaming, where actors of varying talent were filmed in front of a bluescreen, and the grainy footage then composited into 3D-rendered environments.

In Fate By Numbers, you take on the role of Alice Sanger, P.I. Having accepted a dubious but lucrative job from a mysterious client, you soon find yourself with a bullet hole through your lung and a strong determination to find out what is going on. How far up does the conspiracy go, and how is your ex-husband, previously missing, presumed dead, involved?

With her fifties-styled flying car, her broken marriage and her self-deprecating attitude, the hat-wearing, chain-smoking, hard-drinking Alice Sanger could be Tex Murphy's little sister. And that's not a bad family resemblance to have. Fate By Numbers is available from its official web site in two sizes: one 800 MB version and one 1.2 GB version with higher quality video. The game is relatively short for such a big download, but players who are nostalgic for Under a Killing Moon or black and white films noir will not regret the time spent. Others may want to check out the trailer.