PlayStation users can finally experience one of the most bizarre and fascinating experiences that a video game can offer recently. The most recent work by Sam Barlow and his studio Half-Mermaid has long been available for Xbox, PC and even mobile phone platforms. The wait to be able to play it on the Sony console was quite long. I already played the awesome Immortality on PS5 and in this review I will tell you why you have to do the same.
If you’re not familiar with Sam Barlow’s titles since he went independent —Her Story, Telling Lies and what I’m talking about today—you should know that They are works that use videos recorded with real actors and the gameplay consists of watching and analyzing what happens in these videos to unravel a plot. They have quite unusual gameplay that has made some even insist on saying that they are not video games, but they are wrong. They are video games and in fact they are some of the most interesting that have been made in recent years.
In the late ’60s and early ’70s, a beautiful actress named Marissa Marcel starred in two films that were never released. She moved away from the spotlight to appear in another film almost 30 years later, but this one did not reach the public’s eyes either. Then she disappeared forever. What happened to Marissa Marcel and why did we never see the movies about her? It’s time to find out.
In Immortality We are in charge of a restoration project of the mysterious actress’s films. We have hundreds of raw videos from all three of her films, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews. When we are watching a video we can fast forward or rewind it as if we were working with a slow motion. The only way to move to a new video is by selecting an object or face to make a ‘match-cut’ or continuity cut to another random scene containing the same actor or element.
Through this curious mechanics we discover in disarray the plot of the three films. These are the gothic-religious drama Ambrosiobased on the novel The monk; the police thriller Minsky; and the nineties drama Two of everything. We also know the behind-the-scenes conditions of these films and… something else.
At some points during our exploration of the videos we will hear a strange sound and feel a vibration in the controller. If at these moments we rewind the tapes at the correct speed, we will discover that there is something much more mysterious about dear Miss Marcel and her films..
Putting together the puzzle of what happened in each movie in our heads is already a satisfying experience, but the implementation of the secret scenes turns this game into something much more special. The mechanics of continuity breaks and the chance that means we don’t know what we are going to find makes Immortality quickly become addictive. But it can get a little frustrating later on, especially for completists.
Art cinema
All scenes of Immortality They are recorded with real actors. That means that Sam Barlow and his team practically filmed three complete films with their respective behind-the-scenes material. The truly surprising thing is that Each of the films has such a high level of production and such good performances that I really wanted to be able to see each film. The set design, costumes, makeup and photography are done according to the era represented. Ambrosio It reminded me a lot of The Devils by Ken Russell and Minsky is very similar to Klute by Alan Pakula.
Not only do they seem like good movies in themselves, but the way their themes reflect what is happening with Marissa and her “mystery” behind the scenes works perfectly. Not only that, but they are also metaphors for the evolution of the film medium. As we discover more about each film, we see how the relationship between the actors and the directors changed, such as the era of “auteurs” in the seventies and the desire to break away from the studio system in the nineties.
But above all, This is a film about the relationship between artists and their work.
All of this works perfectly thanks to the talent of the actors. Manon Gage and Charlotta Mohlin—who play Marissa Marcel and [spoiler] respectively—do a spectacular job. Gage is fantastic not only as the actress, but in the multiple roles she plays. But it’s Mohlin who steals the show with her penetrating gaze and bizarre attitude.
Before I forget it! I cannot continue this review without warning you that Immortality contains scenes with high sexual content. It’s a surprise that he avoided ‘Adults only’ age classification.
What happened to Marissa Marcel?
The story of Marissa and her films is fascinating, but the secret scenes hidden in the footage are even more so. They tell a magical and tragic story with an ambiguous narrative that will remind many of some works by David Lynch. This is not strange, since Barlow himself cites the excellent Mulholland Drive as one of his inspirations.
Since not all players encountered these scenes in the same order and at the same pace—it is even possible to reach the game’s credits without seeing them all—players created groups on forums, Discord, and Reddit to share their discoveries, analyze the scenes, and discuss to put together the mystery puzzle of the game. That was an important part of the game experience that we PlayStation players missed, because now that Immortality finally came out on PS5, it is practically resolved and it doesn’t seem like there are any more secrets left to discover.
Even without that community experience, Immortality It is quite an experience and it is worth trying to solve it even alone, although that can be somewhat frustrating. As I already said, we don’t know which video we will fall into when we make a continuity cut. That means that, when we have already discovered most of the scenes, releasing new scenes becomes a repetitive and boring process. I have continued playing for several hours after seeing the credits and I am still missing several key scenes. Completists who want to watch all the videos and get the Platinum trophy are going to have to prepare for this.
A real video game
Some video games are widely criticized for the alleged abuse of video sequences—commonly called ‘cinematics’—since these do not take advantage of the interactivity that defines them. It is ironic that a title like Immortalityentirely composed of ‘cinematics’ be an experience that could not be experienced in any other medium other than video games. Not only is it a great story, but it is one defined by our interaction with it. This is one of those titles that shows that video games offer many more possibilities outside of the traditional ones that ask us to run, jump and shoot.
The experience offered by this title makes Immortality in a unique video game. It is a captivating story that we have to put together ourselves while facing an even bigger mystery that is hidden in the same videos. The high quality of the acting and production design behind the fake movies we see in the game elevate it to the level of “work of art.” Of course, we recommend that once you feel satisfied with what you have discovered about history, you leave it behind. Chasing the Platinum trophy is no fun.
This Immortality review is based on a PS5 digital copy of the game provided by Half-Mermaid Productions. The game is also available for Xbox One, Series X|S, PC, Mac, and iOS and Android mobile devices. It is also available for Netflix users.