From Night Trap to Alan Wake 2: Exploring the highs and lows of live-action in gaming

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Movies and games have always had an ambivalent relationship. Gaming’s the new kid on the block, and it seems pathologically obsessed with clinging onto Hollywoodesque tropes and presentation styles. Nevertheless, with its flourishing popularity, the gaming industry does occasionally show deep-seated desires to forge an independent identity.

FMV games complicate the situation further. They’re not quite movies, as you’re invited to interact with the story. On the other hand, when you have live-action scenes in your game, it’s understandable to feel like you’re engaging with the work of folks who’d much rather be on film sets.

I watched "Sly".
When I was a kid, I wanted to make movies, but I couldn't. I had no friends. No money. No one to support me. Of course, I couldn't tell my parents or teachers. That's when I saw "Rocky”. If you don't have a role, you can write your own. Seeing the American dream… pic.twitter.com/qCUrYjEVfH

Stubbornly resistant to concrete categories, FMVs exist in a liminal space populated with both potential and pitfalls. Despite producing some of gaming’s earliest hits, this strange genre took a hiatus as creators set their sights on other forms of innovation. As the world turns, we often find ourselves back where we started, and that seems to be the case with FMV games that are slowly but surely being leveraged again.

To truly appreciate the art of FMV and its role in gaming, it’s useful to explore its history just to see how far things have come. For those of you who are new to the genre, welcome, and I hope you discover experiences that expand your perception of video games.

Using live-action videos in games used to be a staple during the medium’s early days. For many years, it was far cheaper