Immortality is the new FMV game from Sam Barlow. This is Sam’s third FMV game, preceded by Her Story and Telling Lies. It’s important to note these past two games because there is nothing else to Immortality can be compared to.
Sam Barlow has a unique way of creating FMV games. Rather than present information to you in a traditional linear format, the entire Story is searchable from the get-go, with vignettes uncovered based on how you play.
Immortality keeps this same mechanic, with a few exceptions. This time, you are not searching key terms but clicking on items or faces in that scene that will bring you to another scene. This is all done through the films of a lost movie star whose starring roles never saw the light of day.
The Story of Immortality is Barlow’s best, which isn’t surprising, seeing the additional screenwriting talent he brought in. Allan Scott, Amelia Gray, and Barry Gifford all assisted in writing the Story of Marissa Marcel’s forgotten career.
Half the enjoyment is discovering each film's plot. Ambrosio is based on The Monk. Hitchcock's demanding nature inspires the director. Marissa portrays his Muse in the 1970s criminal thriller Minsky. And Two of Everything is a late-90s sexual thriller about a pop diva and her body double.
Immortality's spontaneous storytelling is its magic trick. Barlow's previous two games were flawed. Scenes had exposition dumps. Since you might find any scene out of order, you could learn big revelations early. Without context, the revelations rarely made sense.