’#WarGames’ Is a Unique, Interactive Revival of the ’80s Movie

The FMV videogame emerged in the late 1980s, and then died an ignoble death in the early 1990s. (Remember Night Trap?) Intended as a way to blend interactivity and live-action entertainment, FMV games (the acronym stands for "full motion video") were mostly awkward, stitched-together messes that, while fascinating, didn't have any sort of staying power. But in the past few years the genre has gotten a small, unlikely revival—one that unlocks its potential in a way the first wave never did.

Related Stories

Indeed, what's emerged now is something very different, a format more playful and more thoughtful than anything that surfaced back then. Case in point: #WarGames, an "interactive television" revival of Matthew Broderick's 1983 movie of (almost) same name. Created by Sam Barlow, an FMV pioneer and the developer behind 2015's mystifying Her Story, the game stars completely unknown talent and is just as odd, and just as promising, as you would expect.

In #WarGames, which you can stream online, Kelly's mother is a soldier killed in the line of duty, inspiring Kelly and a fellow group of hackers to engage in a crusade that takes them up against the military industrial complex, ensnaring them in a sprawling conspiracy world that ranges from broadcast news to drone warfare. To tell this story, #WarGames makes excellent use of diegetic video; cell phone cameras, webcams, surveillance footage, anything hackable with a lens becomes the eyes and ears of the viewer.

This, too, is where the interactivity comes in. As the story flows, different screens appear, and the viewer, watching on their computer, can choose which screen they want to focus on. Occasionally, these amount to clear binary choices that affect the plot, but more often than not they're simply a choice of attention. Will you center Kelly, the frustrated, idealistic protagonist? Her edgelord hacker friend? Her spiraling brother? The choices you make, as a viewer, are choices of interest. #WarGames wants to know who you care about.

What it does with this information is less clear. A line graph occupies the top of the monitor, changing based on what screen the player/viewer focuses on. This simple visual is meant to communicate #WarGames' central mechanical conceit, which is that these subjective choices of viewpoint subtly alter the story, changing Kelly's personality, shifting her own allegiances and interests to match your own.

[#video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/a4qWuTOOW2I