There are several notable names that spring to mind when you hear the term “auteur”, such as Hideo Kojima, Goichi Suda (Suda51), Toby Fox, and Sam Lake (just to name a few). Under this same umbrella stands Sam Barlow, whose previous works, Her Story and Telling Lies, have been met with both critical acclaim and scrutiny, largely in part to his interactive film approach to video games. Even though I wasn’t overly enamored with Telling Lies, something about Immortality stood out to me. When it finally came onto the PS5, I decided to check it out once and for all. I can’t stress enough how glad I am that I gave it that chance.

Immortality follows the career of Marissa Marcel, an actress who starred in three films from the late 60s to the late 90s. However, none of the three films were ever released, and Marissa Marcel vanished from the spotlight without a trace. It’s up to you to figure out what happened to Marissa and those around her.

Following the same trend seen previously in Sam Barlow’s games, Immortality doesn’t provide a straightforward narrative. Instead, players will have to rely on match cuts (transitions that connect one scene to another) in order to unlock more clips. The entirety of the game is set up like a Moviola editing machine, where players can play, rewind, fast-forward, and pause to find key moments within each scene. Naturally, the more clips you uncover, the more of the story unfolds.

The bulk of the gameplay (at least at first) is watching whatever clip is freshly available, and pausing it to enter the Image Mode whenever there is something of interest onscreen. The trickiest part in the beginning is not knowing what exactly is a point of interest. This is where clicking on some of the more obvious things comes in handy, such as any of the actor’s faces. This will lead you other clips involving them with similar facial patterns, and while this doesn’t always lead to anything groundbreaking, it can open up the rest of a larger clip that you can glean more information from.

You’re not limited to just honing in on faces either. Just about everything in each scene across all three movies can connect to something. Does a piece of fruit look particularly scrumptious? Clicking on it might lead you to a bowl of fruit in another scene in a different film entirely. Curious about what someone is drinking? Zooming in on it in Image Mode might take you to another clip where someone is partaking in the same beverage. Nearly everything in Immortality connects, and when you find yourself running through loops of footage you’ve already seen before, try scrubbing through footage in reverse.

It’s hard to get into what makes Immortality truly remarkable without getting into heavy spoilers. All I’ll say is that what you’re tasked with in the beginning (getting to the bottom of what happened to Marissa Marcel), only scratches the surface of a much deeper story. There is so much content that’s hidden within the reels, that’s there’s essentially another narrative altogether. Much of this content is cleverly hidden, to the point that when I first stumbled upon something purely by accident, it was a delightfully shocking moment. I won’t discuss this further, as doing so would take away from the cleverness of the experience.

While this is an FMV game, I have to say that premise of watching actors perform in films across a few decades is a brilliant way to excuse the often times cheesy performances. The actors really feel like they’re in low budget films, for the most part, but they also have moments behind the scenes where they seem like real people. Some moments are playful and seductive, while others are raw and show the less than glamorous side of filmmaking. My only real complaint is with the incredibly cheap wigs that they put on Marissa (played by Manon Gage) in the latter two films. I get not wanting to cut her long mane of luxurious red hair in real life, but surely they could have done better than bargain bin party store wigs to outfit her in for the duration of the last two films.

Even though I wasn’t blown away by Her Story or Telling Lies, Immortality has proven itself to be Sam Barlow’s best work to date, by a landslide. On paper, this game might sound pretentious, but it is truly a piece of art. Immortality has captivated me in a way that few games in recent memory have. Even though I unlocked the “True Ending”, I still keep finding myself going back for more, and with each revisit, I do indeed find more secrets. Immortality won’t be to everyone’s liking, but for those of us who love a good mystery and narrative adventure, this game will get under your skin and have you thinking about it for a long time.

 

Graphics: 8.0 Another FMV game, but this time the low-budget costumes make much more sense, considering the context. There’s still no excusing some of those cheap party store wigs, though.	Gameplay: 8.0 At its surface, you’ll be splicing together bits of film from various projects to gain the full picture from each one. However, careful scrutiny of certain people/objects, as well as scrubbing back and forth are key to discovering everything there is find.
Sound: 9.0 The performances are purposefully cheesy at times, and subtly genuine when appropriate. The soundtrack is mostly neutral, but it can swell dramatically when there is something of importance taking place.	Fun Factor: 8.5 Immortality first presents itself as yet another Sam Barlow interactive film, but it becomes something else entirely after spending some time with it. What makes it truly excellent can’t be discussed without going into spoilers, though.
Final Verdict: 8.5

Immortality is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Reviewed on PS5.

A copy of Immortality was provided by the publisher.