Gaming

Late Shift Review: An Interactive Live Action Thriller

Today let’s have a look at Late Shift. Late Shift is a live action, interactive movie/game. At Rotten Tomatoes it has a perfect score of 100%, which is pretty impressive, don’t you think?

The steam user reviews are also quite positive, with the users praising the acting, the well-written story and the varied endings.

Steam has been home to tons of interactive, story driven and choice based titles for a while now, the most notable being the Telltale games, The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us and so on, but Late Shift is a live action one, which is a first.


Late Shift is a high stakes FMV crime thriller. After being forced into the robbery of a lucrative auction house, mathematics student Matt is left proving his innocence in the brutal London heist. Your choices will have consequences from the very start, right through to the very end. One small decision could change the entire outcome in a choose your-own-adventure style gameplay that can lead to one of seven conclusions. Written by the author of Sherlock Holmes (2009 film), experience a gripping live-action crime thriller with a total of over 180 decision points. Do you steal the car or do you run away? Do you follow orders or sabotage the plan? You’ll have just seconds to decide as the film continues to roll with no pauses and no looping footage. Shot in full HD, Late Shift’s cinematic experience games and interactive storytelling. the line between movies, blends.


Late Shift – An Interactive Live Action Thriller

As for the story, it is decent enough, a bit cliche, yeah but this is kind of a first for the Steam Store, and to be fair it does get really intense at times, wherein the player is supposed to make quick decisions that might decide who lives and who dies, the player character included. The different paths and endings further add some replayability to the game.

It resembles Remedy’s recent Microsoft-exclusive, Quantum Break, but it sure as hell isn’t as expensive, and you ain’t supposed to be online for the entire thing. Oh and another thing, there is no definitive right or wrong as far as the decisions go and some gentlemen-ly-seeming decisions could get you or your associates killed, but boy, it really does test your morality.

It also tries to portray how many-a-times innocent people are sucked into the world of the rich and powerful, and either get absorbed into the underworld or just well…screwed.

There is one problem with this game, you can only start it from the very beginning, even after completing it, plus there is only one save slot, making it hard to go through all the paths without tediously restarting the entire game, multiple times.

What really impressed me about Late Shift though is that how seemingly minor choices have a major impact on the story, altering the subsequent sequences in a big way and its not even exaggerated, or far fetched. It is always justified and kinda makes you wonder if time travel was a thing in real life, there is nothing one couldn’t achieve.

Plus there are choices at every corner, and you have seconds to choose, so much so it gets very tense at times. I had to play it multiple times to get the best ending, and I had to forfeit a night’s sleep to do that which isn’t very pleasant, so do yourself a favor and if or when you play it, make logical decisions. (mercyhealthplex.com) Being a good guy or “trying to do the right thing” won’t always pay off, and might come back later on to kick you (or someone else) in the crotch .

“Some people say we are all connected, all part of a harmonious flow, endless and meaningful.  Maybe that’s what it looks like from a distance. But up close with eyes open, I see no evidence of any spiritual choreographer at work. No, I see nothing but the random fractals of a selfish, queen-less hive. Never looking, never stopping, never meeting…”

 

PROS

  • Intense Story.

  • Replay-ability.

  • Difficult Choices.

  • Soundtrack

  • Multiple Endings and Paths.

Cons

  • New Game can only be started from the very beginning.

Areej Syed

Processors, PC gaming, and the past. I have been writing about computer hardware for over seven years with more than 5000 published articles. Started off during engineering college and haven't stopped since. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Divinity, Torment, Baldur's Gate and so much more... Contact: areejs12@hardwaretimes.com.
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