FMV: The Weirdest, Most Disrespected Genre in Gaming

Honoring the genre itself, I admittedly have no idea where this article will go. But, here it is: I want to talk about gaming’s most slept-on genre: the FMV game. Once upon a time, you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting some weird-ass, obscure full-motion video game. Night Trap, The 7th Guest, Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties (kinda), The Bunker, Ripper — just to name a few “universally known” titles!

Technically, FMV is more a “style” than a “genre,” but come on. It’s a genre. A woefully underrated one, at that! Immortality (yes, where I got the second photo in the main image up there) is legitimately one of gaming’s best-told stories ever. Like, ever. It’s the celebration of the marriage between “video game” and “cinema.” It’s high art. There are in-your-face storylines, and there are low-key storylines the game doesn’t even warn you about.

Although, to attempt to offer a synopsis of Immortality would ruin the journey of experiencing it. All I’ll say is this: it’s a crime the game won diddly-squat at the 2022 Game Awards. It was “nominated” or whatever, but the game legitimately deserves to be in a Video Game Hall of Fame. Or Museum. To be experienced for generations to come. Manon Gage, if you somehow ever see this: you’re a phenom. Don’t stop doing what you’re doing!

the fmv genre deserves your respect

I don’t want to hear “Oh, but they’re barely video games!” Shut. Up. Not for Broadcast broke me. Immortality shattered everything I thought I knew about how far the average FMV game could go in terms of storytelling and purpose. …However, there’s goofy Contradiction: Spot the Liar with my boy, Detective Jenks. Yeah, that’s homeboy throwing up the devil horns. I will present to you, with zero context, all the times in Contradiction when Jenks grills people over the devil horns. Please… enjoy.

Further, if you were to ask me why I love video games, I could open the file cabinet in my mind of all the beautifully weird, gross, and impactful FMV games that left an indelible mark on my soul. I played Contradiction almost a decade ago, and I can still vividly remember some poor man playing a wacky detective — nearly a whole Looney Tunes character against plain-faced actors and actresses. It’s marvelous.

and how could I forget ‘harvester’?

You always were a kidder, Steve. That’s it. No further context. Indeed, if you never listen to anything else I say? Play Contradiction. Experience Immortality. Embrace Harvester. Let Not for Broadcast rip out your soul and rearrange it as it did mine. And never besmirch the good name of the FMV genre ever again.