Quarantine Gaming – The Complex Impressions

The Complex is an interactive sci-fi thriller movie, in the same vein as games like Late Shift, The Bunker and Her Story.

After a major bio-weapon attack on London, two scientists find themselves in a locked-down laboratory with time, and air, running out. With choose-your-own-path game-play, your actions and your relationship with other characters will lead you to one of eight suspenseful endings.

You take on the character  of Dr. Amy Tenant, having treated the victims of a chemical attack in the totalitarian state of Kindar in the past, now you are a leader in the advancement of Nanocell Technology. Now, in London, news breaks of a blood-vomiting civilian whose identity is far from coincidental. Now reunited with an old friend Rees,  you are trapped in an impenetrable HQ of laboratories—a womb of scientific advancement with a perilous secret. I know it sounds like a plot from a future Marvel movie, but there are no superpowers here.

The Complex is written by Lynn Renee Maxcy, part of the writing team from The Handmaid’s Tale. The interactive movie stars Michelle Mylett (Letterkenny, Bad Blood), Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones, The Witch) and Al Weaver (Grantchester). Actors also include Twitch streamer and former Xbox UK presenter, Leah Viathan.

As alluded to previously, The Complex is not a game in the traditional sense, it is very game like, a choose your own adventure in movie form. These new age interactive experiences have been in the rise in recent years, and personally have grown on me over the past few years. The first one I had played was Late Shift (2018). I found it to be an easy enjoyable time-waster that I did in fact play through a few different times to see alternative endings. For the unfamiliar; as you watch the movie you are presented with different choices to make, each of which will change the outcome of the rest of the movie, sometimes even bringing the adventure to an abrupt ending. It’s a great way for a couple (especially if your significant other isn’t a gamer) to spend an evening in. To be honest, in this world, it’s all we can do to spend quality time with those at home. The writing I found to be quite enjoyable, coming in I honestly was expecting more sci-fi and/or horror but this is quite frankly more of a suspense thriller. The acting in The Complex for the most part is very well done and few characters (other than background extras) are pretty well fleshed out and have some substantial depth to them if you make it far enough.

I think this is a genre overall we could use more of in the gaming echo-chamber. They are fun, interactive, accessible for non-gamers, re-playable, and just breaks up the constant barrage of pixelated platformers, battle royales, or first person shooters. If you are looking for an intriguing night in, I would definitely suggest checking out The Complex.