FMV for You and Me
Humble Bundle’s latest Weekly Bundle centers around FMV, or full motion video: in other words, video games that use real pre-recorded video files. Popular in PC adventure games in the ’90s, the form has been making a bit of a comeback lately. This bundle features a couple of classics of the genre, as well as some new indie critical favorites.
Anyone who purchases the bundle automatically gets the following:
Missing: An Interactive Thriller – Episode One
by Zandel Media
This one is an unabashed throwback to the FMV adventure games of the ’90s. The action switches between a detective trying to solve a series of mysterious disappearances and a victim of a kidnapping trying to escape. (Note: this bundle only includes Episode One, with additional episodes to be sold separately as they are released.)
The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour Pack
by Trilobite Games
Speaking of ’90s-era FMV adventures, these two are absolute classics of the genre. Both feature the same haunted house – built by a mad toymaker, no less – but are separated by a period of 70 years. Along with Phantasmagoria and The Beast Within (the only FMV game in the Gabriel Knight series), these two are pretty much the definitive games of the FMV adventure era.
Tex Murphy Complete Pack
by Access Software
What we said before about those other games being definitive? We certainly didn’t mean to leave out this venerable series, with the titular detective played by game designer Chris Jones himself. Film noir meets cyberpunk in a post-nuclear San Francisco…what’s not to love?
This pack features all five of the original Tex Murphy games: Martian Memorandum, Mean Streets, Overseer, The Pandora Directive and Under a Killing Moon.
Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure
by Big Finish Games
Over a decade after the release of the previous game in the series, creators Chris Jones and Aaron Conners regained the rights to the Tex Murphy series. Enough people loved the originals to make this a Kickstarter success. Here at IGR, we loved it too; it made Honorable Mention in our Top Indie Games of 2014 list.
Anyone paying over $5 for this bundle gets an additional two games:
Roundabout
by No Goblin
An absurdist comedy FMV adventure inspired by B-movies and set entirely within a constantly spinning limousine? We’re not going to pretend we entirely get it, but hundreds of positive Steam reviews can’t be wrong, right?
Her Story
by Sam Barlow
Ah, they’ve saved the best for last! Created by Silent Hill: Shattered Memories developer Sam Barlow, Her Story is a brilliant and unusual detective game. Sort through video interrogation footage of a possible murder suspect, brilliantly played by Viva Seifert, and see if you can fit the narrative together and learn what really happened. Her Story won this year’s Grand Jury Award at Indiecade. (While the bundle only includes the PC version, the mobile edition of this game made our Top 10 Mobile Games of 2015 list.)
Read our full review of Her Story.
Make Your Own FMV
To coincide with this weekly deal, Humble Bundle is hosting the Humble Green Screen Challenge. Download the sample footage, insert yourself, and create your own FMV clip. There’s no cash prize, but if the folks behind Humble Bundle like what they see, they’ll add your video to their playlist, possibly leading to Internet infamy and/or a major Hollywood studio deal. (Note: major Hollywood studio deal not guaranteed.)
