Her Story
- Megan
- Jun 21, 2021
- 2 min read
With the exciting news from E3 that Sam Barlow will be releasing a new game in 2022, I thought I'd wind back the clock a little, and take a look at one of his earlier works - Her Story.
Released in June of 2015, Her Story is a full motion video (FMV) game about a woman speaking to the police. The entire game takes place on a computer terminal, where you are able to access a set of police files. Using this database you can search for key phrases, but you are limited the the first five results. These are the tools you have, with the goal of finding answers.
What is unique about Her Story thought, is that you only have answers, the key is in fitting them all together. The files you have access to are one half of a conversation, or rather, an interrogation. You are watching Hannah respond to police questions regarding her husband, who is missing. The questions asked are not there, only her response. If you work at it, every video clip can be uncovered in time, but even so they may not give you the answers you are looking for.
I found that the mystery itself had less of an impact on me than the feeling of unraveling it. It was the process of finding the puzzle pieces, and fitting them together, that left the game feeling satisfying. Notably, the performance by Viva Seifert as Hannah Smith was phenomenal, grounding the game with a human element. The use of FMV for Her Story was exceptional, and I can't imagine the game without it.
When I first played the game in 2015 I told my mom to give it a try. I remember our text exchanges, sharing key words we had found, and discussing our theories about what was really happening. We unraveled the story in tandem, one word at a time.
From interviews with Barlow, we know that the entire scrip included both the questions from the investigator, as well as Hannah's replies, but the full script has been kept under lock and key. We also know that all of the filming took place in a series of marathon sessions over the course of one week! After a few days of filming, Barlow told AppUnwrapper in an interview, it felt like they had been through a real life police interrogation, and were ready to confess it all. Jokes aside, the strenuous recording sessions added a real element of stress to Seifert's performance, something that rings true to a character under interrogation. In her own interview with AppUnwrapper Seifert described a discomfort in the process that fueled her performance.
It's all of the fine details that make Her Story shine. The glare on the screen, the tension in the performance, the music underscoring everything. These parts come together to create a full experience. One that leaves you searching for more answers, and thinking over key words and phrases, long after you've logged off for the day.
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