Wales Interactive announce Late Shift, a new FMV crime thriller for Xbox One, PS4 and PC

Like your crime thrillers? Wales Interactive are looking to get you sorted with the announcement of a brand new cinematic FMV adventure.

Coming to Xbox One, PS4, PC and Mac in April 2017, Late Shift is a FMV crime thriller with branching storylines. As you would probably expect, your choices will have huge consequences, from the very first moment, right up to the last. Every decision you make will change the entire outcome of an adventure style title that has seven different conclusions.

After being forced into the robbery of a lucrative auction house, mathematics student Matt is left proving his innocence in the brutal London heist. The consequences of his actions take him on a vicious and sometimes violent journey across the capital, escaping the twisted web the player has the power to weave.

Being developed by CtrlMovie and written by Michael R. Johnson, the author of the 2009 film, Sherlock Holmes, you’ll get to experience a gripping live-action crime thriller with a total of over 180 decisions. Will you steal a car or prefer to run away on foot? Do you follow orders or sabotage the plan?

Whatever you do decide, you’ll only have seconds to decide it as the film playing out in front of you will continue to roll with no pausing or looping. Shot in full HD across London, Late Shift promises to bring a cinematic experience that attempts to blend the line between movies, games and interactive storytelling.

Features include:

• Multi-optional Storytelling: One story, countless storylines, seven endings.
• A completely live action, cinematic interactive thriller, filmed in full HD in London, England
• Over 180 decision points in total with no pauses and no looping footage.
• Directed by Tobias Weber, and written by Michael R. Johnson, author of Sherlock Holmes (2009 film).
• Acting performances by Joe Sowerbutts (Matt), Haruka Abe (May-Ling) and Oliver Twist’s Richard Durden (Samuel Parr).

Michael R. Johnson, Co-Author of the Late Shift, comments,

“There are two aspects of Late Shift that really drew me to the project. The first is the idea of a truly interactive film. It’s been attempted before with limited degrees of success, but what I feel puts Late Shift ahead of the pack is the CtrlMovie format itself, which brings the viewer/player into the experience in a very intuitive way. I like the fact that rather than saddling the viewer with a series of arbitrary go left or right choices, Late Shift instead puts you into the shoes of an actual character – Matt – and the decision-making process always draws on Matt’s ongoing experiences and train-of thought. You feel that each separate decision is weighted with careful consideration and the possibility of multiple consequences, good or bad. Which leads onto the second aspect of Late Shift that really appealed to me: the fact that although there are any number of possible paths through the story, involving different characters and locations, the outcomes of each are strongly influenced by the morality of the viewer decisions. How you choose to interact with other human beings has a cumulative effect on how they decide to treat you, and how that impacts on your own fortunes as the story progresses. If Matt treats people with respect, they will tend to treat him with respect, and vice versa. But that’s not to say that Late Shift forces the viewer to be moral against their will. Quite the opposite. The viewer is free to interact in whatever way they see fit, ethical or otherwise. It’s just I like very much the fact that – unlike many console games – you cannot simply crash through the story with impunity and not at some point be faced with the consequences of your own actions. Just like in life.”

We will of course bring you more regarding Late Shift, including that all-important release date as and when we have it. For now though, have a little watch of the trailer below!