Her Story

Her Story is a detective game for PC, and a representative of a rather rare genre of FMV (Full Motion Video), where most of the graphics are movie sequences with actual actors performing. It was developed by Sam Barlow, the lead designer of Silent Hill: Origins and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

We play as a detective trying to resolve an old case. The answers are hidden in video sequences recorded back in 1994 in which a British woman named Hannah, whose husband went missing in mysterious circumstances, is being interrogated. On the basis of the footage, we have to piece the puzzles together to uncover the truth.

In total, there are seven film sequences to watch, although every one is long enough for the player to be unable to remember all the meaningful information after watching it just once. To make the task easier, the game has a system of searching keywords that allows us to quickly navigate to moments when Hannah uses a given phrase.

Nearly the entire game is composed of pre-recorded video sequences. The developer put a lot of effort into making them look like slightly blurry VHS tapes from 1994. Moreover, Her Story has a minimalistic interface that mimics the old police computers. In practice, our machine simulates the screen in front of the protagonist, where numerous features require the player to manually enter a text command. The game also offers a virtual desktop that brings to mind the style of early Windows operating systems. Everything is complemented by a very well-performed role of Hannah, played by Viva Seifert.

Last updated on 08 July 2015