Immortality Reviews
Immortality is Sam Barlow's masterpiece, a great drama that revolves around life meaning and the real role of art.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Immortality brings with its ambitious, mature and daring production a critical and unique narrative experience, and manages to bring art cinema closer to video games like no other interactive film until then. The title is a must-have for any movie lover who is interested in the potential for the intersection of this medium with video games, as well as mystery adventure fans open to dealing with the irreverent eroticism and conceptualism of this work.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Immortality stands alongside Her Story and Telling Lies as a must-play experience that will leave you with a lot to chew on.
You look through the film, and while a lot of it seems unimportant, you slowly begin to see a world larger and deeper than Marcel herself. Without spoiling anything, all I will say is that once the narrative emerges, it's one that you can't pull yourself away from. Given the complete control the player is given, it's a feat of execution Half Mermaid deserves all the credit for.
Of course, these late-game inconveniences also speak to something rare and refreshing: Immortality isn’t designed for convenient completion because it’s fully comfortable with the player not seeing everything. It’s confident enough to merely suggest certain details and concepts, giving us glimpses of certain prickly edges and troubling dynamics without falling back on an overt explanation, a tidy conclusion, or even a break from the verisimilitude of the “found footage” format. It’s an impressively layered work, filled with conflicted thoughts on the concept of the auteur, the collaborative process of art, and the prospect of going too deep in the service of expression. Rather than a clean moral or cautionary tale, Immortality opts for something messier, more complex, and far more likely to endure.
Sam Barlow's latest title is fascinating, curious and much darker than it seems
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Immortality is a stunning game overall. It's a truly effective mystery that has a great understanding of the kind of story it wants to tell and the kind of topics where it wants to peel back the skin. It certainly won't be for everyone, but it's a demanding and brilliant experience for those who want something a little more cerebral.
Immortality takes an alternative path to Sam Barlow's with Her Story and Telling Lies. Abandoned the keyword insertion system seen in previous titles, the author chooses to compose an exclusively visual adventure.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Immortality is an astonishing work of interactive fiction that's every bit as unsettling and unforgettable as the films that inspired it.
It sounds ridiculous, but as we got sucked into Immortality's tangled web, there were times we forgot the movies we were watching weren't real. It's an astonishing accomplishment, really, and one we can't recommend highly enough.
Immortality feels like a logical endpoint for the last seven years of Barlow's work. Though his cast has expanded to include a full Smash Bros. roster's worth of characters, and the script has expanded to include three full movies with contributions from several writers, it feels like he has ended up, basically, where he started. Like Her Story, Immortality is really about one woman. As in Her Story, she may not be who you think she is.
The most ambitious and intense Sam Barlow's game is a brilliant interactive mockumentary about movies and our relationship with the sense of narration.
Review in Italian | Read full review
A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage.
Nothing less than a whole new genre of video game, that evolves the interactive movie into something that feels dynamic and excitingly different.
Sam Barlow has somehow done it again, raising the bar for the FMV / interactive movie genre once more. Immortality is yet another masterpiece of storytelling.
Throughout its gameplay, you are going to ask question about the game and explore the movie itself. The interesting story tells you about an immortal art and ugly reality, also an unknown phenomena time to time. However, the lack of interaction in gameplay was highlighted even more, under Sam Barlow's intention. That is why someone is talking about its perfection, while others point out its insufficiency.
Review in Korean | Read full review
it's without a doubt one of the best games I have played in 2022 and delivers a mysterious and enjoyable experience from start to finish. courtesy of Xbox game pass, almost everyone can easily play this amazing game. no excuse not to play Immortality!
Review in Persian | Read full review
I think it’s no exaggeration to say that Immortality is often brilliant. The acting, writing, editing and videography are meticulously intentional and if the path through the woods isn’t always clear, the trees are unfailingly interesting to study. While it isn’t perfect, I’m glad that games like Immortality exist. There are so many games that are sequels, copycats, reboots, remakes and retreads that you forget what originality actually looks like. All of Barlow’s games have been excellent but Immortality is probably the richest and most thought-provoking of the three.
Immortality is an experience in itself. The game is hugely ambitious, but manages to deliver on every level. You will be on the tip of your toes for many hours trying to discover the fate of Marissa Marcel. Immortality is a total success. I guarantee you will be surprised by what you discover throughout the story reels.
Review in French | Read full review
Immortality ambitiously succeeds at evolving the formats introduced in Her Story and Telling Lies to offer some of Sam Barlow's best work yet and one of gaming's most well-justified open-world experiences. Bolstered by some fantastic performances and a compelling mystery to uncover, it's engrossing and engaging from beginning to end. While it might assume some prior knowledge in telling it's underlying story, Immortality is an experience that's not to be missed and one that I'll never stop thinking about. It is truly fantastic and well worth your time.