Erica Reviews
With such an engrossing experience ready to be played right in the palm of your hands, it’s a bite sized tale that only will cost you a two cups of coffee (That’s around about $13 bucks, right?). Erica is highly recommended and essential gaming, for casual and experienced gamers alike, and would definitely be considered one of the best surprises Sony Interactive Studios have presented us this year.
An effective story, some excellent performances from its cast, and very good production values do much to cover up its minor flaws and, as such, help Erica stand out from the crowd, when it comes to full motion video games. With a nice tight runtime, it’s also a game that doesn’t outstay its welcome. More of this kind of thing, please.
As a film, Erica is a very engaging thriller, not for the somewhat cliché plot, but for the interactivity that brings a special flavor, since the decisions define the ending that will be shown. It is a pity that only the options at the end of the film really matter for the outcome and that there is no system for revisiting scenes or altering decisions. Still, Erica is an interesting title for anyone who is looking for simple entertainment, but with the participation of the viewer, staying in the middle between a conventional film and a game.
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Erica was a bad game that could have been a decent movie. If you want a proper interactive FMV game experience; grab "Late Shift", "The Infectious Madness of Doctor. Dekker or "The Bunker" is all on steam for roughly the same price but with considerably better interaction. That said if you can find it on sale for around six dollars I'd say it's worth one playthrough.
Save for the few scenes that don’t gel together and the middle portion of the 'film', Erica is a fantastic experience that will have you gripped across multiple playthroughs. The cast, in particular Holly Earl as our lead Erica Mason, deliver top end performances throughout and the game doesn’t impose too many pointless decisions in order to constantly drive the story forward. All of this is even more impressive when you consider how many different twists and turns you can take with each playthrough.
Erica takes us back to an era where FMV was a thing but uses it to provide an engaging and captivating experience, not just to deal with hardware limitations. It’s asking price of $13 AUD is very reasonable considering it can be played multiple times, presenting very different outcomes each playthrough all for less than the cost of a single movie ticket. It’s a game I’m sure I’ll be diving back into but mostly I’m looking forward to seeing what Flavourworks can do with the Touch Video tech next.