The Complex Reviews
The Complex is yet another chapter in the long contamination story between cinema and video games. Wales Interactive gave birth to an interesting interactive experience, yet the writing could have been a little deeper.
Review in Italian | Read full review
While you can't fault the visuals and the effort put in to try and mask the evident budget limitations, that cutting of corners vibe is sadly something that plays into The Complex one too few many times.
The Complex is a cleverly made interactive movie with an intriguing sci fi plot that eerily parallels the real world.
The latest interactive film produced by Wales Interactive features both a chilling story and impressive acting talent. But does it innovate within the bounds of its genre, offering sufficient value for potential players? This is The Complex.
The Complex is a decent little sci-fi flick, but its interactive elements only encourage you to dig deeper into a story and a gimmick that can’t withstand any real scrutiny.
Performances are mostly solid aside from the main protagonist, but the lacklustre script with a severe lack of character development aside from large amounts of exposition make it difficult to really care about any of them. Some of the endings are quite abrupt, leaving an unsatisfying finish. I find it unlikely that The Complex will win fans over to the genre, but those who do have a dedication may find something to enjoy.
A sharp, smartly written interactive thriller, with not a single one-dimensional character in sight, The Complex is (despite its theme) a joy to experience.
There are some components that seem unnecessary, and some settings that could be improved upon, but The Complex is absolutely a game I will recommend again and again.
The Complex is neither a game bor a movie. It's actually a movie that you can change its course by your actions. The gameplay is very simple and there isn't really much going on, and if you are a fan of the genre you'll probably enjoy it.
Review in Persian | Read full review
In terms of script, photography and art, The Complex dares little, with a direction that is sometimes confusing and problems in the construction of some ramifications that it proposes. However, it entertains and places itself as a good example of the so-called full motion videos, offering a sci-fi suspense that is very suitable for fans of the genre, a certain diversity of significant choices and an audiovisual quality in the average of other similar productions.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Complex is a run-of-the-mill live action adventure game, in a genre that can't really afford to phone it in. The decent price tag makes it at least a bit endearing for the curious, but fans will find The Complex to be an underwhelming movie and a forgettable game.
The Complex is a decent story that feels bigger than it could be. While some choices feel very weighty, they are few and far between, leaving a lot of inconsequential decisions in between. Honestly, it may have worked if the experience was a bit shorter - sure, a common complaint has been it is too short, but maybe it would actually benefit from being trimmed a bit. As it stands, it feels like whatever ending you got the first time through, everything else is just "what if" scenarios that don't really matter.
Is The Complex worth it? It's really hard to say. It's not exactly an expensive buy at £9.99, and the addition of choices make it more engaging than a television episode or movie. At the end of the day, it's basically a £10 movie rental with some button prompts added in. The best way to play it would be with a group of friends watching together, so you can argue over the choices and go for the path that feels best for you. Otherwise, there are better games and better movies available for the same cost.
The Complex on Xbox One is a good sci-fi experience that delivers a decent tale about pharma-terrorism with many complex and interesting themes running throughout. The production values, acting and the script are all very good and it’s a very enjoyable yarn, with all this helped by the fact that there are several different – and hugely interesting – outcomes in place. But the actual choice-driven gameplay has not been able to make me feel connected to the story enough
The Complex offers a fun and engaging personalised movie experience, and demands the attention and immersion of the player in its decision-making interactive elements. Its budget is small, so set your expectations accordingly, but if you’re in withdrawal after Bandersnatch and need another hit of choose-your-own-adventure, you can’t go too wrong with this, while we wait for the film and games industries to catch up.
The Complex is desperately lacking the narrative meat necessary to support its promising presentation, so only the most ardent FMV game fans need apply.
As far as FMV games go, The Complex sits among one of the best I’ve played this generation. With almost 200 scenes to discover, nine endings, multiple branches and pathways, and a tracker keeping tabs on your Relationship status with all the other characters, this game was aptly named as it’s rather ‘complex’. The entire experience felt like I was simply watching a film on TV, only I was the director, telling the actors what to do and how to proceed. I’d highly recommend this game to all fans of FMV titles and those looking for something they can casually play through on their own or with their family.
Thanks to some poor performances and a serious lack of meaningful player choice, it's not a complex decision whether you should check this one out or not.
Lacks anything that really makes it glitter and at the same time isn’t awful enough to have a certain level of camp to it either.
My thoughts regarding The Complex are very similar to the ones I had regarding Late Shift. Although better than its predecessor when it comes to its production values, setting, and overall plot, it still suffers from its limited gameplay and replayability. It’s an interactive movie, not a full-fledged video game per se. It’s good for one, maybe two playthroughs.