The Complex probably managed to come out at the right time. While the confinement may be extended in France because of Covid 19, Wales Interactive offers its game for download at the price of a cinema ticket. Hats off to the promotion… Or not! So what is The Complex ? Wales Interactive presents its game like its predecessors, as an interactive film. A full motion video to be more precise as Sony had recently done with its very uneven Erica.
A little history of FMV…
The full motion video must be very reminiscent of Night Trap, cult nanar (a little misogynistic) of 1992. It is often frowned upon by players and critics because of its inexperienced actors, its very flat staging and the glaring lack of playability. Night Trap had somewhat (de)popularized the genre but its pioneer was Astron Belt, developed by Sega in 1983. An arcade shoot'em up in which enemies were shot from video files. 
Fortunately, when we see the latest productions, we realize that this is a genre that deserves more and more attention. Especially since Netflix had miraculously resurrected the genre with Black Mirror Bandersnatch in 2018. Note that Wales Interactive has made a name for itself in the genre as its developments are close to cinema by specializing in Full Motion Video (FMV). This can range from the very good (The Bunker), from the very entertaining (Late Shift) to the most disastrous (The Shapeshifting Detective). As much to tell you right away, The Complex is a mix between what is best and bad in FMV. And the bad is far too present…
This is the story of a contagion…
A bacteriological attack hits the London Underground. Scientist Amy Tenant and her old friend Rees Wakefield find themselves confined to a highly secure laboratory to find a solution before it's too late… In the "Confinement" family, The Complex is a likely candidate because it is the first thing to deal with about the work. The main protagonist is immediately confined, behind closed doors, and this clearly reveals the flagrant lack of budget. The sets are not varied, the special effects are particularly disappointing (see a little bad) and some situations are simply not believable. We have a hunch that The Complex has thought more about how to spend its budget rather than how to deepen the experience offered to players.
Let us be confined, all together.
What could be better then, than to confine his character to protect the economy of his video game? Rest assured, however, the staging, whether framing or colorimetry, is rather effective although finally, very simple and not inspired enough. To explain simply, some situations are filmed in the same way as those presented in many works of disaster and anticipation. We are still far from the omnipresent nightmarish atmosphere imposed by Erica's editing and calibration. 
Apart from certain interpretations, it is difficult to fully attach oneself to the characters. They are almost absent for some, or very poorly written for others. Kate Dickie is doing pretty well while Michelle Myett is monolithic. It is also difficult to identify with them when the game decides to lose its credibility to reach the end of its story. The game is quite smiling, thus proposing itself as a happy little nanar that still makes you want to know the end. Frankly, a shame. Especially since the script is written by Lynn Renee Maxcy, one of the writers of the series The Handmaid's Tails.
The rest, it's up to you to do it!
However, there are good sides. We can end up with several very different parts that start with a very similar situation. This is explained by the establishment of relationships with 9 protagonists during this adventure. All of them can die along the way, influencing the course of the scenario. This system is reminiscent of the one used in Until Dawn, the horror work of Supermassive Games with Rami Malek. The path will be different if you cooperate or if you are suspicious of one of your colleagues. All this will allow you to discover a total of 9 endings and almost 200 scenes, depending on the roads taken. 
Thus, The Complex offers a gameplay as strong as that of Late Shift, from the same developers. But the credibility of the game is often questioned. We get to the end of the story in about 90 minutes, but nothing really makes us want to go back. If only to fully satisfy the completionists of video games. The Complex follows like a little film of anticipation. Unfortunately, everything could have been much better. Wales Interactive seems to be resting on its laurels, which is a shame. He could have surpassed The Bunker, which is certainly much more limited in its choices, but which offered a real tension through its confined character. To discover for the curious… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1flPHceAsXY&feature=emb_title
