For class this past week, I was part of the group who played the game Voyeur. The game falls under the interactive movie genre, where the vast majority of the game is recorded cut-scenes that the player must look through and decipher. Upon its initial release in 1993, the game received numerous awards, but subsequent versions of the game received harsher reviews. Based largely on the style of game that Voyeur is, and especially when held in contrast to the film Rear Window, I think that the faults of this game hold it back more than its successes propel it forward.
In Voyeur, you play the role of a private investigator hired to capture evidence against Reed Hawke, who is planning to announce a presidential campaign, and destroy his career. You operate a video camera overlooking the Hawke manor, and over the course of a few days, must look into different rooms and record video footage that would accomplish the said task of running his career.
An issue I had with our group playthrough was that it was not immediately clear why we were doing this. Why would it be such a bad thing if Hawke was president? Why is it so critical that we ruin this man’s career? The initial motivation for spying on him just wasn’t there for me. Of course, as you play the game and discover incestuous relations and a murder plot, it becomes clear why he shouldn’t be president (though things of that nature haven’t stopped recent figures from rising to power). In comparison to Rear Window, the setup for voyeurism is more compelling. Here, a man who has lived his whole life on the edge filled with action is now wheelchair bound, and has nothing to do but try to find some excitement. So, he turns to observation of his neighborhood. While at first, a private investigator might make more sense as an observer than a simple man with a broken leg, the PI in Voyeur simply lacked good motivation for me.
From the start, I wasn’t entirely captivated by the game. The gameplay itself didn’t really pull me in either. The style of game, that being an interactive movie, just isn’t a lot of fun to play through. It feels like it removes lots of the best parts of gaming – actual gameplay, character movement, character control, interactivity – and removes lots of the best parts of film – cinematography, camera movement, score – leaving the player with a watered down experience. I’m not sure how Voyeur could have done a better job at this, I think it is more a fault of the genre, especially with the technological capabilities of the time. I think the lack of actual gameplay and more cut-scene focused game would have worked better if I was more invested in the story. I didn’t feel a lot of pressure to prevent this guy, Hawke, from becoming president until I found out about his murder plan. In Rear Window, there isn’t a “looking hoping to find something”. Jeffries is suspicious of a murder and goes down that rabbit hole. When Lisa goes to investigate, stakes are raised even further. When the injured Jeffries is confronted by Thorwald, the stakes are raised again. In Voyeur, I didn;t feel that same rising tension.
That being said, there are positives for this game. I think the general concept is an intriguing one. Looking back through a 2024 lens, the political intrigue and goal of preventing a bad man from becoming president is somewhat relatable. The acting performances from cut-scene actors in this game are also done well. At the time, this game was intriguing for its use of mature and adult content in game, which, by today’s standards wasn’t as shocking or intriguing as it might have been in 1993. It is easy to judge games some thirty years after their release as not being good, especially in a field where the technology and culture has changed so drastically.
Many of the criticisms I have levied thus far can be chalked up to Voyeur being a product of it’s time I think, especially critiques of limited gameplay and the constraints of the genre (these interactive movie games have changed dramatically in decades following, see Telltale Games) would not be as present were this a modern product. However, my lack of being initially pulled into the game, and the lack of rising tension are fair criticisms of Voyeur. That being said, I still think Voyeur has its place as a game of investigation. It was fairly groundbreaking for the time, and the concept that it has of putting the player into a mystery is one that we still see today. I think that popular games like the Telltale games and Detroit: Become Human have to credit their advent to games like Voyeur. As I mentioned before too, the subject matter of the game was a selling point at the time, and, while it might not be as special today, still paved the way for other games. I think it serves its purpose best as a piece of history to look back on. An interesting plot with a lack of intriguing gameplay, but innovative ideas that can serve as a touchstone to see just how far the genre has come.
-Luke Walker
Intermittent Mechanism 