Last year Korean developer and publisher NCSoft unveiled an Unreal Engine 5 sci-fi interactive movie with superb visuals which caught our eye but didn't offer many details.

They've now shared a gameplay reveal.

Looks great.

As did last year's tease.

But their description left us confused.

What would it mean to you if the world were comprised of informational particles instead of physical particles?

So basically The Matrix? Not that they'd say that especially with this game titled Project M.

Apparently not. He goes on to say:

How would the fabric of simulated reality change our perceived world if we could tamper with the arrangement of those particles?

We see the game pause occasionally to present 3 entirely ordinary choices like "Fistfight", "Use Gun" and "Stand Down".

One is chosen and the movie proceeds.

Generally in an entirely ordinary fashion but occasionally and seemingly randomly the simulation re-arranges itself.

We're guessing that's supposed to be clever and cool but we're just not feeling it.

It shouldn't look or feel random.

That said, The Matrix Resurrections was a glorious flop so bad we couldn't bear to watch it all, so this broad idea is wide open for someone else, and an "interactive movie" does strike us as genuine innovation.

Games with branching narratives are plentiful so from that perspective this looks like something we've seen before, minus the "gameplay" (i.e. direct combat control).

And before them there were the Choose Your Own Adventure books.

But many people will never have experienced either and this could be a fascinating experience for people who typically only consume film and television content.

Project M doesn't have a release date.

[ Main Image: Project M gameplay trailer. Credit: NCSoft via YouTube. ]

References

GameTrailers (March 23, 2023). Project M - Official Unreal Engine 5 Gameplay Reveal | State of Unreal 2023. YouTube.

Wikipedia. Choose Your Own Adventure. (viewed March 23, 2023)