Hollywood Visionary

I've just completed my first playthrough, and I must say I enjoyed it immensely: the writing was truly engaging at all stages and actually quite affecting in some specific scenes, the stat-based mechanics constantly keeping the pressure on, making the balancing of the development of the movie and maintaining the more story-involved character relationships precarious at best. Although the game sells itself as a 'Be a Hollywood movie-maker!' type of story, it actually goes in-depth about the atmosphere of fear and paranoia surrounding the McCarthy witch-hunts that happened around that time, lending an unexpectedly serious tone to an otherwise fairly light-hearted piece. That isn't to say that the part of the story to do with the film itself is unremarkable: the writer clearly has a great love and knowledge of the old way of making films and manages to capture quite a few moments of that old movie magic in a couple of scenes, especially in the super-dramatic and witty conversations. They just don't make 'em like they used to.
And what happened on my first playthrough with Johnny Wheeler of the company Wheeler's Reelers? I played according to my conscience: honesty, loyalty, and above all, integrity. Although holding true to his convictions got Johnny blacklisted and forced him to make movies abroad or otherwise in secret, years later after the fear of Communism fades Johnny's films are discovered by a new generation, his faith in humanity upheld as they recognise his work and his bravery with a Lifetime Achievement Award - plus Johnny gets to hook up with the secretary, for whom I was secretly gunning since the beginning. Best. Ending. Ever.
Looking back on it now, I must say the story reminded me a lot of The Crucible. Only with a happy ending, in my case.

The game is excellently written (As I've come to expect from Choice of Games' authors), the storyline is interesting and the the choices are varied enough to entertain you for several playthroughs, though it is cut short when it had the potential to get truly interesting.
I've played several Choice of Games (7) and this is one of the best written ones, though it isn't quite at the level of Choice of Robots in my humble opinion. It is, however, as engaging, perhaps because of the subject matter which I'm very interested in!
Saying it is short would be unfair, but compared to Choice of Robots it falls into the shorter end of the spectrum.
But honestly, for €/$3 at launch (or a bit more afterwards) you'll get at least 3 hours of very entertaining writing, and if you compare that to the prices of triple A games that leave you disappointed, or to a $30 cinema evening, there is A LOT of value here, just like there is in most of these games.
Definitely one of the more succesfully written CYOA/Interactive novels that have come out recently, and it is more than worth your time!
8/10

I'm going to confess straight up that while I'm definitely "a reader", it's slowly dawning on me that reading is not the main reason that I play video games. This may have something to do with the fact that I'm currently a university student, so I have quite enough reading to do as is, thank ya very much! As it stands, however, I finished this one in just a couple of sittings, thanks to how exceptionally well-written and cleverly designed it was, and it gave me a few solid chuckles along the way as well.

Now, if you're one of those people who finds themselves constantly complaining about the lack of actual CHOICES one gets to make in a lot of so-called "interactive novels", you're unlikely to complain about THIS one. In the first ten minutes alone you're forced to choose the name and gender of not only your own but other characters, and almost everything that your character does or says from then on in requires a decision, sometimes from a pick of a good five to ten options! You truly choose YOUR OWN adventure in this one. (Just to give an example, by the end of my first scene I had decided that I was a film director named Cliff Flowers - I'm a Killers fan, what can I say - who had just pitched a studio exec a horror-comedy set during the Running of the Bulls in Spain! That's exactly the kind of customisation you can expect if you give this baby a burl.)

Now whether or not the story in question is liable to set your world on fire is a slightly more subjective thing, and obviously all the non-readers out there should just LEAVE THE STORE PAGE NOW and go find themselves a Sam to get Serious with (it's literally JUST WORDS, not even any pictures or music)! Personally, I found it all rather interesting and enjoyable, but then again, I've been an amateur filmmaker myself and have always been fascinated by the dubious ins-and-outs of the movie business, and there's no denying that the McCarthy era makes an especially intriguing backdrop to a game.
I won't lie and say that I've played a whole lot of games in this style, but I'd be pretty darn surprised if this wasn't one of the better ones. Oh, and for those of you concerned with cost, you can stop fretting: The sheer multitude of choices one can make guarantees EXCEPTIONAL replayability. On my first two-hour playthrough, I've only netted 16% of available achievements, and I'm yet to even MEET Alfred Hitchcock, much less make a movie with him. I CAN confidently say, however, that Orson Welles does have one little fucker of a DOG...

Verdict: 8/10.

(PS You know you've got what it takes to be a real-life film writer/director/producer when you give yourself a CORONARY! Even got the achievement to prove it!!)

Greta Garbo nearly ruined my sci-fi horror flick, got friendzoned by everyone, and ratted on Commies to survive long enough to win an oscar. 10/10 would read again.
In all seriousness, though, the game is all reading. It's a Choose Your Own Adventure story only with fewer options that end in your death. If you can handle two hours of black text on a white screen, it really is an amazing story. Though devided into several chapters that stay roughly the same regardless of your choices, the events within the chapters do have a lot of room for change. The story is very well-written and engaging; I felt my heart rate go up every time my picture started to fall apart. Definitely has some replay value, though you'll find yourself skimming text once you've read it a few times. All in all a great buy at $5.

Supported communism, told off it's haters, got blacklisted, and still got an Oscar winning movie.
12/10

In this text-based interactive novel, you get to be the founder of your own independent film studio and possibly write, edit, direct, produce, and even star in your own film! Navigate your way through 50s Hollywood and decide where you want to spend your film budget -- will you ask your buddies to star as actors in your film or seek out more expensive but famous options? Not to mention who might direct your film... you could always get Hitchcock if you try your best! But maybe he wouldn't be the best for a sci-fi flick with a romance subplot.
The possibilities are endless. You get to customize your film on ALL levels, and will even get the opportunity to improve it on certain (weak) points while time progresses. In the meantime, against the backdrop of the Cold War, there's a lot of discussion about in what ways independent film studios are influencing the American public through Red propaganda. Are you a Commie or not? And is your film all you think about or do you have some time left for romance? Time will tell!
Pros
+ Real immersion in the 50s world of Hollywood
+ Lots of customization options for your own film that affect all the different endings
+ The ability to also customize the people around you (friends, family, actors)
Cons
- No save points
- Pretty short, can be finished in ± 1.5 hours
- The courtcase surrounding the whole communism/blacklist angle felt forced
The most enjoyable part about Hollywood Visionary was, to me, the ability to customize my film to such a great degree. You can truly create something that feels like it could be yours, and even get to enjoy the reviews/response once your film is released. The whole 50s vibe was amazing, mainly thanks to all the famous Hollywood people popping up here and there in the story. Though the Cold War angle could have worked, being pursued by an angry law-enforcing stereotype who drags you to court felt very forced (and distracted a lot from my precious film!).
If you like this kind of 50s Hollywood stuff, then this Choose Your Own Adventure game could be the one for you. I had a lot of fun directing and writing my own romance adventure film that bombed at the box office -- no hard feelings, because I eventually left Tinseltown with a happy threesome consisting of me, a handsome actor, and a stagehand.

In the tradition of games like Executive Suite and Hidden Agenda, Hollywood Visionary was an absolute joy to play. Plenty of options and paths to go down for a small game like this. (It is NOT a "visual novel" in the vein of Bible Black or England Exchange - it's much more engaging). I'm looking forward to this company's next release!