Since the release of Quantic Dream's tech demo KARA (found here, go check it out, it's incredible), I decided to go back and play the first game I played by them, Fahrenheit - better known as Indigo Prophecy in North America - and relive their first attempt at making a video game.
Instantly, the menu of Fahrenheit doesn't say "continue game", rather it says "continue movie" or "select chapter". It reminds me of a DVD menu instead of a game one, and the entire game is an interesting blend of a film and game. This concept was adapted for Fahrenheit's spiritual sequal - the better know Heavy Rain - but it still plays competently in Fahrenheit. Our hero, Lucas Kane, awakes over a bloodied corpse with the murder weapon in his hand. With the knife Lucas has carved weird symbols into his own arm and has absolutely no memory of the last five minutes. Frightened and confused, he frantically tries to cover his tracks and hurries home, where he enlists his brother to help him work out what happened in the diner and who was behind it all.
Simultaneously, the two detectives assigned to solve the murder are also playable characters, Carla and Tyler, and the scenarios are played one after the other in various situations or scenes. One of the interesting gimmicks of the game is you can hear what characters are thinking as you play them with a button prompt, so it's not mandatory to listen to the characters' thoughts, but it's a nice bonus. It really does feel like an interactive movie rather than a clunky representation of one like some other games have attempted. The one thing that really slows it down are the controls which are sluggish and unreponsive, and you can end up grinding your face against a wall if you're not careful.
However, the story, although some people say it loses itself halfway through, I thought was interesting and fun to play through, if a little cliché at times. It flows better than some movies I've sat through, and they didn't even have quick time events to deal with!
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