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| Fahrenheit Review | |
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| Topic Started: 2 Apr 2009, 12:44 PM (46 Views) | |
| Janny | 2 Apr 2009, 12:44 PM Post #1 |
Ninja
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(I always feel the need to put down some words after I beat a game, so prepare for a silly review; head for the hills before it's too late!  )Fahrenheit (also called Indigo Prophecy) created by French developer Quantic Dream is officially mislabeled as an interactive movie. But the game much closer resembles a 3rd person action-adventure experience, a game where you're in control of your character to the point that you think you are there yourself. The game even has a few elements of psychology, but that depends on whether you look close enough to spot them yourself. -Story- I believe the story to be one of the strongest points of the game. Fahrenheit throws you head-first into the game, which I personally believe to be a great move as you're instantly sucked into the story without even realizing it. After a long, but cleverly crafted FMV we're put in control of Lucas Kane, your average Joe, it seems. But our character has a very unusual problem: he suddenly wakes up in a diner bathroom and in front of him lies the body of a stabbed man. Looking at himself Lucas notices that he is covered in blood and is holding a knife. What to do? Well, this is where the game really shines. You are now forced to act, and since there is a policeman in the diner you'll have to act fast. Run, cover your tracks, creep along the backdoor, these are a few of the many options you can choose, and believe me, Fahrenheit is full of choices. And the catch is that no matter what choice you make the consequences will appear soon enough and the game develops along those choices. -Gameplay- Controlling the characters (that's right, you can control as many as five characters) can prove to be a little tricky at first. Many suggest using a controller, but keyboard and mouse worked fine for me. You can interact with almost anyone and anything in the gaming universe. Talking to people, using a sink, no matter what you do you're in complete control of you character. And you also have to keep track of his/her sanity meter. That means that you have to make sure that your character doesn't fall into depression and decides to make a rash move. There are also the sometimes-dreaded Simon-says/button mashing sequences which stuck the "interactive movie" label on the game. But I found them fun and enjoyable. Hitting the respective buttons while your character runs and dodges cars in traffic proved to be much more fun than I had thought. It certainly makes you feel like you're in control of the protagonist and that you're also getting tired along with him. Though I praised the game from the very start I did find a few things that disappointed me. After beating about 50% of the game you'll start feeling that the story isn't going where it should be, like the writers decided to rush things and skipped five pages from the script. The last part of the game feels annoyingly rushed, unpolished, simply awkward and you'll find yourself wondering if you fell asleep and missed a big portion of the game. But as bad as the last part of the game was, that didn't stop me from playing and I'd rather erase that portion from my mind than contemn the whole game. I mean that Fahrenheit shouldn't be overlooked just because it was rushed, I prefer to praise the first half of the game and consider the rest as flawed than throw it away. -Visuals- The graphics aren't as good as most of the games you see nowadays, but I found them rather decent. The environments can seem a little too gray and dull, but the constant fall of snow outside will often overshadow this. The characters look surprisingly real, some of them even have small details on their faces such as freckles or beauty marks. Nothing is too spectacular, but we all know that we're playing this game for the story. As soon as you start playing a new chapter you'll notice an interesting split-screen effect, where you can see your character through multiple angles. It's an interesting technique and it works very well as it shows the environment and yourself at the same time. -Characters- Throughout the game you have the opportunity to play with either the protagonist, two of the detectives on his trail or other smaller characters. But one feature that I absolutely love is that you have the option of selecting in what order and with what characters you want to play. Just like the other fans, I instantly related to the protagonist. It's incredibly easy to start feeling for the poor character while he's trying to escape the police and live a normal life but know that there is something waiting to bury him into the shadows. And piecing together his childhood and other sad parts of his life only enhance the story experience. I've felt like the other characters weren't as polished as the protagonist, but I suppose that depends on personal taste. -Music- I think that the music is my favorite element of the game alongside the story. Composed by the same musician that created music for Twin Peaks, the tunes that play throughout the game are guaranteed to touch your heart. A mix of violin and piano sounds create the whole mood and instantly grab you as soon as you hear them in the main menu. I often found myself feeling sad without being aware that a single song had caused that. The songs are incredibly powerful and it's impossible not to be impressed. -Bottom line- Fahrenheit is, sadly, a flawed game because of the second half of the story, but as far as I know there are no technical flaws (bugs) or inconveniences. The story is wonderfully and subtly presented, the experience you get from playing is unique, so overlooking this game because of it's imperfections would be a mistake. The multiple choices, possibilities and endings you can get are more than worth the money. Even those that don't get easily touched can enjoy the game (we're dealing with murder and mystery, after all), so I suggest giving this witty game a try. I'm willing to bet that you won't regret it. Edited by Janny, 2 Apr 2009, 04:01 PM.
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 He who fights out of desperation will survive, but he who fights to survive will perish... | |
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| Ruum Taedor | 2 Apr 2009, 01:06 PM Post #2 |
Keeper of Zippy
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I like reading reviews about games (and movies and such) to learn more about a game (no time to play all the games). That's interesting, waking up in a bathroom with a bliddy body and blood on oneself holding a knife. Thanks for the review, Janny. Edit: Looks like the word sensor is playing with me. Change that to "blood covered body". Edited by Ruum Taedor, 2 Apr 2009, 01:18 PM.
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| High Priestess | 3 Apr 2009, 10:17 AM Post #3 |
Administrator
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As always, a fantastic amount of input and detail, Janny. Thank you so much for your review. I have often come to you for advice on gaming (Like "The Sims"), for example and you always give me a fantastic review and recommendation. Thank you, truly, for taking the time to write this out 
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| Janny | 3 Apr 2009, 01:13 PM Post #4 |
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Ninja
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Thanks guys, it's no trouble really, I had a bunch of fun writing this! |
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He who fights out of desperation will survive, but he who fights to survive will perish... | |
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| Singstar90210 | 15 Apr 2009, 10:56 PM Post #5 |
Professional Wandering Songstress
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Thanks Janny. Fahrenheit kinda reminds me of Sanity's Requiem with the way you summarized it. What's it rated? EDIT: Now I found it. To the younger gamers (including myself, but I might be able to play the edited version legally in a few months), sorry to break it to ya, but the edited version of the game is rated M (Mature 17+) in the US and the uncut version's rated AO (Adults Only). Maybe for future reviews, there should be a rating at the top so that other members would have an idea of the age limit. I'll do that once I develop my review of Ratchet and Clank. I know it's an old game, but I haven't played it until now and the humor never gets old! 
Edited by Singstar90210, 15 Apr 2009, 10:59 PM.
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