ic-games Review - Fahrenheit - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

ic-games Review - Fahrenheit - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii ic-games Review - Home - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox,Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

Fahrenheit

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Quantic Dream
Publisher: Atari
Reviewed: PC, PS2 and Xbox
Genre: Adventure
UK Release: 16th Sep 2005
Article Date: 15th Sep 2005
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price: £34.99
Price Comparison:
0

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 93%

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Pros

Great Story

You decide the outcome

Revolutionary

Cons

The dreaded camera

Screenshots

41 of 68

Atari clutched Fahrenheit, or Indigo Prophecy as it’s known in North America from VU Games when they inexplicably ditched the publishing rights a while ago. Without going into the mindset of the decision makers it’s a pretty safe bet to say someone dropped the ball here. In fact it’s so blatantly obvious that Fahrenheit is something special that somebody somewhere should be asking themselves some pretty stern questions when Fahrenheit hits retail under it's new publishers.

For reasons why, we only have to look at the current IC-Games review pile for this month. In a swamp full of safe bet first person shooters, WW2 real time strategies, pimp your ride racers and annual EA sport titles; Fahrenheit stands out head and shoulders above the rest. And part of the reason is because this particular game dares to be different from the others on the heap.

The other part could be down to my own personal excitement perhaps. That’s because this particular game takes me back to all those wasted days spent playing those adventure books from the eighties, with decisions based on turning to the relevant page to see what happens next. Fahrenheit takes this idea to the twenty first century and offers up what can now truly be called an interactive movie. It may be a paraphrase but it’s as close as you’ll probably get to directing your own movie, and from start to finish you’ll be itching to have that proverbial ‘just another go’ to see what happens to the story.

Fahrenheit actually begins by placing you in the unfortunate shoes of Lucas Kane, a normal, everyday kind of guy whose world is just about to spiral out of control. Things go from bad to worse when he wakes up in a café toilet with a knife in his hand and a dead body at his feet with no idea of the events that have just transpired.

In this third person adventure from developer’s Quantic Dream, actions are performed in real time, which means decisions are based on quick instinct rather than deep thought. Whatever you decide you had better be quick about it, because the game can cut away at anytime to a current event montage in split screen a la ‘24’. In this particular case, it could be a customer slowly strolling to that very restroom if you hang about long enough.

Various objects are at your disposal that could help you out of the precarious situation but how you make use of them will be entirely up to you. When Kane walks towards the urinal and sink in the bathroom, icons pop up on the screen showing interaction is possible and a direction that you must move on the analogue stick or mouse to perform the action. Turning on the tap for example would be accomplished by pushing right, whereas cleaning the floor is achieved by picking up the nearby mop and moving the analogue stick (or mouse) up and down, basically there is always an obvious connection between the motions and actions you perform.

If you manage to escape from the café you soon realise that a life on the run is just as bad. Fahrenheit offers over forty different scenes played out through four different characters, all based around the same murder. So not only do you get to witness the murder first hand and from his brothers standpoint, but you also get to view the proceedings from the detectives assigned to solve the case as well. You may find it odd to go over a murder as detectives, with the knowledge of what happened first hand anyway, but since things are deliberately held back for each character, there will always be things to discover.

Fahrenheit features a fascinating, ever evolving storyline that really does change in real time depending on your actions. For example during the first segments (we won’t spoil much we promise) you have the option of cleaning up the murder scene or to flee the scene. If you run the story changes to reflect this, if you clean up the blood, the detectives note this as a possible trait of the murderer.

This thought carries on throughout. If Lucas manages to escape the café he’ll head home where any number of things can happen. You can take a shower, watch TV or listen to the radio. Yes, after a while there will always be a plot changing moment, for example his brother will eventually ring, but the real time aspect never stops rearing its head. Even in the case of something as basic as the telephone, if you answer the phone quickly, you’ll speak directly. If you delay the answer phone will kick in but you still have a chance to pick up the phone and catch the caller. If after all that time you still do not manage to get to the phone in time, you then have the option of ringing back. Adventure games have never offered these virtual real time branches and when you experience it for the first time you’ll pray this is the way they all do it from now on.

There are quite a few action sequences included for good measure as well. In a similar vein to the Dragons Lair franchise of yesteryear, at certain points during an action sequence you’ll have to push the controller (or arrow keys) in a certain sequence. If you pull it off your character will perform a successful move, if you fail they’ll stumble (and possibly lose a life point). It would have been quite easy for the developers to fall into the same problems that Dragons Lair succumbed to but Quantic Dream managed to make the whole experience feel pretty fluid and realistic.

And as you progress you’ll also come across some hidden tarot cards. These items can be found basically anywhere and whilst they do not add to the plot, collecting them will allow you to buy bonus material in the main menu. These bonuses feature from some pretty impressive soundtrack music to bonus videos and scenes. Unlike the ever evolving plot these items will always be found in the same places but collecting them all will be quite a challenge.

Purists will probably do well to pick up the PC version to get the best that Fahrenheit has to offer. With the ability to choose a higher screen resolution, apply advanced shadowing and other graphical tweaking, the PC version does stand head and shoulders above the console versions but that’s only to be expected. However, console owners without a powerful PC are still rewarded with a fantastic looking game and that applies to the PS2 and Xbox. The PS2 version might suffer from a small amount of slowdown at times but it’s certainly not enough to spoil the experience to any great extent.

It’s rare that a game gets released without problems and Fahrenheit, as good as it is, still fits into that camp. At times the camera angles frustrate as much as they help, and even though you can switch to numerous different angles, there will be times you’ll wish Quantic Dream took a different approach. Lining yourself up with items to activate them also feels a little hit and miss at times, it’s not normally a problem, but during action scenes it can lead to a frustrating attempt to locate the item’s sweet point before the plot takes over.

And that’s where the review ends, it doesn’t really matter if it’s on the PC, PS2 or Xbox, you simply must experience Fahrenheit for yourselves. Because if you don’t, the worst part is you’ll never get to discover exactly what happened on that cold night in the toilet of an east end restaurant. And as far as the rest of the world is concerned, you’ll have missed out on some truly revolutionary gameplay.

FURTHER SCREENSHOTS

DETAILED GAME INFORMATION

Version Reviewed: PC,PS2 and Xbox Retail
Other Versions: PC,PS2 and Xbox
Muliplayer: No
Price: £34.99
Fahrenheit Screenshot Pack (10.9MB) - DOWNLOAD HERE
Fahrenheit Trailer (24.6MB) - DOWNLOAD HERE

PEGI Rating

BBFC Rating (current)

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