Fahrenheit / Indigo Prophecy

[Tom_Violence]

Okay, I know its a bit long in the tooth and all that, but I've only just gotten around to getting a copy, playing it, finishing it, and deleting it forever.

A good 90% (seriously) of this game was awesome. A joy to play, and marvelously original which is something so rare these days. It plays like a film, and is actually very well directed for the most part, not to mention pretty scary at times. The controls were what I liked most about it, as its weird Track And Field sections actually at times do get the bloody flowing, and makes for a pretty immersive game.

But (and oh what a but it is) the ending was diabolical. For those of you out there that thought game X was rushed out the door, play this. I dare you. I double dare you. I was actually astounded by what happened here. The only saving grace is that the bad bits are only the last 20 minutes or so, but in a game that's really all about the very very intruiging story, that's not much consolation.

I'd still recommend picking it up for cheap if you can, just so you can see that games can be done in non-standard ways, but for those that want to know why the ending was so atrocious, here's the ruiner:

A quick synopsis before the crap: The game starts with you murdering someone whilst in a trance and then trying to work out why. Eventually you find out its all about some Mayan prophecy to end the world, and part of a big conspiracy. So far so intriguing. All throughout the game there's the undercurrent of 'is this real or am I mental?', with you always trying to second guess where its going. Where things go truly awry is that, as well as the people in the Mayan conspiracy trying to take over the world with their occult dealings, literally about 20 minutes before the end of the game one of the main characters turns into this big glowing monster and announces that ho ho ho its really a big AI that wants to take over the world also. Buh? Honestly, its like being mugged. By a lightbulb. With a stupid voice. And then to cap it all off you win, the hero sits down and says 'yay, I won'. Oh, and did I mention that the end has you protect a girl who apparently knows the secrets of the universe? Yeah, she 'tells' you them, but as you've probably suspected all you get as a player is lots of whispering noises and the main character looking a bit bemused.

So, yay, and argh, in largely equal quantities.

[terror_drone]

Yeah the ending was kinda 'ugh' but overall I liked it, personally I'd give it a B+. If you ignore some of the last minute stuff then it is brilliant and I actually went back and played it through three times to get the different endings (didn't feel like getting the suicide endings).

[psycojester]

Personally i felt that it went to hell about half way through, if they'd kept up the ambiguity about his sanity it would have been a far better game.

But no YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE! GO FIGHT AZTECS IN MIDAIR AND SAVE THE WORLD NEO!

and seriously where the hell did the evil purple robot A.I come from? Was that ever explained, old creepy psychic lady i can accept, but i draw the line at crazy purple Aztec-fighting robots in a world that seems to be on the same level technologically speaking as the real world.

[Dragor]

Yep, borrowed a copy of Faherenheit off my friend and it had some very, very good bits amongst some tedious points.

Good bits = escaping from the mental asylum, Tyler as a whole, apartment falling apart and fighting you, going Neo on the cops- FUN. Plus, the bonuses (did YOU unlock all the characters dancing- even the director?)

Bad bits = the ending, bits as a child (air base..... never again)

[Maxymiuk]

Started out as one of the most enjoyable games I've played in a long time. Having the view split into several screens, literally showing you that you're under a time constraint and that something big and scary is coming for you... *shudder*

Then the game went and "gone Neo." What. The. Hell. Complete with the religious overtones, no less.

The main character dies at one point. Then he's brought back. Next time we see him he sports a beard and is, for some reason, wearing something like a robe.
The random sex didn't help things much.

And in the end they duel with ancient Aztec laser beams.

[Tom_Violence]

The random sex didn't help things much.


Speaking of which: His girlfriend dies under less than ideal circumstances, and then two minutes later he's having some with some chick he barely knows in the back of a broken-down train. And is as happy as can be, apparently. :smallannoyed:

Personally, I was hoping it was all gonna go a bit Silent Hill 2 and give me something to actually think about, but alas, I was disappointed. Oddly though, I wanted this game to be something I could hold up and say 'look - not all games have to be so generic these days!', and thankfully I can still say that. Speaker's Corner, here I come! :smallamused:

[The Evil Thing]

I was able to accept the story up to the point where he becomes 'undead'. After that, it seems like the designers just gave up on trying to justify the various goings-on in the world. Does his deadpan voice give him super strength or something? Having said that, the game itself is still excellent. I don't remember anyone ever attempting something in this style so points for originality and effort.


And in the end they duel with ancient Aztec laser beams.
"Guns? Where we're dueling, we don't need guns. We're going to do battle with ancient Aztek Lazur Beemz."

(Sorry, I couldn't resist. Cookie for reference.)

[Closet_Skeleton]

Personally i felt that it went to hell about half way through, if they'd kept up the ambiguity about his sanity it would have been a far better game.

But no YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE! GO FIGHT AZTECS IN MIDAIR AND SAVE THE WORLD NEO!

and seriously where the hell did the evil purple robot A.I come from? Was that ever explained, old creepy psychic lady i can accept, but i draw the line at crazy purple Aztec-fighting robots in a world that seems to be on the same level technologically speaking as the real world.

He was Mayan damn it, Mayan!

You're not the chosen one, you just got exposed to magic power by mistake or something.

I actually liked the evil endings.

Though the dumbest scene ever is:
Police Detective Lady: I don't trust you.
Hero guy: I'm actually now a zombie.
Police Detective Lady: Let's have sex

[Toric]

"Guns? Where we're dueling, we don't need guns. We're going to do battle with YAYSPOILER."

YuGiOh: The Abridged Series. Screw the rules, I've got money!

I only briefly got to play this game, up to the point where you perform CPR on the kid at the park. Which kinda didn't make sense to me: if you rescue the kid, try to resuscitate, and fail, you're sent to jail and you lose. If you save the kid's life, however, the cops let you go. You definitely don't get an A for effort in this game. I did like some of the minigames like playing the guitar, even picking the genre you wanted to match your mood. I'll need to snatch another copy of the game sometime.

[psycojester]

He was Mayan damn it, Mayan!

Quite frankly i don't see how that helps his cause, my history may be a bit fuzzy but i don't remember any accounts of the Mayan's flying around kung-fu fighting against zombies whilst turning into badly rendered and animated panthers

[Closet_Skeleton]

Quite frankly i don't see how that helps his cause, my history may be a bit fuzzy but i don't remember any accounts of the Mayan's flying around kung-fu fighting against zombies whilst turning into badly rendered and animated panthers

You don't remember Vikings invading Nazi Germany do you?

[Dareon]

Yeah, the game just hit an 85-degree downgrade immediately after you found the Child. A screeching, jackknifing, spilling-unsecured-loads downgrade.

[psycojester]

Its almost as if they went out and hired a new writer specifically to kill off all the good aspects of the first portion of the game.

[The Prince of Cats]

It wasn't so bad. I played Fahrenheit, so I suppose some of the deleted content might have been necessary for better enjoyment.

The strangest thing was that, of the three sex-scenes (four if you count the hotel, which was random, but not game-breaking), the only one that really made no sense at all (and had me shouting at the screen) was the one integral to the plot...

I mean, they jump, as someone so rightly pointed out, from 'I don't trust you' to 'nice shoes, wanna ****?'

I did have a double-take moment when I saw the size of their stunts department. I mean, they obviously took their fight-scenes seriously...

It did get worrying at times that you were working against yourself. The best example was...
Carla goes to Kane's office, where you are both hiding and searching for evidence. After running around trying to hide everything, Carla then gets to open all those draws and find your bits.

It is not perfect, but I would say it was an amazing game in any case. After playing the demo, I wanted this game. After playing about half-way, I was starting to feel a little mixed up. There were times when I wished the immersion was not quite so deep, I really should not have played the last 75% of the game in more or less a single session...

[Jerthanis]

Wow, I really liked the ending, though I certainly would've liked another kung-fu fight more than the laser battle.

The only parts I didn't like were the insanely tricky stealth parts of the Airbase. I will say it ratcheted down in atmosphere as the story ratcheted up the action, and if you didn't like the Matrix, I could see how the fight where you fought the Oracle guy in a scene reminiscent of Neo's first duel with Smith could be a little stupid, but I liked the Matrix, and the idea of magic-fueled kung-fu battles over the destiny of the world is still cool in my book.

I didn't succeed on the QTE thing to get your girlfriend back so I had less problem with the main character moving on quickly after her death, because she was an Ex, not a girlfriend for me. I still laughed out loud at the "You're so cold..." line right before the sex with the police officer lady.