I read a lot about Indigo Prophecy (known somewhere as Fahrenheit) during its production and after it came out. It certainly appealed to me - a game that responds to what you do and how you do it. It was like the holy grail of gaming that we have been promised so many times and cheated out of equal times. I started playing the game with no pre-conceived ideas (something I do not do very often).

The introduction was interesting, in that it was somewhat different. The game's principal writer and creator introduces the player to the game mechanics in a sound room - the player controls a crash test dummy. It really piqued my interest even more, since the guy was constantly reiterating how everything you do in the game affects the game's outcome somehow. Music to my ears. And when looking at the control method that was introduced in the tutorial, it really promised a rich interactive environment and a lot of ways to affect the game world. So far so good.

Thus the game begins. First, the game manages to build up a quite rich atmosphere with the graphics, ambiance and music and you as a player feel quite immersed in it. The camera is stationary while you move your character and it carries with it the usual problems found in such an implementation, but it does not detract from the gameplay. The first scene in the diner is quite cool as it offers the player a lot of choices, and by using split screen effectively pressures the player to make quick decisions. This is all great. but as you get to the end of it, you realize that the effect your actions have on the game world is quite transient - and they only last until the next story milestone. I am sure someone thought that that would help the narrative, but ultimately in my view it hurt the game. I would have liked to be able to shape the story and how it unfolds much more then just deciding whether I arrive at the next story junction faster or slower. It seems that game developers still give up trying to tie the narrative to the gameplay, and thus they do the reverse - which is well established and quite boring - tying the gameplay to the narrative.

The story itself is good, although it quickly goes sour towards the end when it tries to mix in every sci-fi / supernatural plot known to teenagers today - from the Matrix to any secret society novel. I felt that the ending was a little rushed and not well thought about. The characters in the game do make a dramatic arc - well most of them - and that helps the atmosphere of the game, although the character relationships are poorly done as they progress at an unnatural pace. For example, the romance between the female detective and the main protagonist just happens towards the end of the game without any real buildup - it has the believability of a 12 year old boy's fantasy of asking the neighborhood beauty to a school dance. That was really a shame since most of the game features very good cinematography, great camera and brilliant voice acting.

Also, as the game moves towards its conclusion, it deteriorates into a bad Dance Revolution clone, making extensive use of the Simon Says mechanic. I liked the few times this was used in the beginning, and in some clever spots like conversations - but towards the end it became ridiculous. Seeing the tired old "Chinese movie / Matrix" moves made the impression even worse; animators, that shit is no longer cool - come up with something else.
The sneaking sections were another sore spot, as they were completely implausible, and the only way to advance past these sections is to come up with the exact route that the designer thought of when creating this level. And how do you do that? By trial and error. I really liked the sequences in the past (when the main protagonist is a boy) but ultimately the clunky gameplay mechanic really took the fun out of them. Add to that the fact that the enemies would not spot you moving around just a few feet away from them (if you were on the correct rail, that is) and you have a disaster.

Lastly, the game was really short. I breezed through it in something like 6 hours, which was really strange for me. And if you are good at Simon says, you can finish it even faster. Interesting plot threads, like the fact that you were playing the killer and the detective investigating the murder, unraveled quite unexpectedly and without much player interaction towards the middle of the game. It felt like the writer thought that it would be better at this point in the story to join the two, so he did away with all suspense and thrill of achieving something for yourself (as a player) and just put them together in one short act.

With the great atmosphere, an interesting story beginning and very good cinematography and voice work, this game had a lot more potential. Why on earth would you give up control of your character and interaction with the environment for a simple Simon says minigame is something I cannot understand. It seems that the developers did themselves a disservice by including such a simplistic minigame that could be inserted everywhere where there was no time or no creativity to put something else. And this is what is in-fact happening towards the end of the game - it may be a result of a shortage of ideas (I doubt it) or publisher pressure - either way, it did not help the game.

I will say something for it though, it really turned me back on for adventure games, although having played this game, I doubt I will be going back to point-click.