Fahrenheit (video game)

Fahrenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in the United States and Canada) is a video game that was released in September 2005. It was developed by French studio Quantic Dream, and published by Atari. The game was written and directed by Quantic Dream founder David Cage.

According to the official Quantic Dream website, Fahrenheit has sold over 800,000 units worldwide since it was released.

Overview

Fahrenheit is a video game where every decision has a direct effect on the story path of an unfolding mystery. In this paranormal thriller, New York City is stunned by a series of mysterious murders that follow the same pattern: ordinary people become possessed and kill absolute strangers in public. In this video game, the main male character must uncover the supernatural forces behind his crime.

A good deal of publicity was generated from the developer's rejection of conventional game genre labeling for the title; Quantic Dream prefers to brand it as the first truly "interactive film" rather than an adventure or third-person action title. This game features a large amount of motion captured animation as well as branching story lines, split screen cameras (used in a manner very similar to the television series 24) and an interface designed to be intuitive and realistic. Event triggers in the game are also mainly time-based, as opposed to the more common player-initiated progression found in most games. A majority of critical reviews were enthusiastic, and considerable praise has been given to the developers for their attempt to reinvent and re-imagine the "adventure game" genre. However, they also mentioned the bizarre plot twists and the seemingly rushed non-sensical nature of the second half of the game.

Gameplay

Console versions of the game eschew most of the traditional methods of control, making minimal use of the face buttons on the controller, instead using twin analog sticks for all player actions. The left stick controls movement of the character, and the right is used for context-sensitive actions. For instance, when Lucas approaches his table at the diner in the opening scene, one direction may cause him to take a seat, while another makes him examine his bill, and a third lets him pick up his drink and take a sip. The available options are displayed with simple diagrams at the top of the screen. Some more complex motions, such as climbing a fence or spinning a yo-yo in "around the world" fashion, require controller motions akin to those used for special moves from conventional fighting games.

During the tutorial of the game director David Cage instructs the player to move the thumb-stick slowly when opening a door, to maximize immersion, making it clear the prevalent use of thumb-sticks in the game was intended to increase immersion. The rare occasion in which the face buttons are used never directly control character actions, rather, the buttons (the Y, B, and A, or triangle, O and X, on Xbox and PS2, respectively) are used to interact with menus and user interface. This includes changing between characters, navigating menus in computer systems, and displaying the "mental health" of the character.

On the PC the game can be controlled by keyboard and mouse, with key movements and mouse gestures used in conjunction in lieu of analog control sticks, but Windows gamepads with analog sticks are also supported, and recommended.

There are also large action set pieces, which are completely scripted, but do require reflexes to complete. During these scenes, two circular diagrams with colored segments (resembling the electronic Simon game) are superimposed over the full-motion animation, each one corresponding to one of the analog sticks. The diagrams depict sequences of control inputs, which the player must mimic in order to maneuver the character out of danger. It is similar to the game-play of Dragon's Lair or the "Quick Time Event" sequences in Shenmue. The game also requires feats of endurance, involving the alternate pressing of the left and right shoulder buttons as rapidly as possible. These L-trigger/R-trigger sequences are generally used to evoke (and cause) physical strain, such as running or swimming.

The game provides each character with a "Mental Health" meter, which goes from full ("Neutral") to empty ("Wrecked") and represents the character's mental health. Many of the game's events (such as the opening, where Lucas comes over to the prone body of his victim) subtract points from the meter, but everyday or habitual activities (such as eating, urinating or receiving good news) will add to them, as well as scenarios in which the character makes a revealing discovery or action that helps him or her in some substantial way. An empty Sanity meter leads to an end depending on the character (Carla and Tyler will give up their badges, and Lucas will either turn himself in, or commit suicide) and a Game Over.

Finally, a conversation system is also implemented into the game, with the right analog stick being used to choose dialogue options. When conversing with certain NPCs, this is sometimes accompanied by a "Suspicion" meter, which is affected by the player's choices indicating how suspicious the character who Lucas is conversing with is., e.g. failing to give convincing answers when being interrogated by police. In these situations, if the player does not make a choice within the allotted time limit, the game will make a default choice for him, or else the conversation is abruptly ended. It should be noted that it is impossible to leave a conversation without the minimum amount of information necessary for the characters to progress in the game, and if one continually strays too far from the topic's intended resolution, the game will automatically make the choice for him. Examples include the cop in Joe's Diner telling the player, as Carla Valenti, about the waitress and the table at which Lucas was sitting, Lucas being interrogated by Carla or Tyler.

Plot synopsis

The game is set in January of 2009. The story begins on a cold New York night, when Lucas, in a possessed trance, stabs a man to death in the restroom of an East Side diner and then flees the scene in confusion. His crime is set against a backdrop of similar ritualistic murders and falling temperatures (hence the name). Detectives Valenti and Miles are charged with solving the case and tracking him down. Lucas then becomes involved in a two millennia old prophecy which will determine the fate of the world. The player is placed in control of all three, and occasionally of Markus, Lucas' brother, over the course of the game, and thus is given the chance to sometimes aid one character in opposing another.

The game also has an innovative plot for its manifold branchings and options. The creators describe the plot as "elastic," capable of much stretching to accommodate the player's choices and decisions across all three characters, although it still follows a set plot thread. For instance, in the opening scene, the player is placed in control of Lucas and left to deal with the aftermath of the murder. The player's choices, such as what to hide, what to leave alone and how to escape the diner, determines what clues Detective Valenti and Detective Miles find and how the patrons recall him, and thus the ease with which they later discover his identity. (There is a specific mission where the sole purpose is to figure out all the clues.)

The game features three endings with the outcome dependent solely on the results of the final scenes. However, the game features many more scenes and game-play sections, depending on the choices that the player makes.

In each ending, taking place three months later, Lucas states that he has been living with Carla since the end of the game. He then adds that Carla is pregnant from the time in the underground base with the Invisibles, and that their child was exposed to the Chroma as Lucas had been when he was in his mother’s womb.

Characters

Main characters

The protagonist in this video game is Lucas Kane. Raised on the remote Wishita military base by his scientist parents (the death of which severely affected him 10 years previously), he now works as a technical expert for Naser & Jones bank in Manhattan. Since his childhood, he has had periodic clairvoyant visions, the disturbing nature of which it is implied had a severe emotional impact on him as a child and drove him to isolate himself from others. These visions, apparently long dormant, suddenly increase in frequency following the events at the diner, accompanied by a dramatic increase in Lucas' physical strength and the emergence of telekinetic abilities, eventually allowing him to dodge bullets and fly. He is voiced by David Gasman.

Carla Valenti is the primary female protagonist of the game. A police inspector with the NYPD, Carla is one of two detectives called upon to investigate the murder committed. She is known among the other members of the department for her intense work ethic and commitment to her job (which sometimes tend towards excessive, as her devotion to her work is in part her way of compensating for her lack of any personal life, her only friends being Tyler, some colleagues, and her neighbour Tommy). Naturally inquisitive and completionist, Carla tends to brood over cases which are going nowhere, and will spend long hours poring over evidence in the hopes of finding one vital clue which she may have missed. She is also highly claustrophobic, and is prone to panic attacks when inside dark, enclosed spaces. She is voiced by Sharon Mann.

Tyler Miles is Carla's partner, who has a much more lackadaisical attitude towards life, although he is very devoted both to his job and his fiancée, Samantha Malone ('Sam' as he calls her). His relationship with her has always been close but has also been under constant strain due to her terror of him being hurt in the course of his job. The long hours and increasing cold have begun to sink his spirits greatly, and this latest murder case hasn't helped, leaving him to reconsider life as a police officer and perhaps leaving for Florida with Sam to run her parents' store. His hobbies include playing basketball, video games (which he often talks about or makes references to, including multiple instances of metafiction) and collecting 1970s memorabilia and vinyl Motown albums. He is also voiced by David Gasman. At the end of the game, the player can choose if Tyler should leave to Florida with his girlfriend.

Lucas' older brother is Markus Kane, a priest at a local church. He worries about the current state of affairs involving his brother, but his faith prevents him from seeing very much past that facts, despite his best efforts. When they were kids, Markus tried to get Lucas, who was something of a loner, more involved with the other children on their military base home. He is voiced by Doug Rand. His fate is decided by the player. If he is rescued, the Invisibles explained the situation to him, making him realize that Lucas is telling the truth.

The Oracle is a man of unknown identity who appears in Lucas' visions after the murder. The Oracle is the main villain in the story and Lucas' archnemesis. He has only been seen wearing a gray hooded coat which hides his face, leaving his true nature a mystery. He is later revealed to be a Mayan oracle over 2000 years old, working for the Orange Clan to find the location of the Indigo Child. He also has telepathic abilities, allowing him to be forgotten by others even as they speak to him. He is also able to control who can see and hear him, as demonstrated in Lucas´s flashback to the murder night, where we see that as though Lucas is sitting in the diner talking to the Oracle (albeit reluctantly), the waitress acts as if the Oracle isn't even there.

Minor characters

Tiffany Harper is Lucas' ex-girlfriend who shows up the day after the killing in the restaurant. It is suggested by some of Tiffany's comments that she broke up with him due to his intimacy issues. He still has feelings for her and it is possible to rekindle their relationship in the course of the game. She is kidnapped by the Oracle and used as bait. When Lucas comes to save her, the Oracle collapses the wooden rollercoaster where he was holding her prisoner and she dies from the fall. The last seen of her is her image on her tombstone in the cemetery. She is voiced by Sharon Mann.

The Indigo Child is a "perfectly pure soul, never before incarnated" who holds the secret of the meaning of life. Her coming has been anticipated since the beginning of time, and numerous factions are competing to gain possession of her, as the person who hears her secret will wield control of the entire universe (who this person will be depends on the actions of the player). She appears as a young autistic girl named Jade wearing the uniform of the Catholic orphanage where she lives.

Agatha is an elderly, blind, paraplegic woman who, using her psychic abilities, helps Lucas understand what happened to him at the diner. Despite dying early in the game, Lucas sees her afterwards in visions providing him background information. However this ghostly vision of Agatha is not actually Agatha, it is revealed to be a member of the Purple Clan masquerading as her so that Lucas will do their bidding. She is voiced by Jodi Forrest.

The Purple Clan is a group of Artificial Intelligences that come from "the Net", wish to use the secret of the Indigo Child to become the dominant species on the Earth and make human beings their eternal slaves. If Jade tells the Indigo Prophecy to the AI at the end of the game, Earth is plunged into an ice age, with the surface becoming near unlivable, and humanity driven to the brink of extinction. The Purple Clan has only recently revealed itself, and is the only rival clan of the Orange Clan. Since they do not have the Oracle to assist them in finding the Indigo Child, because Lucas possesses the powers of the Oracle, they work to manipulate him to help them complete the Indigo Prophecy.

The Orange Clan is an Illuminati-like secret society ruling the planet from behind the scenes. They know everything that goes on that is done by everyone, every second of everyday. They wish to utilize the secret of the Indigo child to become immortal and rule the Earth for eternity. There are five pillars that make up the clan including administration, police, finance, and the media. From back in the early days when each country had its own clan, they existed and were responsible for destroying all of the other rival clans. They are the last existing original clan and believe themselves to be the only clan left.

The Invisibles are a secret underground organization that monitors the other clans, and wishes to make sure that the secret of the Indigo Child does not fall into the wrong hands. The organization is made up of mostly homeless individuals who use the tendency of others not to notice them to gather information on the other clans. They are led by a homeless man only named Bogart, who is remarkably more intelligent than the drunken persona he adopts should people talk to him.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was a well received aspect of the game, receiving praise from various sources. Impressed by his previous work on soundtracks for David Lynch films, David Cage decided to enlist Angelo Badalamenti onto the project. Cage did not want the soundtrack to be composed of generic orchestral pieces in the vein of John Williams or Carmina Burana, but instead more emotional and atmospheric, something that he felt Badalamenti achieved. Further licensed pieces of music were used in the game, these could also be unlocked for later listening:

• Theory of a Deadman — Santa Monica
• Theory of a Deadman — No Surprise
• Theory of a Deadman — Say Goodbye
• Theory of a Deadman — No Way Out
• Teddy Pendergrass —Love TKO
• Ben E. King — Street Tough
• Patrice Rushen — Hang It Up
• Bobby Byrd — Try It Again
• Society's Bag — Let it Crawl
• Leee John — Just An Illusion
• Nina Simone — No Good Man
• Martina Topley-Bird — Sandpaper Kisses

North American version changes

The original title of Fahrenheit was changed to Indigo Prophecy in the United States and Canada. The change was made to avoid confusion with the film Fahrenheit 9/11. Scenes depicting sex (both of which can be interactive) and other "adult content" were removed from the North American versions so the game would receive a "Mature" (17+) rating. Both the name change and editing were made at the request of the publisher.

A likely cause for the requested changes was due to the infamous Hot Coffee mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which garnered unfavorable media attention and controversy in mid-2005. Although Fahrenheit's sex scenes are not explicit (less so than a typical "R"-rated film), Quantic Dream claims that the cuts don't "dramatically affect" the plot of the game. The deleted scenes are completely ancillary to the plot. Even so, the game has been re-released in Canada and the USA under the title Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Director's Cut. This version of the game, available only for Windows as a download, is uncut and rated Adults Only (18+).

The game faced no such problems in other parts of the world; any copy of the game entitled Fahrenheit has not been edited in any way.

Nudity Scenes

In the European version of the game there are a couple of nude scenes that were cut from the US release.

The first is when we first see Carla's apartment. The scene starts with her having a shower. She exits the shower. We see her body from different angles (i.e. a top down position. Her nipples can't be seen. Two sex scenes are featured in the game; one optional, interactive scene between Lucas and Tiffany, and the second between Lucas and Carla in the Invisibles' underground base. In the first scene, Lucas' buttocks are visible and in the latter scene Carla's nipples are partially visible.

In addition, one unlockable bonus movie in the game, titled 'Sam's Dance' shows Sam dancing for Tyler, eventually stripping nude; as the scene fades out at the end, a brief, uncensored frontal nude shot is shown.

Reception

Upon its release, the game's in-depth storyline and innovative gameplay stunned many critics. GameSpot said "Fahrenheit gives the term 'cinematic gameplay' some context, as well as some real heartfelt meaning. But where the game truly shines is in its story, which is a deep, captivating, and sometimes disturbing tale". It received both the Best Story and Best Adventure Game award for 2005 from the site, as well as being nominated for 4 others.

The Xbox version of the game has a Metacritic score of 84.

References

External links

• Quantic Dream — developer website
• Atari — Official Fahrenheit website
• Atari — Official Indigo Prophecy website

Reviews

• Eurogamer review (Xbox; 9/10)
• Computer And Video Games review (Xbox; 9/10)
• "Hochspannung per Mausklick" — German Review at EVOLVER.at
• Vito Raliffe's Xbox review