➤ Fahrenheit: Indigo Propecy, review 🎮

The novelties of this re-edition are all of a technical nature but before considering them let's put a face on Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy. We are not talking, in fact, of any title but of a production that ten years ago marked an important turning point for David Cage and his software house. Omikron: The Nomad Soul, the first title of Quantic Dream, was already permeated with cinematographic contaminations but it was far from the formula of the interactive film that from Fahrenheit onwards has characterized the productions by Cage. And it is good to say a few words about a genre that escapes the classic evaluation meters.

This is because in interactive films the interaction merges with a predominant narrative component that cannot afford the naivety typical of the average video game. In an interactive film, there is no well-defined gameplay to back it all up. It is the narrative component that governs the experience and this means that it must have a high quality. But that's not enough. In order to be able to talk about a video game, history must coexist with interactive mechanics, dynamics capable of involving the player or, in any case, of deluding him of having some influence on what happens. Cage's skill lies in making this happen and Fahrenheit is the first glaring demonstration of this. A simple but engaging interaction is part of a mature and credible narrative, whose cinematic cut strikes regardless of the quality of the texts, the polygon count or the expressiveness of the models. It is the narrative cut and the possibilities of choice that give the illusion of dynamism in a title whose playful part lives on quick time events and on apparently free choices. And here, assuming that the narrative quality is of an excellent level, personal tastes and the subjective sensitivity to the suspension of disbelief come into play. It therefore becomes difficult to actually assess what Fahrenheit tells us is worth. But we can certainly estimate the narrative component of the title starting from the atmosphere and solidity of the narrative. The vein is the typical one of Cage that reaches us in our armchair starting from an apparent normality. Suddenly that normality is broken and everything changes forever, dragging us into a whirlwind of mysteries, nightmares and delusions.

Fahrenheit: Indigo Propecy returns in high definition to take us back to the origins of Quantic Dream

The magic of cinema

The gameplay of Fahrenheit is the simplest you can imagine but in the Quantic Dream title there is no way to get bored. The secret is all in the rhythm, dictated by a cinematic cut that is exploited to keep the tension high and enhance the illusion that the context in which the player is placed is dynamic. The departure is one of those burning with a heinous murder made even more disturbing by its supernatural nature. The killer, in fact, is the protagonist himself who acts possessed by a mysterious cultist. Once the macabre gesture has been completed, our anti-hero suddenly regains control but finds himself confused, wounded and smeared with blood. The only certain thing is that soon someone will notice the body and the only possible choice is to escape.

But before removing the curtains there is the possibility of gaining a few seconds by hiding the traces of the crime and this is where we enter the scene with actions that have a relative weight on the overall narrative, which in any case includes multiple endings, but produce visible and concrete in the short term. A mop, a bloodstain, a toilet. All elements of a small puzzle that we need to solve quickly. To put us in a hurry is the cinematic cut of the title which with a double shot shows a policeman approaching. Suddenly we find ourselves having to face a short quick time event that further feeds the tension and reveals another game mechanic that gives further importance to our actions. The characters also have to deal with their own psyche which is severely tested by events, failures and bad choices. One mistake and here's a handful of moral points that go away. A success and here the specter of madness recedes and it is good that it is, since reaching zero means having to face a bleak Game Over. But let's go back to our crime scene and the protagonist's desperate escape. The pace is skyrocketing but suddenly everything changes. In the next scene the direction dictates more reflective rhythms. In this case, two policemen are in the spotlight, each to be checked individually to take advantage of their skills, who investigate the case and allow us to unhurriedly retrace what we experienced in an excited way. Another purely cinematic expedient of a title that uses two different rhythms to involve us, two breaths one of which takes us into the nightmare while the other keeps us attached to reality. And the recipe works as well as other similar gimmicks that make Fahrenheit unique and anticipate revisited mechanics in Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls.

The weight of the years

The central part often relies on quick time events but even in this case, original and cinematic cut-outs make the action sessions engaging and not at all frustrating. The narrative dimension, however, loses a pinch of intensity compared to the incredible initial stages and culminates in an ending that many have found too distant from initial expectations and therefore disappointing. Despite this, the experience shaped by Quantic Dream is almost always intense and enjoyable thanks to a dark and disturbing atmosphere that permeates the entire production. An element that allowed Fahrenheit to age quite well despite some rather obvious technical flaws. The biggest problem concerns the movement of the character which is dated to say the least and could surprise those who are not familiar with the video games of a few years ago. But luckily for us we are not talking about an action title and this means that a problem of this kind has a relative impact on the gaming experience. In addition, the gesture system is still valid which, despite being designed for the Dualshock sticks, adapts well to the mouse and in the mobile version of this re-edition is perfectly suited to touch controls.

The mechanics, on the other hand, is the simplest one can imagine. To perform some actions we are asked to mimic the movement which is indicated by an animated icon that appears on the screen. In some cases it is sufficient to move the mouse in the suggested direction while in others it is necessary to measure the amplitude of the movement to carry out the action successfully. The difficulty, this is clear, borders on nothing but we do not even find ourselves having to simply press a button to be able to move on to the next shot. Miming the gesture involves involvement, the fast pace makes it the most important narrative and here the magic of Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy comes to life. And when the deception threatens to reveal itself, here is a quick time event excited to act as a break, a moment of pure action that often accompanies or marries a pop rock bran that breaks the splendid but decidedly dark soundtrack signed by the famous Badalamenti. The change of pace, as well as the change of framing and context, is a cornerstone of a complex narrative that gives a mature breath to the entire production. A production that makes use of a good dubbing in English, secrets in quantity and does not skimp on bloody and spicy scenes that fortunately for us have not undergone any censorship. The only compromises necessary to be able to enjoy Fahrenheit, in essence, are related to the lack of adaptation in Spanish and the graphics that are certainly not modern. However the only novelty of this Remastered edition is the high resolution and one wonders if 8.99 euros is not too much for such a small job. In any case, the higher definition gives us a clean image and highlights still acceptable interiors while the cinematic cut compensates for the poverty in terms of polygons. In addition, the title sports a system of facial expressions far from trivial for the time. But Fahrenheit is a far cry from the realism of modern games, and some panoramic shots require a great deal of imagination to appreciate. The merits, however, are many and we can confidently affirm that this is an experience that is still enjoyable and a lesson in how well-aimed shots and a fast pace can give a completely different meaning to after all simple dialogues and game mechanics that touch the banal.

PC System Requirements

Test Setup

Pocessore Intel Core i5 4440
16 GB Ram
Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 video card

Minimum requirements

Pocessore Intel Core i3 / AMD A10
4 GB Ram
Scheda video ATI HD4450 512 MB , Nvidia 8800 GT 512 MB o Intel HD 4400
15 GB of disk space

Comment

Digital Delivery Steam Price 8,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

7.5

Readers (17)

7.6

Your vote

The movement of the character is unnatural to say the least and the high resolution cannot hide the weight of those ten years that weigh on Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy. But it's certainly not the polygons that make Cage's title worthy of attention. The rhythm, the cinematic cut and the atmosphere stand in support of an experience that is still enjoyable and that we enthusiastically recommend, despite the obvious flaws, to all those who have enjoyed the latest Quantic Dream titles and have missed a rather important title in the panorama of cinematic adventures.