No, No, NO. For the love of all that is HOLY, NOOOOOOO!
After all the industry hype, it's an unforgivable insult for Indigo Prophecy to be as boring and just plain BAD as it is. here! i'll give you the summary of the entire review that follows in one sentence:
Outside of masochism, there is absolutely no reason to play Indigo Prophecy.
Here's why:
Indigo Prophecy is supposed to be the first of a new type of game. Half Movie, Half Game, this new bastard genre is supposed to revitalise both industries. Didn't like the way Scarface ended? Wish you could've stepped in and done something? These new "interactive movies" would let you change it (thus destroying whatever point the director was trying to make, but who cares? he's a hopped up, impudent wretch for trying to tell a story or put any kind of message in Film anyway. Movies aren't art, they're entertainment!)! The Prophecy that is Indigo goes so far as to replace "New Game" on their opening menu with "New Movie". OH! and the training sequence? it's a movie set, and you're a crash dummy! Ha haaaa! You're not playing a game sillypants! you're making a muh-ooovie.
but I digress...
Since Indigo Prophecy touts itself as an "interactive-movie", let's think about what makes a good movie.
Immersion and identification with characters? Not in I.P.
Good directing and cinematography? Nope, not here either.
Interesting and cohesive storyline? hmmm... seems to be missing... must've fallen off the back.
High quality sound and music? huh? what'd you say? i can't hear you...
All of those go into making a good game too. The only thing missing from that list is dynamic and interesting gameplay. Guess what? that's not in I.P. either.
Sarcasm aside (well, briefly anyway), the movie-set-as-training-level-idea is like a stroke of destructive genius. the game is telling you everything that's going to happen for the rest of the game isn't even real to the characters it's happening to. IP doesn't mess around. It destroys any chance of immersion right out the gate. Now, if that was some kind of weird plot twist or game mechanic then... well, you might have something. but that something might be GOOD and as i've said before, IP is BAD.
Continuing on the subject of bad, we come inevitably to the characters. Hmmm... what've we got here? ah yes: Stereotype Cop 1, Stereotype Cop 2, Stereotype bit-part cop 3, Stereotype Mystery Woman, Stereotype Cultist, Stereotype Priest-Confidant, and... a chronically depressed, easily upset, suspiciously Keanu-Reeves-looking IT guy who works at a bank. We'll just file all of these under "Friggin' Boring" and move on, shall we?
Oh... well... actually... that might be a problem. It seems that "Friggin' Boring" is currently full of the visuals and gameplay. Lighting effects? Textures? Interesting Environments? Properly articulated models or correct lip syncing? IP needs not these things. They're perfectly happy with a li'l snow and perfectly flat everything, thank you very much. Much simpler that way. Pretty visuals would just distract the player from the horrible gameplay mechanics anyway.
When I started this review, I hadn't planned to be quite so rough on IP, but the gameplay just gets worse the longer I think about it. Here's a brief synopsis:
Character enters room.
Character runs/walks around room banging into things.
If the character bangs into the right thing, a small icon appears at the top of the screen.
*NOTE: interactive objects have absolutely no distinction from non-interactive objects, and only certain characters can interact with certain objects. the practical upshot of this lovely design is that if you have 2 characters in the same room, you must take both of them on the grand stumble circuit to make sure that you didn't miss something critical. this is as boring and time consuming as it sounds.
The player pushes the right analog stick in the direction indicated by the icon.
Here, one of 3 things happens. Either:
A) Player has to pull the right and left triggers alternately to fill a meter
B) Player has to tap to right analog stick to select another option.
Sometimes this involves a very basic sense of timing.
C) Player puts controller down and goes to get a drink while a long, boring cutscene plays.
95% of this right analog tapping excitement is to perform amazing activities such as: Talking to people, opening drawers, closing drawers, opening cabinets, closing cabinets (yes, there are TWO DIFFERENT actions required to open and shut ONE container of any sort), turning on lights, picking up dirty clothes, answering the phone, getting dressed, taking a shower, going to the bathroom (there is a LOT of going to the bathroom), taking some Tylenol and... drum roll pleez... HAVING SEX! Explain to me why I should pay money to do the same things i do almost every day?
But wait! there's ONE MORE GAME MECHANIC! Be still my beating heart. Occasionally, 2 circles will pop up on screen with 4 different colored directional icons. As these flash, the player is required to tap the analog sticks in the desired directions. If the player fails to do so, it's either the big GAME OVER or they miss a hint as to what to do next. Whoop-de-friggin-doo.
And that's it, ladies and gentlemen. That's the entirety of the game. After all that, it hardly seems worth bringing up the audio atrocities (extremely poor leveling, weak voice acting, boring in the extreme, etc.) or ridiculous storyline.
Indigo Prophecy fails miserably at being a game or a movie, and fails doubly at trying to be both. Don't buy it, don't rent it, don't play it. Just go putter around in your living room or your kitchen for a bit and you've got the full experience without wasting your cash or your patience.
If, after all that, you still feel the urge to play this game... you are beyond help my son. go with God (or other deity of your choice).