Indigo Prophecy has a brilliant story which is severely hampered by faulty gameplay mechanics.....
Before beginning the story players have the option to go through a brief tutorial which is given by Director David Cage in animated form. I'd recommend checking this out to at least get a basic feel of what to expect.
The opening sequence in Indigo Prophecy is done well. The stuff of Hollywood suspense. There's a fly-over of Manhattan Bay which takes the player into New York, then ultimately "Doc's Diner" where our character's nightmare begins. The main character is Lucas Kane, an IT manager at a bank, but players will also take control of some other characters as well. Lucas Kane is a fairly unassuming, blend-in-with-the-crowd nobody with some strange *powers*. "Lucas Kane, you've just killed some poor sap in a john and your girlfriend has moved out...What are you going to do now?" "I'm going to hell in a handbasket!"
Soon after players are introduced to a couple other main players in the tragedy; NYPD Detectives Tyler Miles and the vivacious and fairly comely-for-an-animated-character Carla Valenti who arrive on the bloody scene at Doc's to open the investigation. The player can take control of either detective. Right away Carla's keen cat-like senses tell her there's something highly unusual about the murder....Meanwhile...Lucas wakes up in his apartment in a cold sweat, covered in blood and utterly confused and bewildered about what has taken place, and for that matter -how he got home in the first place.
After a cut-scene the player is given control. At this point I'm thinking this will be a good time to acquaint myself with the control mechanics and nuances as well as take a tour through Lucas' apartment. I check out every square inch looking for whatever I can interact with while keeping my eyes peeled for any and all clues I might come across. Anything that can be interacted with will be blatantly obvious thanks to the context-sensitive prompts which pop up next to objects and in certain locations.
So far so good. As I'm "touring" a picture-in-picture pops up showing a police officer walking down the hall towards Lucas' apartment. Then the cop knocks on the door announcing "This is the Police,open up!". As this happened I also noted an extremely thin(easy to miss at first) bar-guage shrinking in length. I'm prompted by a Lucas Kane voice-over and suddenly realize I must clean the blood off, get rid of any evidence, put some clothes on, then answer the door - and do all this before the bar runs dry. Ack! This took me by surprise which is, I'm sure, what the developer had in mind but I also found it to be a bit arbitrary. Of course, since the game auto-saves at the point the officer approaches and knocks I simply restarted from the point it saved because I knew I wouldn't have enough time to complete every task before time was up. This was my first clue that the approach in IP wouldn't exactly be a casual "go at your own pace" approach. This was also an indication that players would be playing under very controlled conditions.
The gameplay becomes the biggest nuisance in IP. For more reasons than one. The biggest culprit are the Quick Time Events which make up the majority of the gameplay. Shenmue & Shenmue 2 instantly sprang to mind as I played IP. QTE's in Shemue 1&2 didn't dominate the gameplay in the same way they do in IP. Sure, QTE's were featured prominently in Shenmue 1&2, but there were a lot more gameplay elements that ensured the QTE's wouldn't become some loathesome chore repeated ad nauseum as is the case with IP.
There was variety and *freedom* in Shenmue 1&2. I could roam and take my time -within certain parameters of distance, time of day, etc.. of course... But with IP there is no real variety or freedom in gameplay. Essentially freedom of choice is limited to deciding which character to take control of first and deciding which response to questions you'll answer with(which is also a timed event -so you'll get a sense of being "rushed" as well). Sure, there might be some value in replaying the game with the intention of trying for slightly different outcomes but by the time I was 3/4 of the way through IP I just didn't CARE! Tedious, annoying, and highly repetitive are the best words I can use to describe the gameplay throughout IP.
One instance that comes to mind is a scene involving Carla at a police firing range. She's there to interview a cop who had investigated a related case some time prior. After answering a few initial questions the cop tells Carla to take a few shots. This becomes key in making any real and significant progress with this cop. If you do well Carla will gain some positive mental points. Each character's mental state is another aspect players will have to be aware of and monitor. If Carla doesn't do well on the firing range the cop she's interviewing will tell her practice more and come back later. This ends the game, but fortunately the auto-save saves the game at the point of entry into the firing range, you must begin that sequence again. If a characters' mental state crashes -game over. You'll have to start again at the last savepoint. Provided you've hit enough targets, Carla resumes her questioning of the cop. After making some headway there's an awkward silence-filled pause at which point the camera shifts and Carla, seemingly out of the blue, again dons the headphones and you realize you need to hit some more targets. Is this all necessary? Obviously it's required to progress but I thought the whole sequence was a bit tacky. More filler than substance.
There are also flashback sequences in which the player is transported to Lucas' youth. These sequences will also involve his priest brother Markus Kane's adolescent version. There was potential in these sequences but that was ruined by more arbitrary, trial & error guesswork trying to pass itself off as "stealthy" gameplay. Just another case of inspired story elements ruined by unispired, shallow and strictly scripted gameplay mechanics .
The camera is another element which sometimes works well and other times becomes an irritant. The director was obviously going for a cinematic feel but the problem with IP and most games that use this type of cinematic presentation is how manic the camera can become. Just taking a few steps in a small room, or a larger room filled with various objects will prompt a camera change. It becomes like a little battle of the wills between myself and the very insistent camera. This isn't always an issue, but enough that it does end up detracting from the experience.
Aside from all that there are some strong elements to Indigo Prophecy. Sound is certainly a strength. From the brooding violin to the fairly recognizable tracks featured throughout IP the music is well done. The background music supports the general mood and theme of IP quite well. There are a variety of tracks players will listen to in-game and later found the Bonus menu -provided you've earned enough Bonus Points to 'purchase' tracks. Players can rock to Theory of a Deadman, get soulful to Teddy Pendergrass' "Love TKO", listen to the sultry and sassy voice of Martina Topley-Bird as she purrs "Sandpaper Kisses" or groove to "Just an Illusion" (think closing credits of F/X starring Bryan Brown) among others.
The voice acting in IP is also done very well. There are a few exceptions as some of the bit characters can sound a bit hokey, but overall -also thanks to an above average script- the voices are a highlight.
The other main strength is as I alluded to before; the story. The story certainly has all the makings for something special. The narrative is inspired and very well crafted. The characters are interesting and creatively done -aside from some overtly cliched aspects. I appreciated how sensitive, compassionate and instinctive Tyler Miles is, for instance. His interaction with his live-in girlfriend was anything but stereotypical. He seemed genuinely well-grounded, affectionate and receptive to his womans needs. Carla Valenti was also well done. Professional, reassuring yet assertive and even aggressive if the situation called for it. She has her weaknesses of course -which the director exploits. In one situation the developer could be accused of taking a bit *too* much artistic license, but oh well. Think Hannibal Lecter and you begin to get an idea.
*Bottomline*: The premise and potential of Indigo Prophecy is inspiring. I'd love to play a game with a similar premise but much more freedom and variety in the gameplay. I'd like to explore much more than IP allows. In any video game story is just not enough. The main ingredient is gameplay and for me IP falls way short of the hopes and expectations I had for it. I believe IP is *not* for everybody. It certainly does not fall under the category of "must-buy". Thank geebus I only rented it. That's my recommendation for most considering Indigo Prophecy -rent first! Even then some who rent IP might not stick around for the duration.