[Spoilers Ahead. If You Haven´t Played The Game Yet, Don´t Read This Review]
(I played an un patched version of the game on a PC)
Indigo Prophecy or Fahrenheit is certainly a breath of fresh air. The game tells the story of Lucas Kane, an average Joe who works in a bank and basically lives a very ordinary life. He has a girlfriend and he´s actually going through some tough times in his love-life, but that´s about it. Lucas´ story begins, when a strange man comes to his table at a restaurant and takes a seat. He takes control of Lucas and makes him proceed to the bathroom, where Lucas cuts his wrists and sacrifices a random victim. Not a bad start for an action/adventure/horror game.
The graphics are pretty good for the most part, but I encountered a weird glitch, as I could sometimes see through walls, but that´s probably my problem, because I just purchased a new graphics card a few days ago and I haven´t had the time to properly configure it yet. The characters are really well modelled and the animations are definitely the best part of the whole game, but some textures in the game look a little blurred, giving the game a look that´s a little dated. And then there´s the thing with shadows. The player model and the models of various NCPs cast shadows on the walls and on the floor, but not on the objects that are seen in the game (tables, chairs etc.). For a game that tries to be visually realistic, that´s really a bad thing. And the camera can be a bit clunky at times, but it didn´t screw anything too important up.
As for the choices that you´re able to make in the game - it´s a pretty good system, but even more freedom in choosing your path wouldn´t have hurt. And sometimes the options that are given to the player are unclear. To spice things up, you usually have a very limited amount of time to make up your mind. But the game certainly has a lot of replay value, because doing certain things differently may affect the story greatly.
When your character gets in danger, has to fight or is about to have a vision about the future, you quickly have to push the right buttons indicated on the screen. Having these colorful flashing buttons on the screen in a game that is mostly more grim than Edgar Allen Poe, is a bit weird to look at. It´s also is a distraction. The game is very cinematic and there is a lot to look at, but it´s really difficult for the player to observe his or her actions, because of all the button smashing that needs to be done. I don´t have any better ideas for a fighting system, but more control over your character would have been just great.
A decent adventure game ought to have some decent puzzles. No truly hard puzzles can be found in Indigo Prophecy, though. At least not for the average adventure gamer. I, for example, didn´t stop at all to just catch my breath and think for one minute. And another thing that makes things very easy for the player is that there is no cursor or a pointer. There is also no inventory. These two elements make the few puzzles that you face in the game very easy to solve. The only thing that makes this game hard is pressing the right buttons at the right time. So the overall difficulty is easy or medium.
The voice acting is superb, there is no doubt about that. And all of the voices seem to fit the characters very well. Most of the actors have also had a lot of experience in making voices for computer game characters and that really shows. Bravo!
The plot of the game is an interesting one, but the ending spoiled everything, at least for me. Character development leaves a lot to be desired. You get a picture of their personality, but you really don´t learn too much about their past or even their present life, with Lucas Kane, of course, being an exception. And sometimes characters act in a way that one really wouldn´t expect form them. A good example - Lucas´ girlfriend had just died a few days ago and suddenly Lucas was having sex with Carla (the main female character of the game). To make matters even weirder - Lucas was already dead at this point of the game and he was ice-cold. I mean - Carla seems like an educated woman, she´s making a career etc. And then she decides to have sex in a train wagon with an ice-cold man, who she has met only a couple of times before...
One of the biggest let-downs of the game is its length. I explored everything and everybody and still managed to complete the game in six and a half hours. A friend of mine came to my place and completed it in five and a half hours (I assisted him a bit, though).
This whole game suffers from the Star Wars syndrome. The beginning is very cool and gets your hopes up, but the ending is just downright ridiculous. Sorry, but that´s the way I feel. But in the end, I would recommend this game to all excitement seekers. This game also has a lot to offer, so be sure to check it out. I bet you´ll like it more than I did. And even if you don´t, it´s definitely a new kind of a gaming experience.
Sorry for all the typos I missed. I´m not English ;)