Fahrenheit Review (PS2)

Fahrenheit is a compellingly quirky Playstation 2 affair that we can guarantee plays nothing like any other game you've played.

It's original, it's cinematic and while the plot takes a turn for the worse later on, remains refreshing right the way through.

Playing through the tutorial to Fahrenheit gives you the instant sense that Fahrenheit is designed in a completely different way to any other game you've ever played. The game's main developer David Cage introduces you to the game and the mechanics in a forthright manner, showcasing the game's interesting mechanics and the excellent motion capture work. You'll be treated to a rough tutorial of completing everyday tasks such as opening doors via the game's intuitive analogue control method. The player completes actions by correctly mapping out the directions shown in the HUD. For example, to open a door the player must simply push the right analogue stick forwards, whereas mopping is initiated by sweeping backwards and forwards. The analogue control also allows you to take advantage of conversation trees, which are timed so you don't take too long to think about the way you want to tackle in a discussion. Everything about Fahrenheit is designed with realism in mind - the game wants you to be as honest to your actions as possible, and the story develops as such.

You play as a set of three characters in Fahrenheit: the focus protagonist Lucas Kane is the interest of the game's opening, as he is thrown into the murder of a helpless man in the toilets of a New York restaurant. His actions occur whilst he's in an almost possessed state and once he comes around, you're in charge. From here on in you hide the body and murder weapon and get the hell out of the restaurant. The twist in Indigo Propecy is that you also play as the detectives trying to put the murderer behind bars; Carla Vincent and Tyler Miles are both playable characters in Indigo Prophecy and flesh out a cast that you'll really care about.

We don't want to go into the plot too much but let's just say that there are twists, that are down points and there are some pretty breathtaking moments. This is a game all about its story and characters, and despite some low points near the end, you'll still care about the characters and the plot you're playing the game within.

Graphically Fahrenheit is a real treat, providing some linear environments that are fleshed out with activities and objects to interact with. Fahrenheit manages to render an impressive number of characters on the screen at once and the animation and character design is fairly sublime.