Indigo Prophecy
Description official descriptions
January 2009. On a cold, snowy night in New York City, an ordinary citizen named Lucas Kane, under the control of an unknown force, unwillingly murders a complete stranger in a diner. Once he comes to senses, Lucas realizes he must escape while leaving as little evidence as possible behind. Barely managing to accomplish that, Lucas contacts his brother and tries to understand what has caused him to commit the crime, recalling the events of his own past in the process. Meanwhile, two police detectives investigating the murder, Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles, are determined to find the perpetrator, at the same time trying to deal with the personal problems of their lives.
Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit in Europe) is a psychological thriller in which the player is able to control different characters on both sides of a murder - the killer and those who are trying to find him. The game's core gameplay style is adventure. The three protagonists explore various locations, talk to other characters, and interact with the environment in order to advance. However, the game is heavy on various action-oriented sequences, from tasks that must be completed within a limited amount of time to quick time events, which require the player to press the correct button during a scene.
The game emphasizes realism in the player's interaction with the environment. For example, picking up a rag and cleaning the floor requires the player to move the mouse or the analog stick back and forth, imitating the actual movements of the object. Dialogue with character often imposes time limits on the player; failure to choose the optimal response in time will prompt the game to choose another, not always the optimal one. The player's choice will sometimes influence the subsequent events and the outcome of the entire story, eventually leading it to one of the three possible endings.
Cinematic treatment is evident in the game's handling of action-based gameplay and cutscenes, which are often seamlessly integrated into each other. An example of this is the split-screen technique, which is often used during the game's most dramatic moments: while the player is trying to complete the required action in time on one screen, another one displays what is happening around the controlled character.
Spellings
- 全面失控 - Traditional Chinese spelling
- 靛青预言 - Simplified Chinese spelling
- 인디고 프로페시 - Korean spelling
Groups +
- Best of Infogrames / Atari releases
- Gameplay feature: "Simon says"
- Gameplay feature: Multiple endings
- Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit games
- Nudity
- PC Gamer Presents games
- Protagonist: Hunter & Hunted
- Setting: City - New York
- Setting: Future now past
- Software Pyramide releases
- Technology: amBX
- Theme: Law enforcement
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Credits (Windows version)
192 People (189 developers, 3 thanks) · View all
| Director | |
| Executive Producer | |
| Assistant Project Manager | |
| Production Assistant | |
| Engine Manager | |
| Platform Managers | |
| 3D Engine | |
| Tools Manager | |
| Tools | |
| Design | |
| Graphic Manager | |
| Lead Characters | |
| Senior Artist | |
| [ full credits ] | |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 84% (based on 96 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 212 ratings with 15 reviews)
The Good
- Clever use of multiple view angles (à-la-24)
- very strong story start.
- good immersion,sense of urgency very present.
- Overall first 1/2 of game solid.
The Bad
Right about half point :
- False sense of choice
(its either "game over" or go on, no branching tree story) - You realize whatever you did in the past is irrelevant.
- Story quickly dwindles, you end up doing menial irrelevant things or just pushing buttons for the story to continue
- Ending is... well, very, very bad.
The Bottom Line
Ingenious design. Brilliant concept. Poorly executed.
Once you realize that nothing matters, it leaves a rather bitter taste.
PlayStation 2 · by Nicolas Nadeau (2) · 2006
Beautiful suspense... On the edge, baby!
The Good
Indigo Prophecy is a trendsetter. This game is just so damn awesome that I don't know if I'll be able to word things correctly, but here goes nothing.
You start out at a diner, in the bathroom, on the throne. You're unconscious, fully clothed thank goodness. A man comes in and uses the urinal... you twitch.
He walks over to the sink slowly, while your body begins to shake and convulse rather violently. He's washing his hands, and you step out of the stall, staggering like a wooden puppet. A small steak knife is in your hand, and you lift it. Your head lifts up, revealing your face. A grimace of death and agony is upon you, and your eyes are rolled back. The man sees you in the mirror, and turns around just in time to catch the blade in the heart. He falls to the ground, you on top of him, struck silent in horror and pain as you raise the blade high into the air again, and strike again. You lift the blade one more time, and plunge it into the last artery, completely severing the man's heart. You raise your hands in the air, covered in blood, head looking upwards as you almost seem to levitate, still twitching violently. All of a sudden, SLAM.
You fall the the ground, waking up as if from a deep sleep. You don't remember what the hell just happened, but you know that if you don't cover this up quickly, someone is going to find out. You drag the body into a stall and mop up the blood, and then wash your hands of the stain of your sin. A cop tells the cook to hold onto his food, he needs to use the restroom. You don't have long. You leave in a rush, with the option to pay for your food calmly or just rush out like a bat out of hell... You think you got away, but they're on your heels like bloodhounds... Who did this to you? What the hell even happened? It all unravels in my favorite game for Xbox: Indigo Prophecy.
I love that game so damn much. The game's graphics are eye-candy, and the storyline just gets deeper and deeper and drags you in with it. User controls allow easy movement and control of objects around your house, such as a stereo with real working music, a sink, a fridge, the works.
The voice-acting and sounds are sublime! Everything... to tell you the truth, it's just like a freaking movie! It's just so damn good!
The Bad
Well, it had to end for one. Also, I wished that some things that you do/see/hear have a little more... explanation. This game has basically no flaws...
The Bottom Line
The best game for Xbox, in my opinion. Rent first, but a definite buy. Rent first so you can make sure you're okay with the controls and method of talking.
Xbox · by Kain Ceverus (30) · 2007
Some of the best voice acting and story writing ever.
The Good
The game starts out as a kind of detective or police procedural, then subtly morphs in a more sci-fi direction. The game play is unusual and not like all the other games out there. The story was important to the game and satisfying. The voice acting was nominated on several sites as being the best of the year. It was believable and realistic and added to the experience of the game.
The Bad
The graphics weren't anything special.
The Bottom Line
An adventure RPG with a unique game system.
Windows · by David Gasman (5) · 2006
Discussion
| Subject | By | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Skipping cutscenes | DreinIX (10446) | Sep 25, 2009 |
Trivia
1001 Video Games
Fahrenheit appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Cut Content
In the U.S. version, the sex scenes have been toned down to maintain a Mature rating.
Development
- Fahrenheit was first announced as an episodic game. With this business model, Quantic Dream wanted to sell the game at a budget price, and then release monthly episodes and half-yearly bundles. This concept allowed for cliff-hangers, red herrings, mysteries, and surprises, with a new build-up in hype every month. Ultimately, they did not go along with it and released the game as a whole, at a regular price.
- The game was in development for five years - two years to create the tools and engine, two years to develop the game, and an additional year to sell it to the publisher.
Genre
The developers themselves do not call the game an adventure, but rather interactive drama, a story that is evolving according to the player's choices in the game, where gameplay is the story. It consists of bending stories, with a beginning, a middle and an end, but everything in between can be stretched or has multiple paths.
Publishing
The game was first to be published by Vivendi Universal, but developer and publisher parted ways in November 2004 because of differences in creative vision.
References
- Early in the game when the player wakes up as Tyler there is a desk in the bedroom with an action figure on it that when checked says: "This is a figurine of Sox, a character from my favorite videogame." Sox is a robot from another Quantic Dream game, Omikron: The Nomad Soul.
- At one point of the game there's also news about Omikron on the Internet. It can be accessed from Tyler's computer at the police station. Notice also how much the archive computer in the basement of the police station looks like a Commodore VIC-20.
- The concept of an Indigo Child is an actual theory, though not quite the same as the game presents it.
Technology
The game contains thirteen hours of full body and facial animation, which, according to the developers, has never been done in a video game, a TV series, or a film.
Tutorial
In the tutorial, the player is introduced to the game in a training room by director David Cage, not just with a voice-over, but using a rendered model as well. He also briefly discusses his creative vision.
U.S. Title
The decision to rename the game Indigo Prophecy in the U.S. was made by Atari. Fahrenheit suggests September 11th because of Michael Moore's critical film Fahrenheit 9/11, even though it's equally well known as a temperature scale, or in reference to Ray Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451.
Awards
- 4Players
- 2005 – Best Adventure of the Year
- 2005 – Best Innovations of the Year
- GameSpy
- 2005 – PC Adventure Game of the Year
- 2005 – PC Adventure Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
- Golden Joystick Awards
- 2005 - Unsung Hero of the Year* PC Powerplay (Germany)
- Issue 04/2006 - #2 RPG/Adventure in 2005 (Readers' Vote)
- Issue 02/2006 - Most Innovative Adventure in 2005
Information also contributed by Jeanne, Mr. Sefe, piltdown man and Zack Green.
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Related Sites +
-
Developer's diary
An extensive post-mortem by director David Cage. -
FAQs and Guides
on GameFaqs.com -
Fahrenheit
Official Web Site -
UHS Hints for Indigo Prophecy
Nudges you along so you can try to solve the game yourself. Given in question and answer format. Includes full solutions. -
Walkthrough by Grawl
posted on GamesOver -
Zarf's Mini-Review
A mini-review of the PlayStation 2 version of Indigo Prophecy by Interactive Fiction developer Andrew Plotkin (June, 2006).
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Jeanne.
PlayStation 4 added by Sciere. Xbox 360 added by Parf.
Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Sciere, Zeppin, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, FatherJack.
Game added September 20, 2005. Last modified February 23, 2024.