Game Highlight #1

Fahrenheit

First off, a small confession... I've heard a lot of good things about this game, but it's never really appealed to me that much, and I'll be completely honest here...looking on the rear cover, I thought it looked like another violent and grotesque action game.

Of course 9 years later after it's release back in 2005, I finally found the game in a shop in town for about £3 and thought "right I may as well give it a go, if it's no good I can sell it online to someone that would want this game and for the sake of £3 it's well worth giving it a chance".

Well...after buying it and putting it in the game box for a rainy day, I decided last Sunday to get it out, and give it a go.

The game begins with you in a toilet stall, and showcases you as a crazed man self-harming and preparing to commit a murder. As you progress through the game in it's self claimed "interactive movie" environment, you must find out if you're a murderer or victim of some sort of satanism or black magic etc.

So first of all, why is this the game of the week?

Well for a start, it's not a game that just gives you the plot and then you start, progress, find out and finish etc. oh no! it's a lot more complicated and stirring than that!





Every decision you make affects your mental health and mood...

As the game begins, you'll start to find that everything you can interact with can either raise or lower the way you're feeling. Playing as the murderer for example (or victim of uncontrollable darkness if that's the way the story uncovers...) having a sip of water will gently lift your spirits and provide reassurance and slight calming, however, should you pick up a photo of your ex girlfriend...be prepared to sink into an even lower depression.

OK so far that sounds a little obvious right? when you feel ill or panicky and have a sip of water, we all know that it helps slightly, such as it is in the game. Similarly if you found a picture of you and an ex in a "happy memories" pose, I'm sure it would bring a bit of sadness back...well what about alcohol?

In the game there's a bottle of gin in your apartment, now in reality if you're drunk you can either be happy, singing, laughing etc. or you could be asleep, stumble or even violent...do you do what I did on the game and think "getting plastered should temporarily relieve this man of his guilt and pain" or is that not such a wise idea?

I won't reveal any spoilers, but just know that what may seem like a good idea may not always be...

Playing as three characters...whose side do you take?

Well, officially you don't really take anybody's side...but you can (and will I gurantee it!) deliberately favour and want to help either Lucas or Carla and Tyler (who work together as the investigators trying to capture the criminal behind the murder).

In the game, there will be certain points where you can really do your best to evade any suspicion from the police i.e. coincidentally walking through the park next to the same police offer you almost confessed everything to! or hiding all traces of evidence when the police come to your door early in the game...more on that later!

Equally, when playing as Carla and Tyler, you will interact with other characters and the environment to get as much evidence and links to draw you in closer to the murderer...but do you want to discover and arrest Lucas...or do you take sympathy with him and let him discover what's happening? therefore purposely not interacting or digging deeper when playing as the police? It's your choice...

Tensity

It may only be one word to start off, but the tensity in this game is overwhelming.

There are plenty of moments throughout the game which are just simply nail-biting or chilling!

The morning after the murder which takes place, there's a knock on the door followed by "NYPD open up!". Lucas then proceeds by saying something along the lines of "that's it, they know it was me, I'm done for". As the clock counts down, you have to do everything you can to hide any evidence linking you to the crime! as you near the end of the time limit, it's time to bite the bullet and answer the door...will you really be found out so early in the game or will it just be a moment where you can breathe a deep sigh and relax because it's something innocent...don't expect me to reveal it...

So aside from the tense moments, the mysteries, plot twists and the interaction with other characters etc. there are also some fast-paced interactive cutscenes throughout the game.

To the left is an action sequence where Lucas is so nervous he hallucinates and giant arthropods start to chase and attack him.


Using both the analogue sticks you must press the directions indicated by the light within a couple of seconds to work your way out of a bad situation.

In terms of interacting with characters, there are no dedicated set dialogues...YOU choose what you want to ask.

To the right is a screenshot from the beginning of the game when you talk to the waitress about the murder in the men's restroom.

As you sit down you have a few options as to how you steer the conversation. Do you try and get a description of the murderer or victim first? or jump straight in to asking about the victims behaviour?



So now you know a little more about the storyline, the way you can control the game and the various action sequences and interactions, let's talk about the graphics, sounds and controls.


Graphics...
7.5/10 - The graphics in the game are very good. Faces, objects and the environment as a whole are very well drawn in the game and the same goes for the interactive cutscenes and animation throughout.


Sounds...
8/10 - The sounds in the game are perfect. Starting with the simple things like having a drink of water, having a shower or using the computer etc. the developers really went the extra mile to get every sound crammed into the game, and again, I know I've mentioned it in the previous posts, but to have even the minor sounds included make this "interactive movie" game, feel realistic and closer to home.
Aside this is the soundtrack which varies radically.
You'll be playing through the game in tense, nerve racking moments with dark, atmospheric music playing in the background (which, is utterly fantastic and does justice to the tense moments), only to complete the action sequence, breathe a sigh of relief and then continue on thinking "what next", only to then be greeted by a funky soundtrack and a mini-game such as basketball for Tyler or Boxing with Carla.


Controls...
7/10 - The controlling of the characters can at times seem a little difficult, especially within small spaces.
Like most of the small area, dodgy camera games they do have their annoying moments and Fahrenheit unfortunately is no exception.
Despite this however, Fahrenheit generally does have good controls and most of the time it's easy enough to navigate around. Included in this section are the interactive cutscenes that do all the movements for you, but rely on you as the player to press the analogue sticks in the correct direction to continue without encountering any problems. Put simply, the controls are nice and easy, and during the game it is self explanatory as to what to press to progress.

So as an overall score for Fahrenheit, I'd rate it as an 8.5/10

If you're like me and thought this game didn't look all that appealing from the cover or word of mouth etc. do yourself a favour and spend out the measly few pound this game is now priced at online...you won't regret it...