Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered (PC) Review

Aspyr Media may not be the kind of name that resonates fond memories upon first hearing it. However, it absolutely should. The company has done ports of such gems as Borderlands, The Sims 2, and various Call of Duty titles. Therefore, it makes sense it would port a game by the auteur that is David Cage and his studio, Quantic Dreams. It dug deep, skipping over the PS3 classic Heavy Rain and the newer Beyond: Two Souls, and reached out to the studio's sophomore effort, Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy (Indigo Prophecy in North America, Fahrenheit everywhere else, and reviewed by Cubed3 on iPad recently). How well did the team do? Well, Aspyr may have easily surpassed the original in almost every way.

Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered retains all the original charm it had from its PS2/Xbox days. It tells the story of Lucas Kane as he tries to discover who or what possessed him to commit such a grisly murder. It also follows two cops, Carla and Tyler, who are investigating the crime Lucas committed. The story suits a videogame format very well as the story is fairly lengthy, although it moves at a pace perfectly suited for quick game sessions as well. Picking it and playing for five minutes is oddly satisfying, although it can be played for five hours and still retain its charm, to a point.

Newcomers will be caught off guard by the controls, though. The mouse is almost used as a hand, allowing the developer to simulate realistic movement when completing actions. This feels (yes, feels) very good, and offers a fluidity most games fall short on. It also offers a feeling few of the other remasters offer. This isn't merely a remaster, it almost feels like it could replace the original game in terms of play-ability, feeling like it should have been played this way all along.

However, and it is said with a heavy heart, this remaster retains one of the glaring issues of the original. In an almost nonsensical stab at a Simon Says QTE, the frustration begins to set in. The Quick-Time Events are a major part of many sections and, sometimes, deaths can result from failure. It becomes fairly easy over time but for a while it can truly weigh down the interactivity when in use.

Graphically Fahrenheit is possibly what some may consider "retro," but it pulls it off, almost looking as though it was a chosen style. The game was created in the earlier days of motion capture, and although it does show its age, it's still inviting and, honestly, charming.

It is unfortunate that despite the charm it still retains after all these years, technical issues, and bizarre design decisions, litter the game. The most obvious one appears within moments of booting up. The player is asked to enter their name and is then transported to the main menu… except the game briefly turns off, transporting them back to the desktop. It's a minor annoyance, but any change to the graphical layout (such as changing from High Def to Standard) or switching to a different profile, knocks the game off momentarily.

The tutorial is nice, introducing gamers to the mechanics, and it's even led by designer David Cage himself - a pleasing way to introduce gameplay, but it is a one-time deal. Need a refresher course in the Simon Says-esque mini game? No worries - just create a new profile. It would be a wonderful idea to fix this, as even though the tutorial is brief, it exists as a crash course in the unique system in place. Not being able to refresh the memory, for whatever reason it needs refreshing, is a bit of a downer.

Another - minor - issue exists in the form boring game menu layouts. While a menu doesn't have to be filled with frills or literally pop out, these particular menus are too stale. They seem ripped from early PC titles and beyond being painfully dull, they are very limited in terms of options - no choice of subtitles being on or off, no control scheme changes, and so on. Unless on the main menu, that is, since everything is available there, which is an unusual design decision - why are they available from the main menu, but not the in-game one?

These are all minor issues, however. As for the story, it may feel overwhelming and, honestly, borders on the comical from time to time. Dialogue is very well acted and written, but occasionally feels like stiff comic book writing. No spoilers, but the story tends to lean towards the absurd, yet it holds together very well. This even remains true when it's at its most absurd, and the final hours definitely offer a lot of strange moments.