Plus XP

Innovation is something that can be a godsend in gaming - with a huge competitive market in the gaming industry, companies fight to create something unique, yet too often ‘innovation’ just turns out to be gimmicky, boring, or just plain pointless. Motion controls, touchscreens, cameras… all good for a while, yet soon get pushed aside to go back to the good old solid gaming that I know and love.

Fahrenheit was one such title, a game relying on next to nothing aside from the use of the two analogue sticks of the PS2 controller. Knowing the risks of said ’innovative’ ideas, I trusted my instincts and picked up a copy of Fahrenheit, knowing almost nothing about it save for the fact that it had strange controls, and had something to do with a murder.

The game runs like an interactive movie – instead of following one single character, you actually control four or five of the characters at different parts of the story as the plot unfolds in chapters. Firstly, there’s Lucas Kane – the ‘main’ character who is caught in the centre of everything – finding himself uncontrollably murdering a man with a knife in a diner, possessed against his own will. Then, on the other side of the fence you have the beautiful police detective Carla Valenti, and her funky partner Tyler Miles – the detectives in charge of the murder case trying to piece together who the culprit is and why they committed the killing. It’s strange – as sometimes you find yourself hiding from the police as Lucas one minute, then uncovering the evidence you just hid with Carla next thing – but somehow it still works. The main story mixes elements of normal elements life – being at Lucas’ apartment where you can shower, or watch TV, alongside the game’s more faster paced action elements.

The main gameplay is split into two sections – Third person exploratory sections, and action sequences. The third person sequences involve walking around interacting with objects and people. For instance the game starts with Lucas in the bathroom after the murder, and you need to decide how to act – whether to mop up the blood, wash your hands and how you leave the diner. Actions in these sections are performed with the right analogue stick – whenever you can interact with an object a marker at the top of the screen will show you which action you need to perform with the right analogue stick to interact with the object – usually with a fairly vague interpretation of the real action you would perform (like pulling the stick down to push a door handle, or repeatedly pushing the stick in a forward motion to wipe a mop across the floor). When in a conversation, the markers at the top of the screen will indicate which direction to push the right analogue stick to choose which topic you wish to talk about. In these sections, your character has a meter which shows their mental condition – if you do things wrong, or find things that are unnerving their mental level will drop. If you are successful or do something relaxing, their mental level will rise. If your mental level drops to the bottom you will get a game over – although I never found myself losing in this manner. Most of it is common sense, and just making sure to pick up on the little things you can do to boost your sanity, such as having a drink or going to the bathroom.

The other section is the action sequences – these are the sections where you need to think fast. When these sequences start, a meter at the top left of the screen indicates how many ‘lives’ you have. Now, when you have an action sequence, such as a fight, you will be presented with two rings on the screen, each split into four coloured sections – indicating the up, down, left and right sides of the analogue sticks. What will happen is each of these sections will light up in series’ of four or so presses at a time – such as left stick left, right stick right, both sticks up. What you need to do is press the sticks in the same directions as the lights show, at the same time as they do so – so its all about coordination and reaction time. If you hit enough of the presses correctly, you will move onto the next part of the segment – if not you will lose a life and may have to repeat that particular part. Lastly, you have sections where a meter will come up, with L1 and R1 on either end. These are generally strength tests, where you have to alternate pressing them at a fast speed to keep the meter at the top and succeed.

There are more elements to the game than these, but most of the game incorporates these elements into the game in their own way – for instance using the action analogue sequences to play a guitar or use Lucas’ punching bag, or having to carefully tap L1 and R1 to balance the meter in the middle in order to keep the claustrophobic Carla’s breathing steady when she’s panicking.

The game incorporates a very dark tone – as soon as the game starts you are greeted with the foreboding scene of the murder, the possessed Lucas looking horrific as he kills a man, like a puppet. The game cleverly uses sound and imagery to piece together the emotion, with some quite disturbing or jumpy moments to keep you on edge. The story is a little more obscure than it may seem to start, and may seem a little ‘out-there’ by the time you’re finished with it, but its not bad.

The game is quite clever as the gameplay is fairly simple, yet still manages to feel solid. The way that the regular lives of the characters merges with the plot (such as the involvement of Lucas with his recent break-up in his relationship) really helps to boost the characters and give them a bit more personality. There is some nudity and sex in the game which cant help but make me giggle like a girl, but I take my hat off to the guys for being brave enough to do it.

If your looking for something different, and not too long, give this a shot. Its got a good mix of scares, laughs and mystery to keep it interesting and you’ve probably never played anything like it. A game in a similar vein by the same creator is also in the pipeline; Heavy Rain, so keep an eye out if you’d rather play something current gen.

-Leon