Game Reviews

Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered

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Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered
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| Fahrenheit

There's no doubt that Aspyr has done a good job of remastering Quantic Dream's sophomore adventure game Fahrenheit for smartphones.

The models and textures look far sharper than their old PS2 counterparts, the controls work nicely on the touchscreen, and handy extras like iCloud saving and MFi controller support are welcome.

But you have to ask yourself, was it worth the hassle? Sure, Fahrenheit was ambitious and innovative at the time, but it was also deeply flawed. Do gamers in 2015 even want to go back to it?

The Day The Snow Turned To Rain

I'm going to say no. This is a muddled story, full of clumsy plotting, awkward pacing, and groan-worthy dialogue. The sort of cruddy crime-thriller b-movie that would be found in Poundland and still wouldn't be worth the asking price.

At the beginning, the game shows promise. We open with Lucas Kane stabbing a guy in the grungy bathroom of a New York diner that's trapped in a blizzard. You now have to figure out how to hide the body and leave the diner.

It's atmospheric and cinematic. A tense scene, and a bold opening. And Angelo Badalamenti's sweeping score sets us up for something special.

And then we change to a new character and realise that we'll play as both the criminal and the crimestoppers in the murder case, which lends itself to a fascinating dynamic where you're trying to cover your tracks in one chapter, and then uncover them in the next.

Director's cut

But a few hours in it starts to go all bonkers. You're attacked by giant green bugs, and you have to fight your fridge. There are Matrix-like acrobatics, and showdowns with Mayan gods, and, the internet is a person I guess?

And if you can stomach the sharp turn into disastrous paranormal nonsense, can you put up with the uncomfortable racial stereotypes, the unnecessary nudity, and the dumb-as-dirt dialogue?

As a game, Fahrenheit is similar to The Walking Dead. You wander around limited environments, and choose what to do and who to talk to in order to advance the story.

You even have a short time to choose your dialogue responses, and you have to play little reaction tests during the action scenes. It almost feels like a prototype for Telltale's games.

The gameplay is never particularly interesting, and it often feels quite tedious.

Dead cold

Scenes like a stealth section at a military base, a bit where you have to control a character's breathing, and an incredibly long fight scene against some giant bugs all outstay their welcome and overwhelm you with boredom.

The game also promises that every action has consequences, and all that, but it has only the faintest semblance of branching paths. Many lead to dead ends and the only thing your choices really effect is which of the three endings you see.

Put simply, Fahrenheit is not a good game. Maybe it felt like one in 2005 when this was all novel and revolutionary, but today it just feels camp, cumbersome, and embarrassing.

If you (think) you have fond memories for the game and feel like revisiting it, Aspyr has done a commendable job of remastering it for a modern age. But otherwise, I'd recommend you steer clear.

Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered

Fahrenheit was ambitious and innovative in 2005, but ten years later it's just clunky and tedious
Score
Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer