demonryuIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 58
Joined: 24 AUG 2005
Status : Online | Indigo Prophecy is a very innovative game from Quantic Dream. Actually, game might be the wrong term to use as IP is more like an interactive movie. Although you do often get to move the characters around on your own, there are a lot of interactive quick time events and other sequences that all add up to a great experience. It may not be perfect, but the game is still worth checking out by anyone with an interest in games with great stories.
First off I’d like to add a brief introduction on Quantic Dream, as the average gamer may not have heard of them. The company was created by David Cage in 1997, and their first game was called Omikron: The Nomad Soul which was available for the PC and Dreamcast (published by Eidos). Omikron had a wide open city environment as well as other areas that made the game world feel somewhat alive. Players could be “Virtually Reincarnated”, allowing them to possess the souls of certain characters in the game and use their various abilities. The game was ambitious, and although it had some technical problems (the load times particularly on Dreamcast were pretty bad), Omikron was a memorable game to those who played it.
Now after about five years, Quantic Dream has come out with Indigo Prophecy, which is published by Atari. The game is a very different breed, as although some people may classify it as an adventure game, it is more of an interactive movie with action and exploration elements. Players will control several different characters throughout the course of the game, although much of the story will focus on Lucas Kane, who is forced to commit a murder in a restaurant and spends the game trying to figure out why. Along the way players will also take control of Tyler Miles and Carla Valenti, two private eyes hot on Lucas’ trail. There will also be some brief segments involving Lucas’ brother Marcus. Explaining any more of the story would ultimately ruin it for the player and although it gets a little far-fetched closer to the end, it is still satisfying overall.
The graphics in IP aren’t exactly going to blow your mind, but they still look great nevertheless. All of the characters have plenty of fine detail, as do the environments (although some of the environments do arguably have a little blurriness and they don’t have quite as much interactivity compared to a game like Shenmue). However, all of the areas and various graphic intricacies perfectly fit the theme and style of the game and that is what ultimately matters most.
I have to give credit to the voice actors of the main characters because they really did a great job with the emotion and overall style of their characters. All of the main players in IP are likable characters that have key differences from one another and have a lot of different thoughts about why the events are happening. Although a few of the secondary characters may have somewhat odd voice acting, it never gets to be as bad as in some games. Background music is also very well done and fits the theme of the particular events going on at that time, plus Quantic Dream even decided to throw a few licensed tracks in the mix for fun (at Lucas’ apartment early in the game you can switch on a boombox and play some Theory of a Deadman songs).
Every element in every scene of the game is represented through some kind action the player must take. All basic actions in the game make use of the right analog stick, and you most move the stick in a certain direction to do certain actions (as shown by the icons that pop up when you are near an object or person you can interact with. Analog stick movement will also have to be used to decide topics when having a conversation with someone, performing quick time events (in which you will have to move both of the analog sticks in certain directions based on the on-screen icons), or even to perform actions like climbing over a fence. It’s certainly innovative, and you’re either going to love it or hate it.
Using the analog sticks aren’t the only actions you will have to take. In some sequences you will have to alternately press the left and right triggers for a certain amount of times in order to perform certain actions. These sequences will certainly give you a workout, so be prepared to have to redo them a few times as they aren’t easy. Indigo Prophecy has plenty of sequences like these that make you wonder why more games haven’t had them before. For example, Carla has claustrophobia. In a few sequences she will be in tight spots, so you will have to alternately press the left and right triggers to make her breathing steady so that she does not freak out and force you to restart the sequence. It is the little things like these that make the game a hell of an experience.
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