13-Sep-2005 It's the archetypal black sheep of Xbox gaming but different can be good or indeed excellent! Fahrenheit isn't like other Xbox games. It's not a driving game (though there are cars in it), or a shooter (but there are quite a few guns scattered around). It's not even a sports game (although, that said, you do get to play basketball at one point).
If anything, it's the archetypal black sheep of Xbox gaming. But different can be good, or in this case, excellent. It's a horror game, a thriller, a drama, a dark romance with a touch of humour - it's all that and more. We normally reserve a special kind of blood-chilling hatred for games describing themselves as 'interactive movies', and Fahrenheit is one of those titles that wants to be taken as the next elevation of 'videogame art' so seriously it hurts. But we have to admit, Atari's latest adventure really hits the nail on the head.
For one, the story is superb. Following the lives of four primary characters simultaneously, all of whom are controllable at some point, is never an easy task, especially given the behaviour of this lot - Lucas Kane, paranoid, possessed murderer; Marcus Kane, his overbearing brother; Carla Valenti, the tough-nosed cop on Lucas's case, and Tyler Miles, her soul-brother partner - but Fahrenheit somehow manages to weave things together perfectly.
As Hollywood movies (usually) demonstrate, pacing is everything, and the way Fahrenheit buffets you from humour to suspense to full-on action puts most real cinematic efforts to shame. This is a supremely mature game, confidently delivering its dark subject matter at every turn (ritualistic murder in a bizarrely frozen New York, since you asked). Camera angles, music, voiceover work, dialogue, direction, everything: Fahrenheit really is as close to the movies as Xbox gets.
Secondly, the way you interact with Fahrenheit - how you actually take part in said game-film - is genius. Seamless, even. Quite literally everything you do is achieved using gentle nudges of the analogue sticks. By following the context-sensitive actions as they appear on screen, it's possible to do anything from talking to somebody to turning on a telly, to even relieving yourself in a public urinal. And because the movements you make on the pad are a bit like the movements your character makes on screen, it all feels just a little bit more like it's actually YOU doing it.
Then there are the beautifully choreographed action sequences; the frenetic runny, shooty bits that help pep up the pace following the more talkheavy, problem-solving sections. Although little more than cut-scenes with a 'move the sticks in time with the on-screen arrows' mini-game tacked onto the front, these help drive Fahrenheit in a direction that slow, boring adventure games of the past never seemed to grasp. You'll enjoy the more relaxed moments because you'll know something breathtaking, and usually bowel-loosening, is just around the corner.
But for all that, what really makes Fahrenheit unforgettable is the way it draws you into its world simply by making you do all the things you would in normal life. Walking into the police office as Carla Valenti, for instance, is a picture of a daily routine. You'll wave hello to security, grab a coffee, stop to chat to your colleagues, hang you coat up and check your emails. It sounds rubbish on paper, but it isn't. By making you carry out these everyday actions, you actually become the person on screen. You're drawn into their world and their story. It seems daft, but Fahrenheit makes the mundane magical - and in doing so makes the supernatural horror that follows all the more shocking.
If there's a problem, it's that, like all adventure games, once it's over, it's over. Finito. You can replay scenes again and alter their outcome by choosing slightly different actions or dialogue strands, but after you've seen all the shock twists Fahrenheit has to offer first time round, it's never going to serve up the same sense of wonder and mystery ever again. 12 to 15 hours of rollicking drama followed by a slight feeling of bereavement. Oh well.
There's also a question mark over the controls. While interacting with objects within the game is as intuitive as wiping your own bottom, actually navigating can be problematic at times, with running into walls a particularly common grumble. Not that it particularly detracts from things; it's just that when everything else is so polished, why is it some characters end up running around like headless chickens? Suspension of disbelief? It's just been suspended.
But that's just nitpicking for the sake of it. Don't listen to us. Instead, forget your ingrained prejudices and your generic gun-and-car games and take a chance on something different. Fahrenheit is unlike anything else you'll ever play on Xbox, and we're pretty confident you'll also consider it one of the best. It's like reading the latest Dan Brown blockbuster, only with fewer words and more joypad abuse. Quite simply, it's ace.
Official Xbox Magazine staff
// Overview
Verdict
Fahrenheit is an amazing adventure.
Xbox needs more games like this badly.
Truly captivating stuff.
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