Fahrenheit Demo Out

[Lechimp]

I don't know, should I have posted it at adventuregamers.com instead or would people say that it's not an adventure game because it's 3-D and not boring as hell as well

http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=postmessage&boardid=1&id=0&threadid=58842

I'm downloading it now so i'm not sure what it's like.

[DanJW]

Not sure how much the demo shows you, but the whole game is potato mantoast.

I didn't say that by the way.

[Moosferatu]

Looks awesome, but is it just me or are the controls a bit hard to use? I wonder how it plays on xbox.

[Lechimp]

Yeah, it took me a second to figure out how to use the broom. The x-box version will probably control the same way, but instead of moving the mouse to do stuff, you just move the second thumbs stick around. And does it really matter if you clean up or not? The police officer stills seems to find the body pretty quickly. For the people that haven't downloaded it, the demo is the infamous bathroom scene at the beginning of the game that every preview has covered.

It's a pretty cool game, it will probably be the first adventure I will have bought in a while.

[Moosferatu]

I think the mouse stuff is pretty cool, but I just have trouble moving the guy around.

[Thrik]

The mouse stuff is indeed great, but yeah it can be a cumbersome moving the bloke around at times. I haven't looked at the movement binds though, maybe it can be simplified.

Can you do anything other than quietly escape in this demo? The trailer shows what looks to be the same scene with all sorts of crazy action occuring.

[Phincus]

Isn't it called 'The Indigo Prophecy' now?

[Redwall]

Only for the North American release, AFAIK.

[lobotomy42]

Man, that was a short demo. I hope that's not indicative of the actual game's length...

[OftenK]

If you play it a certain way, you bump into the waitress before running out. She describes you to the cop. Play it another way, and you can slip out without anyone causing any fuss. I wonder if, later in the game, the former will lead more quickly to you being a suspect. The demo doesn't really show how much you can affect the outcomes--just the paths that take you there. Is this how the whole game will be? Same conclusions, different approaches? One time through, I tried to get an ending other than the bit with the taxi. I slipped out without anyone noticing me (I didn't even bother with the body). After the cop found the body, I wanted to go back in the diner and order some soup, all unsuspicious-like --as if I just got there. But it wouldn't let me.

Either way, it looks to be a great game.

[Thrik]

It intrigues me that in the trailer it seemed to show all sorts of crazy stuff in that diner, though. Do you go back there later, or did they just chop out a lot of potential routes in the demo? Man.

Definitely a game for me to watch, though.

[Redwall]

One time through, I tried to get an ending other than the bit with the taxi.

You can also take the subway; it's behind the back door/fire exit.

Yeah, the demo doesn't really illustrate the most interesting features of Fahrenheit (mulitlineraity, multiple characters) but it does give a feel for the game, I guess. There are lots of ways to get out, and lots of stuff to do, but none of it really matters in the demo. You can walk out without washing or anything and just run out to the subway if you want, and it's the same as if you carefully stowed the body, cleaned up, paid your bill, and walked calmly out. (I suppose the mental state thing will affect the game; by doing everything possible you can get the guy back up to neutral.)

The character controls do take some getting used to; the fixed cameras provide interesting viewpoints but hinder the gameplay, IMO. (Incidentally, Dreamfall recently switched from fixed cameras to regular old third-person view/control. Yay.)

Also, does anyone know what exactly happened to the knife? When you pick it up Cain says he has to "dispose of it" and then you see a shot of the diner and then it goes back to Cain, who's wiping his hands.

[Salka]

Not sure how much the demo shows you, but the whole game is amazing.

I didn't say that by the way.

Oh, nice, real nice, well done there Dan, congratulations.

[Kolzig]

Niiice. I hadn't cared about this game ever before, but now that I tried it myself, it feels very interesting. Especially the multipath story, seems like I'm going to have to buy this game after all.

Graphically it ain't exactly top of the line, and misses some little details like the guns that don't have barrels? But who cares when the rest of the game seems to be very, very good.

[SoccerDude28]

Looks awesome, but is it just me or are the controls a bit hard to use? I wonder how it plays on xbox.

Use a gamepad. They are only 20 dollars and the game is nice enough to detect that you have a gamepad plugged in, and map all the buttons for you.

[Jake]

(Incidentally, Dreamfall recently switched from fixed cameras to regular old third-person view/control. Yay.)

Yay! Who needs shot composition... or being able to see the main characters face? Not gamers apparently!

[Marek]

Dreamfall recently switched from fixed cameras to regular old third-person view/control.

Where did you read this? As far as I know it's still fixed camers (or cameras on a rail or axis) with the occasional "steadycam" follow-the-action camera in outdoors locations (for instance when Zoë walks around Casablanca).

[MrHoatzin]

Where did you read this? As far as I know it's still fixed camers (or cameras on a rail or axis) with the occasional "steadycam" follow-the-action camera in outdoors locations (for instance when Zoë walks around Casablanca).

For some reason, I read Castlevania instead of Casablanca and that blew my mind.

[Benoa]

This demo was short but really great. The "split screen" effect is so cool. It raises the tension, like in 24.

David Cage said some interesting stuffs about the multi-character gameplay, in this interview (only in french, sorry) :

If you go out very quickly from the restaurant, without hiding the body, cleaning and grabing the knife, yes you'll play a short amount of time with Lucas. But on the other hand, with Carla et Tyler (I guess they are the cops), you'll have more clues to explore, more stuff to do. All the game auto-balance itself depending how you play (he says). Cool idea.

Oh, and it's "Indigo Prophecy" in the USA because Atari don't want the game to be associated with Michael Moore's piece of ... movie.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Also, does anyone know what exactly happened to the knife? When you pick it up Cain says he has to "dispose of it" and then you see a shot of the diner and then it goes back to Cain, who's wiping his hands.

That's what you have to find out when you play as police detectives Carla and Tyler in the following scenes.

[Mailman]

I'll be damned. An adventure game I'm actually looking forward to!

[Redwall]

Yay! Who needs shot composition... or being able to see the main characters face? Not gamers apparently!

You can move the camera around to see the face...

Where did you read this? As far as I know it's still fixed camers (or cameras on a rail or axis) with the occasional "steadycam" follow-the-action camera in outdoors locations (for instance when Zoë walks around Casablanca).

Ragnar reveals all!

Regarding Fahrenheit: I managed to make the guy go crazy.

[Steve]

So, I played through this. The gameplay was pretty much Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, but it seemed fun and I liked it. I would've been interested in playing the full game...

Then I watched the trailer included with the demo. MAN does this look stupid. I think I saw nunchuks in there, and the guy grabbed onto the runners of a moving police helicopter, and all that amnesia/occultist stuff The entire production is just saturated with the stink of "Frustrated Director Syndrome." Unfortunate.

[MrHoatzin]

So, I played through this. The gameplay was pretty much Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, but it seemed fun and I liked it. I would've been interested in playing the full game...

Then I watched the trailer included with the demo. MAN does this look stupid. I think I saw nunchuks in there, and the guy grabbed onto the runners of a moving police helicopter, and all that amnesia/occultist stuff The entire production is just saturated with the stink of "Frustrated Director Syndrome." Unfortunate.

I don't think so. Dis! Whatcha gonna do now, punk, huh!?

I think the trailer was very well crafted to sell the fucking game. Still, what has me the most excited are the controls. I am not willing to clobber a game and call it dead based on a trailer.

[Steve]

True. The interface is the most exciting part. On the other hand, since this thing seems to be extremely story-heavy, if the story is unbearable I'd have to pass. Only time will tell...