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FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I've just started a new blog over on Blog.com, and this is the first review I published on it. And it actually ran longer than I was expecting. :) I usually try to contain my reviews to less than 250 words to prevent myself from over-writing stuff. But with this one, I decided to let loose a little more. So, enjoy a slightly more unfiltered review than I usually do. :)
All her life, Jodie Holmes has possessed supernatural powers through her psychic link to a mysterious invisible entity named Aiden, which gets the attention of scientists in a department owned by the CIA.
As Fahrenheit (AKA Indigo Prophecy) is one of my favourite games of all time, I'm always hopeful for anything Quantic Dream puts out. But this outing, along with Heavy Rain, is another one that I'd probably just place in the "okay" category; it didn't do all that much for me.
But let's focus on the positives first. :) The graphics are amazing – some of the best the PS3 has to offer. The music is also good; every Quantic Dream game has a different composer with a unique identity, appropriately striking a completely different tone each time.
Also, in comparison to Heavy Rain, the quick time events are much more user-friendly: you always know where to look for the prompt, and the action is usually just a joystick movement (or maybe that's only on easy mode). Not to mention, in dialogue scenes, the options on screen actually stay still! :D And, while the directional controls can still be a little awkward at times, at least you don't have to worry about stupid shit like holding R2 to walk.
The storytelling, however, is where it falls flat. It's a fantastic idea, a brilliantly imaginative notion of a spirit world colliding with our own, but it's not executed too well.
For one thing, our main character Jodie has no clearly defined personality, which makes her seem flat and hard to latch onto. I know the point is that your choices shape her, she's entirely what you make of her, but couldn't they have written her as cynical or something and plotted all the dialogue options around that basic framework? Still, at least it's only one dull character this time as opposed to four!
But the main thing that dragged the story down for me is that I don't think it needed to be told in a nonlinear fashion. The chapters are on complete shuffle, usually with no apparent link from one to the next. I guess the idea is that she's remembering scattered bits and pieces as she tells the story, but I fail to see how she remembers the events in this specific order; hardly any of them naturally flow into each other. This robs the story of a great deal of integrity and dramatic tension, because we can't really connect to the character's journey. The fact that the narrative covers so many vastly different locales certainly doesn't help; it never manages to find a consistent tone.
But for what it's worth, the story did hold my interest as the mystery was slowly pieced together, and I was constantly anticipating the resolution. One of my favourite scenes is the Condenser chapter, which perfectly nails the feeling of terrified dread as Jodie descends into the facility: you don't know what you're going to see, but it's clearly very dangerous indeed.
But the main thing the game did for me was the twist ending, which I can honestly say I did not see coming.
So, much like Heavy Rain, I think I appreciate it more for what it was trying to be than for what it actually is. It's technically impressive – there's no denying that – but the story structure and lack of characterisation make it more conceptually interesting than dramatically or emotionally potent.
My rating: 60%
