It’s 2009, and New York is rocked by a bizarre series of murders. People are killing other people that they don’t know for no apparent reason, and each murder bears the same strange ritual hallmarks. At the same time, the temperature is dropping as it gets colder and colder every day. The latest person to commit one of these strange killings is Lucas Kane. Suddenly entering a sort of trance he carves a symbol in his arm and murders a person he’s never seen before, all the time hallucinating ... more >>

It’s 2009, and New York is rocked by a bizarre series of murders. People are killing other people that they don’t know for no apparent reason, and each murder bears the same strange ritual hallmarks. At the same time, the temperature is dropping as it gets colder and colder every day. The latest person to commit one of these strange killings is Lucas Kane. Suddenly entering a sort of trance he carves a symbol in his arm and murders a person he’s never seen before, all the time hallucinating about a small, helpless girl. As he regains his senses, he flees the scene and realises he is now a criminal on the run.

This is the plotline in Quantic Dreams' pitch at the growing genre of cinematic thriller games, Fahrenheit, published by Atari. The game's makers boast that the eerie style echoes that of the films of Alfred Hitchcock, and while we’re not so sure about that, it does have some interesting ideas in it. You can switch between four characters in the game: the damned Lucas himself, his brother Marcus, and two police detectives, Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles, as the drama unfolds and you try to make sense of the mystery. This being a psychological thriller, you have to look after your character's psychological well-being by helping them to make the right decisions. The game certainly has a distinctive look, too, with split screens keeping you abreast of what’s going on elsewhere, cinematic camera work and movements and motion captured from real live stuntmen. There are 44 acts to work your way through as you try to uncover the mystery. In the background is the slightly implausible legend of the Indigo Child: an ancient prophesy states that one day a powerful and pure child will be born somewhere in the world. A desire to possess the child’s birthplace is - they say - what drives man’s compulsion to wage war and accumulate land, power and wealth. Whatever’s behind the strange events, here is an ambitious game that seeks to give the player a unique experience. << less