Indigo Prophecy.

New York city is home to Lucas Cane - an IT professional who is enduring the pragmatic, mundane routine called life. One evening he drags himself out for dinner at the Doc's Diner, where his self-conscious is mysteriously engulfed in darkness. He takes his table knife with him to the restroom, and begins to carve unexplainable insignia in his arms and bleeds all over the place. He then waits for the first unfortunate victim to walk in, and he then stabs him, repeatedly till the possession within him is satisfied. Regaining consciousness_ and focus of the situation, Lucas looks at his blood soaked reflection in the mirror and realizes that the world of normality he is used to is now transformed into a phantasmagoric nightmare. Lucus is faced with the disturbing question: did he kill that man or was it something else? Escaping from the diner, he takes it upon himself to delve into the unintentional murder while facing investigation himself through NYPD detectives Carla Valenti and Tyler Miles. Lucas later realizes that the delusion was not mere mental disorder, but an ancient Mayan ritual that gives him visions of other killings through the eyes of slayers like himself. While he has the officials on his tail, Lucas must uncover the supernatural forces behind his crime before being incarcerated for life. The only person that he can trust is his brother Markus, who is a devout Catholic, working as a priest at Saint Paul's Church. He worries about the current state of affairs involving his brother, but his faith prevents him from seeing very much past the fact that Lucas has murdered a man, despite his best efforts.

The entire appeal of the game is its interactive plot, and its premise. The gamer gets to play the game as not one, but as the three main characters - that is, the protagonist Lucus as well as the two detectives Carla Valenti, and Tyler Miles. Each character has its own way of living and mindset. The game's scenarios are based on the decisions taken by Lucas, ' thus giving the game multiple pathways and endings. Once finished, the game can be played again, each time the story from any of the chapters to unfold paths not chosen previously. Time and again the story is told from the perspective of the detectives (and occasionally through the eyes of Markus). Switching from the tormented mind of the hunted to the cold steel eyes of the hunter, allowing gamers to work against the protagonist, adding an eerie dimension to this paranormal thriller. The game's plot is also unusual for its manifold branchings and options and can be stretched to accommodate the player's choices and decisions across all three characters, although it still follows a set plot thread. For instance, in the opening scene, the player is placed in control of Lucas and left to deal with the aftermath of the murder. The player's choices, such as what to hide, what to leave alone and how to escape the diner, determines what clues Valenti and Miles find and how the patrons recall him, and thus the ease with which they later discover (or don't discover) Kane's identity.

The gameplay resembles a traditional adventure game but like 'The Punisher', it attempts to replicate the enhanced actions of the characters, giving gamers direct control of even the most basic acts. For example Lucas will open a fridge just as one holds down the mouse and arcs it, making the game all the more interactive and occasionally irritating, especially when the sequences are being timed. Unlike most third person action games, Indigo's characters instead of sporting a health bar, have a sanity meter, which reveals their state of mind. So when a character chooses to have coffee, use the washroom, wash his hands, take a shower, listen to some music, watch some TV or check e-mail, this will all either help his mental health or make him worse off. Everything the gamer does will change a little bit of the game giving it a true personality. This enhances the gameplay and relaxes not only the game character but the gamer as well.

Switching between opposing characters gives gamers the unwilling choice to benefit the situation for either side. This also makes one wonder exactly how dynamic an adventure this game really is. Indigo's graphics leave a lot to be desired and there are obvious flaws with respect to the camera or the lip synching, but the absence of visual glamour is well covered up by the fantastic plot and haunting ambience. The dramatic music scores swarm up a tense chilly aura of a good Hollywood suspense thriller and that's exactly what the game intends to do. All the characters exhibit a strong personality of their own through the talented voice actor's. Indigo Prophecy or Fahrenheit as it is known in the UK is a game that brings up the standard of adventure games in the recent years. One can hope that developers and publishers will follow the lead and produce interactive entertainment packages worthy of playing.

_{source Spider Mag.}