Indigo Prophecy: Week#1

I chose "Indigo Prophecy" to report on in my Game Journel based on my personal knowledge of the gaming industry. I had known about it since mid summer 2005, and at that time I had no desire (or time) to branch into foreign territory. But, with the introduction of the Game Journel, it became my first choice because of all the good things I had been hearing about it. The only real negetive aspect of the game was that it wasn't selling. I know how difficult it can be to get a great new idea into the hands of an audience, but the unknown is usually pushed aside for the familiar. So since I had to choose, I chose "Indigo Prophecy", I'd hate to see it go the way of "Beyond Good and Evil" (Another great, innovative, and unforgetable game. I own it now, but it tanked in the sales department and was quickly swallowed by the sea of the familiar and the kitch.)

You probably already guessed it but, SPOILER ALERT!!
(There, nice and big so no one can miss it)

"Indigo Prophecy" begins with you playing one of the main characters in the restroom of a New York City dinner. A short movie plays and afterword, you find yourself tring to escape from the restroom because while in a trance, the character you play kills a fellow paytron of the dinner. Not knowing what is going on, you must make your escape.

I really liked this part because there were so many things I could intereact with in the restroom. I tried to wash the blood off my hands, I was able to dry them with the electric hand drier as well. I tried to hide the body in one of the stalls, but there was a trail of blood left behind. In a panic I tried to mop up the blood but there were still streaks. I took a leak (which had an effect on my emotion bar, +5! sweet!) I even shook the condom machine, maybe some freebies would fall out. I had to do something, and fast, because there was a cop in the dinner as well and a little side screen showed that he was heading to the restroom. I tried to get out the window but there were bars across it. I didn't know what to do! So the cop came in and noticed the streaks on the floor. I didn't wait around to see what he was going to find. I ran out the restroom door and began a mad dash for the front door. As I opened the door, the waitress yelled after me "hey! what about your bill!". I was outside now, the snow was falling. I had to keep running. Apparently I couldn't get to where I needed to go on foot and the only way out was by car. Luckly, cars were passing by and I could highjack one, right? Well.....I could, but I thought I'd take a look at my other options, I was in enough trouble already, wasn't I? After a little looking around I found a cab. Sweet, no car jacking for me. The cab took me home and the scene ended.

In the next sence, I got to play as the two investigators who were assigned to the murder case. This was interesting because as the inspectors, I got to piece together clues about what happened just as though I had been at the scene of the crime, which is wierd, because I was.

This game is a lot of fun. I only have a couple gripes about it. the first thing being the old "tank style" control system of the characters and horrible camera that only reposistions when you tell it to. Move, turn camera, move, turn camera, it's hard to do when your in a hurry. The next gripe I have is about the dated graphics. They are very remenisent of the more recent "Grand Theft Auto" series (3, Vice City, San Andreas) where the character and scene models could be scaled back because the content of the games was so great. Most players didn't notice that the models where almost pre-PS2 because they were so busy allegedly doing the back seat bounce with a prositute, who was later run over so the player could recollect their money.

These problems aside, "Indigo Prophecy's" multiple narrative choices make it fun and interesting, I'll be reporting more on this later, because now I'm hooked.