Indigo Prophecy Reinvents Adventure

Other elements of the game tend to worsen as you make progress. The story, while intriguing and superior to the majority of games on the market, eventually moves beyond supernatural to nonsense, as it outlandishly raises the stakes. In addition, some more personal storylines have twists that come without warning and are not adequately explained. Mostly, though, the game succeeds in suspending disbelief and the out-there developments near the end do not make it bad, but simply prevent it from being as good as it could have been.

Because this is an adventure game that lets you act out a complex story with your own choices, an inevitable problem arises: not enough freedom. Whether you have two choices or eight, it is always possible that what you personally think should happen won’t be an available course of action. This, though, is mostly a trap of our technology (until the holodeck appears), and the game does a commendable job of providing openness within a detailed narrative environment.

It took about ten hours to reach the conclusion, but the gameplay and story never felt padded or redundant. Because of the element of choice, it is also fun to replay episodes to see what happens if, for instance, you let someone die or leave less evidence at the murder scene. When I was asked with drawing a mug shot of Lucas I was only 10% accurate, but when I tried again later and did better the detectives were able to match it to him, which they hadn’t done in my previous game. Because of this variety, I can see myself coming back to play this game in the future and trying to do the opposite of all my previous choices. There are also bonus cards you can find sprinkled throughout the game that can be used to “buy” extra content, which makes sense for a game that emulates a movie. Music, galleries, and extra gameplay sequences can all be unlocked and I found the making-of featurettes to be especially interesting. These supplements add extra value to an already satisfying experience.

Indigo Prophecy does have its shortcomings. In fact, I would be surprised if future games did not improve on many aspects of it. However, at this time it is a revolutionary game that delivers the experience of an interactive film with actions, romance, and mystery that are linked together in an overall outstanding narrative. Adventure is one of the oldest gaming genres, and this game reinvigorates it with a unique and compelling experience that is accessible to those who have never played an adventure game before. If for no other reasons, it should be played because it is different and offers a taste of interactive entertainment’s promising future. It’s not perfect, but it is art.

System Requirements:

Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP
Pentium III 800 MHz or faster
256 MB RAM
Approximately 2 GB free hard-disk space
8x CD-ROM drive
32 MB Windows 98/Me/2000/XP-compatible SVGA video card
Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP-compatible sound card

REPORT CARD : Indigo Prophecy (PC)

category	rating	comments
Originality	4	A creative plot and strong character development are not the most common video game features.
Longevity	4	A decent length combined with a varied story each time and bonuses to unlock make the experience last.
Innovation	5	The fluid interface and simplicity of the action are key in immersing you and defining the game as an interactive movie, which it does better than any previous attempt.
Graphics	3	Often blocky and unattractive by modern standards, the graphics do their best in service to the story but make you dream of what a better engine would have been like.
Sound	5	The voice acting and sound effects are top-notch and entertaining.
Fun Factor	5	From the time I took control in the diner to the final confrontation, I was hooked in and didn’t want to stop playing.