‘Fahrenheit’ failed to hotten up

Fahrenheit has a nipple laden sex scene in it. It features several murders, a basketball mini-game, a claustrophobic journey through a mental institution and the opportunity to push a wheelchair bound lady through a house. Why, despite all these ingredients to make the greatest interactive story / porno ever told, is Fahrenheit so freaking dull?

I really like the idea of where they were taking the game. It’s an interactive story where you can choose your actions, and alter the outcome of events by doing so, and putting you in charge of every main character in a murder mystery ramps up the interest considerably. But it fell short of its intentions because that concept is so damn difficult to obtain. There is only one true story, so any choices were limited, and moreover, superficial. I tried to bounce characters off one another, trying to botch up an e-fit to help the accused character, which had little outcome. But where it truly falls down is that the game is essentially one long QTE event. Every conversation and action piece is basically pushing the analog sticks in the required sequence, or hammering the triggers until your fingers fall off. The plot is incredibly slow and made worse through tedious interaction where you performing everything yourself. Getting glasses from a cupboard took a series of motions; opening the cupboard, picking up the glasses, closing the cupboard, walking to the counter, placing them down. I’m surprised blinking wasn’t user controlled, although there are parts where you have to control breathing. (Surprisingly, they are some of most tense parts of the game.) I appreciate the attempt in trying to get players involved with every process, but it adds to the frustration rather than immersion.

The plot is also rubbish, and contrary to general consensus, it got a lot better toward the end because things actually happened. Limiting spoilers, it takes over half the game before Kane is finally accused, with just an hour or two to explain what the hell is going on. At that point, they had to rush everything out of the door. Most of the time I was checking the ‘percentage complete’ status on the PDA just to see how long was left. I just wanted to find out what the hell is going on and be done with it. But when it finished, I actually missed the characters, and was sad to leave them behind, mainly because of the lack of closure. And I think my desire to really want to like it helped me appreciate the effort that went into it.

So was it enjoyable? Yes. Just. With better pacing and more actual gameplay, I’d have loved it to bits. Shenmue did it far, far better however – surprise QTEs, open exploration that wasn’t forced upon the player and above all, a story I actually cared for. Anyone who admired the angle Fahrenheit approached will love Shenmue even more.

Fahrenheit is currently part of 1Up FM’s backlog series. Join in the fun here.

Recently published – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed review (Digital Spy).