Fahrenheit & Morality

The game I've chosen to play this week is Fahrenheit Indigo Prophecy, an interactive movie/action-adventure. After playing the tutorial and seeing the simon-says style interaction I really wasn't expecting much from this game; but It's taken me by surprise and I've really enjoyed playing it.

The thing I've found most intriguing with the game is how the decisions are presented to you. In traditional decision based games you're presented with a menu and near infinite time to decide; allowing you to really weigh up each option and make a meaningful decision. The way Fahrenheit goes about this is much closer to reality. You're given mere seconds to give an answer, there is no way to undo what you said (unless you restart the level)  and no way to guarantee you're making the right decision.

This is a very powerful way of involving the player in the games narrative as they aren't given time to think which action is most favourable and the possible outcomes they instead have to go with their gut feeling and it all unfolds from there. Because of this the player is essentially making their decisions as if it was a real scenario, they aren't able to think of it in terms of game play, unless of course they know the outcomes, making it a great test of morality.

A perfect example of how morals affect decisions in the game is when you foresee a child falling into the icy lake. You're given the option of either saving the child's life and being identified by the approaching Police Officer, or leaving the child to die and evading the approaching Officer. I chose to take the risk and save the child (as that's what I would have done in the situation). And as it played out saving the child was the correct decision as it had no negative repercussions, and Lucus even says "At least now I can look at myself in the mirror without cringing." making it seemingly positive.

Another way the game adds to the decision making is it's status meter which measures your character's emotion. It makes it so even the smallest of decisions impact the game play, although I am yet to see how much impact it has. I feel like this adds an extra level of morality to the game as it shows whether the player actually cares about the well being of the character or are instead trying to discover every interaction in the game/progress the story.

In conclusion, Fahrenheit is a very unique decision based game in which the decisions the player makes are gauged off of their morals rather than their prediction of the decision's outcome.

References:

Quantic Dream (Developer). (2005). Fahrenheit Indigo Prophecy [Game]. France: Guillaume de Fondaumière