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 realises 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 realises 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.

Civilization is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding games of all times. It has managed to maintain a level of excellence that most games tend to lose as they progress from sequel to sequel. With critical acclaim from gaming associations worldwide, the Civilization series does not cease to impress with each release. Considering the basic concept has primarily remained unchanged over the years, Civilization is a turn-based strategy that starts off with a single hero, making a historic journey from the Stone Age to the modern Space Age. One progresses through all aspects of life, only this time the course of history depends on how one plays the game.

The objective is to manage the development of all your citizens, providing for their personal welfare and cultural enhancement, and at the same time taking political decisions as to how to defend one’s territory, expand the empire and maintain diplomatic and trade relations with other nations. Being a turn-based game, the gameplay takes place on a detailed map that shows the position of your assets – be it soldiers or cities. The terrain is designed in such a way that players will benefit from its strategic placement on high or low ground. This 3-D effect is visible during warfare as attack and defence bonuses and penalties are varied accordingly. An important aspect of the game is the complex evolution tree that lets your leader choose what to research. The research is conducted over a series of turns and by spending various resources gained through economic activities and experiences. And like most strategy games the soldiers become more advanced as they earn more experience points in each victory.

Detailed in every way possible and being a turn-based game where quick decisions need not be taken, it still offers a challenging experience. Military for example is developed through researching military technologies. The battles are won through relative advantage and comparative strength of all units.

The concept of separate religions is new to Civilization IV. In previous games, players could build temples and cathedrals, but religion was just a generic feature of happiness and culture. There are now seven distinct religions in the game – Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Taoism. In order to prevent anyone from being offended because of an issue related to their religion while playing, there are no bonuses or traits specific to any religion, except that each religion is tied to a specific technological advance. If a player is the first to discover a certain religion on the tech tree, they can “found” the new religion; the newest city in that civilisation’s empire becomes that religion’s holy city.

The game features popular historic celebrities such as Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Mahatma Gandhi and Genghis Khan. Like all great civilisations, the game lets you achieve historic milestones by building monuments and wonders. Civilization IV has an exquisite soundtrack that is quite entertaining just like the game itself. There are few games that succeed in providing truly addictive gamepla, and Civilization IV by all means is a game worth a try.