Combine a choose your own adveture book with the "Simon" game with the colored lights and you basically have this game.
User Rating: 6.9 | Indigo Prophecy XBOX
Depending on what age bracket you are in you might remember the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series of books that was popular with kids in the 1980's. This game is basically an approximation of that with a few game mechanics added in to make it more enjoyable. The developers intent was to make basically a interactive movie which would change based on the actions of your characters. For the most part they suceeded and it is an interesting concept but definitely not for everyone. Gameplay consists of a few different modes. First, there is free movement mode where icons will appear depending on where you are standing then you move the analog stick in a particular direction to interact with the object you are near. Despite the fact that the game is intended to give you quite a bit of freedom considering how you affect the plotline I found it rather dissapointing the limited number of objects you could actually interact with in the game. During action sequences two lit up square/circle grids appear on the screen each with 4 directions. The extent of your participation with these grids is to basically play the game "Simon" and mimic the directions on the analog sticks. The other action sequences are a variation of alternating R and L trigger pressing. Finally, there is a dialog mode where typically 2-4 choices occur during conversations where you can lead the conversation as you wish. The plot is fairly entertaining but I did not find it enjoyable enough to warrant going back through to try and get many variations on it. I know this is possible for people who really want to get some replay out of the game but these types of "easter egg" elements of plot varations just don't seem as entertaining as the replay you'd get out of many "new game +" modes in RPG games where you can change the plot as well as get more character development out of it. The extent of the character development in this game is simply a gauge for each character that ranges from "Wrecked" to "Neutral". All you need to do is keep the character from getting too low and committing suicide, which I never had happen even at "Wrecked" but the manual and tutorial say it can happen. Anyway judging from various community responses many people do find this game very enjoyable and do like replaying it. I find a game like this to be more of a rental game because it is a very brief game and you should have little trouble finishing it in a few days even if you are a casual gamer. A decent effort by Atari and Quantic Dream here, worth checking out but definitely not at the top of my games list. If you ever played "Dragon's Lair" on 3DO (yes it was a horrible system), this concept has been done before but never really took off.
