Many movies are described as being "so bad they're good", but that's much more rare for a video game. As an enjoyer of both I think that has to do with games being fairly long and interactive. The Video Gamer can't just sit back and enjoy the ride – they must engage with the mechanics. It can be difficult to extract any fun out of whatever is "so bad it's good" about a game if the moment to moment interaction with its systems is unenjoyable. Fahrenheit, though, is the moment David Cage realized he doesn't actually want to make video games – he wants to make movies.
The tutorial takes place at a movie set with an appearance from Mr. Cage himself, saying he's the director of the game and guiding you through the basic controls. There's an in-game news headline saying director David Cage has won an Oscar for the latest entry in his movie trilogy. The top option in the main menu isn't even "New Game", it's "New Movie".
Fahrenheit still meets the minimum of interactivity to qualify as a game. Even if most of that is just basic adventure game use-item-on-thing-puzzles and dialogue choices. The actually challenging gameplay sections usually make the player literally play Simon (like, the thing where you just repeat a sequence of colored buttons) to represent whatever action is going on. The other mode of active gameplay is stealth sections where getting spotted leads to an instant fail. I wish those were also just Simon.
The real joy is seeing Mr. Aspiring Hollywood Director David "David Cage" De Gruttola absolutely COOKING with the story for the last time in his career. It's a goofy 8 hour B-movie that keeps jumping increasingly larger and more toothy sharks until it's unrecognizable from the relatively subdued opening moments. Every single time you think it's peaked it surprises you 30 minutes later with some fresh new bullshit. Kino.
The tutorial takes place at a movie set with an appearance from Mr. Cage himself, saying he's the director of the game and guiding you through the basic controls. There's an in-game news headline saying director David Cage has won an Oscar for the latest entry in his movie trilogy. The top option in the main menu isn't even "New Game", it's "New Movie".
Fahrenheit still meets the minimum of interactivity to qualify as a game. Even if most of that is just basic adventure game use-item-on-thing-puzzles and dialogue choices. The actually challenging gameplay sections usually make the player literally play Simon (like, the thing where you just repeat a sequence of colored buttons) to represent whatever action is going on. The other mode of active gameplay is stealth sections where getting spotted leads to an instant fail. I wish those were also just Simon.
The real joy is seeing Mr. Aspiring Hollywood Director David "David Cage" De Gruttola absolutely COOKING with the story for the last time in his career. It's a goofy 8 hour B-movie that keeps jumping increasingly larger and more toothy sharks until it's unrecognizable from the relatively subdued opening moments. Every single time you think it's peaked it surprises you 30 minutes later with some fresh new bullshit. Kino.