Indigo Prophecy [PS2]

Lucas Kane is having a bad day. He went to a diner for a cup of coffee and to read a little Shakespeare, only to black out and regain consciousness kneeling on a dead guy in the men's room, with snake symbols carved into his forearms and holding the bloody knife in his hand. That's the kind of nightmare that no amount of hitting the snooze bar will make it go away.

And so starts Indigo Prophecy, a unique sci-fi game from Atari and French developer Quantic Dream. It's your mission to figure out the mystery that surrounds why Kane did what he did (hint: he may have done the actual stabbing, but he was being manipulated by another), though the journey from start to finish will take you on a story-rich adventure that's part Hitchcock, part CSI and part The Matrix.

Plain and simple, Indigo Prophecy plays like a film -- an intricate story with lots of twists and variations. In fact, its tutorial has a 3D model of the game's director guiding you through how to control a character on what looks like a movie soundstage (complete with lights and sets). Once you get into the gameplay, you'll see that Atari is taking a chance on an innovative yet entirely unorthodox video game.

After the initial cutscene plays, you'll take over controlling Lucas. At this point, you have the ability to move him wherever you'd like within the diner, and the decisions you make will change how things evolve. For instance, if you wander right out into the diner after the murder, the cop who's eating at the counter will surely take note of the blood on you. So, while in the bathroom, you can wash up and make your walk into the diner less conspicuous.

Your choices are easily determined, as icons appear at the top of the screen when you can carry out an action (along with the right stick movement that'll accomplish it). Walk to the sink, and you'll get an eye icon to look at yourself in the mirror and a faucet icon that'll enable you to wash up.

There are multiple characters you end up controlling at various times -- you start with Lucas, but you end up navigating the story with a number of the key protagonists/antagonists, such as the lead detectives on the case and Marcus' brother/priest.