Well it's a good thing there were no roommates in my apartment last night. I'm not talking about my rage at the loss of the Eagles (which was positively vitriolic), but a different embarassment all together. I downloaded the demo of upcoming Indigo Prophecy and the experience that ensued caused an erection so large I don't think I would have been able to hide it from my fellow boarders, even if I tried. You might be aware of this game. It's getting a pretty fair amount of press!

Indigo Prophecy seems to want to to bring about a new rennaisance in the realm of adventure gaming, a genre that I have long forsaked since the days of Space Quest IV and Maniac Mansion. During the demo the player assumes the role of Lucas Kane, a man who has just commited murder in the bathroom of a dingy New York diner while under some sort of hypnotic trance. The player, through a series of simple movements and mouse gestures, has to clean the crime scene and escape before the body is discovered.

Even in the short demo numerous branching paths are evident. Burst out of the bathroom before cleaning the blood off of yourself and you'll immediately alert the cop sitting at the other end of the restaurant, forcing a swift escape into the night. Conversely, if you take the time to mop up the blood, hide the body, and wash your face you can play it cool and stride out of there like nothing happened, provided you remember to pay your cheque on the way out.

There are different paths from even what could be considered the "good" ending. One postulates that wasting time talking to other patrons in the diner will put the suspicion on you when they're called to relate what happened in the diner. Similarly, the player has the option of taking a cab to get away or hoping on the more distant subway. It's easy to assume why there's a distinction. If you take the cab the driver's going to be able to tell the cops exactly where he dropped you off.

The potential for branching in this game is positively astronomical. If they pull it off, and there's no reason to think they won't, then this game will be "the new hotness". Maybe I'm a bad lead on the mystery/suspense genre... I'm too easy of a sell, but it'd behoove you to take a look at the demo and see for yourself. This game could be just what I need.

More information (and the demo) at: http://www.atari.com/indigo/