Fahrenheit (Sega CD) Playthrough
151A playthrough of Sega's 1995 FMV game for the Sega CD, Fahrenheit.
Played through on the hard difficulty level.
Level 1, The House 3:10
Level 2, The Hotel 10:18
Level 3. The University 29:06
Fahrenheit was one of the last interactive movies Sega released for the Sega CD before retiring the system in late 1995. It seemed that most people had long since grown tired of the genre, but that didn't stop Sega from investing a ton of effort and resources into the production of their FMV titles, and it showed. The level of interactivity, the scenario writing, and the quality of the video footage improved by leaps and bounds with each new release, and Fahrenheit was among the best they made.
In Fahrenheit, you're the new guy at a small town firehouse, but no sooner than you set foot inside the door, you're called upon to prove yourself to the squad. I guess this is what people mean when they call something a trial by fire.
Upon arriving at the scene, a blazing two-story house, the owner tells you that he thinks his daughter is still inside. Time is critical, so with little fanfare, you and your new coworkers enter the building, oxygen masks on and axes at the ready.
As you search for the girl, you'll explore the house room-by-room, keeping an eye out for any hazards that could potentially make the situation worse.
That stack of paint cans will be trouble if the flames get too close, and it would probably a good idea to shut off the gas flowing to the stove before the kitchen explodes. You might also want avoid flinging open any door without first testing the temperature of the knob.
If you find the girl and get her safely out of the house, your performance will be rated on how thorough the search was and whether or not you completed the optional side objectives. If you did a good job, you'll move onto the next scenario.
There are three scenarios in total, each larger and more complex than the last. The initial house scene is kept simple so that you can acclimate to the way the game works, while the second takes place in a burning hotel that you need to explore room by room, and the third features a crazed professor who is threatening to blow up the local university.
The size and complexity of the levels also depends on the difficulty level you're playing on. If you're playing on hard, you'll want to regularly refer to the floorplans printed in the manual - they don't spoil the challenge since the game randomizes the locations of people and items, but they do help to avoid the frustration that comes with getting disoriented in an endless series of similar looking corridors.
The concept is simple, but it's executed brilliantly. The gameplay doesn't rely on sheer memorization and guesswork, the action is viewed from your character's point of view and is only rarely interrupted for cutaway shots, the use of physical sets and real fire (not CG!) lend a real sense of impact to the footage, the acting is about on par with what you'd expect from 90s cable programming, and the video quality is excellent for a Sega CD game.
It also has a theme song that's so 90s, it hurts.
I actually prefer this version over the one for the 32X CD - the video is grainier, but the sound quality is much better. On the 32X, the audio is so raspy and distorted that it's difficult to even make out what is being said at times - that version's crisp, clean video comes at a heavy price. I mean, no matter how capable the system might be, there is only so much that can be done within the limits of a 1X CD-ROM drive.
Fahrenheit is one of my favorite games of its type on the Sega CD. It's easy to pick up, it's super tense and engrossing, and the concept feels like a natural fit for an FMV game. It doesn’t overcomplicate things by shoehorning in contrived gameplay mechanics to make it feel like a "game," and it doesn't need to - it's already a good game the way it is.
If you're into interactive movies, be sure to check out my FMV game playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3gSj_kh1fHuDb4EJqsboXru02vyjoV_Y
And for more Sega CD playthroughs, you can find the list at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3gSj_kh1fHvpLAN14Y5BeKrlyJdw8Gmd
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!