He’s only ever designed and directed a trio of games since founding Quantic Dream, but David Cage is still the greatest mind the video game industry has seen as far as I’m concerned. Yes, I’m putting him in precisely the same league of greats like Shigeru Miyamoto, Ralph Baer and others of the same stature.
Unfortunately, many of you might not have played one of his three games, though only the most recent one really soared in popularity. The games I’m referring to are the Dreamcast and PC game Omikron: The Nomad Soul; the PC, PS2 and Xbox game Fahrenheit, known as Indigo Prophecy stateside; and Heavy Rain, a game that is unfortunately only on the PS3. What all of these games have in common are that they’re innovative games that don’t focus on the same generic action and really make you think; they tell stories and let you truly get to know the intricacies of your characters so you connect to them and feel the pain they’re feeling. There aren’t nearly enough games these days—are there any?—that take this time to allow you to personally invest yourself in the world before you.
Fahrenheit puts you in the hands of both Lucas Kane, a man forced to murder a man, as well as the two cops investigating his crime. This allows you to see both sides of the story while you can mildly place some bias toward one side or the other. Heavy Rain takes it one step further, putting you in control of a reporter on a mission, a pair of detectives and the father suffering the loss of his child. Moral choices, huge consequences and the very lives of your characters are all put to the grinder in this game, and you feel so much for every character that it’s impossible to know what to do. There’s so much more I wish I could tell you about this game, but it would really ruin it if you haven’t already played it. As for Omikron’s greatest claim to fame for me, it’s the central focus on David Bowie. That’s honestly all I have to say there.
Honestly, I hope that Quantic Dream continues to thrive so David Cage can keep delivering us interactive heartstrings to tug. Maybe Miyamoto brought us great, long-lasting IPs, it’s safe to say that Quantic Dream games will never turn into a franchise of repeated ideas that, while good, get a little used after awhile.
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