To say Indigo Prophecy is one of the strangest games you'll play this generation isn't a statement that far off base. What little control the player has over the characters is awful because of the camera, yet the concept is so engrossing and so unique, it's a new achievement in video game storytelling. It's a shame it loses focus towards the end and spirals downward rapidly, but it's worth fighting through the quirks to experience all it has to offer.

Controlling both a murderer and the investigators trying to track him down, this completely new approach is a fantastic concept. As the killer Lucas Kane, you try to unravel why you killed an innocent man in a restaurant bathroom completely against your will. As the police on his trail, you'll need to figure out which clues are important to continue, but not discover too much so they find Lucas quickly.

This is done through a simple interface that doesn't use any of the face buttons (other than A for running). The analog sticks do most of the work, providing options and actions to perform where appropriate. It works much like a classic point-and-click adventure, only one where you can control the walking and maneuvering of the characters.

That, along with the story, are a few of the game's pitfalls. The constantly swinging camera switches the controls with every movement, and there's no way to know how it's going to affect you on screen. This leads to some frustrating segments where death is inevitable, and not because of the difficulty.

The Xbox controller brings a unique challenge with its shoulder buttons. Certain actions require the player to rapidly press the L and R triggers to escape deadly situations, and to say this is painful, both literally and figuratively, isn't stretching the truth. These segments would have worked just fine on any of the buttons, and for as strong as these triggers are, it's unacceptable not to offer any other control configurations.

Some of the challenges are ridiculous too, especially as it makes trying to find a file on a previous murder into a tense situation. Other times you'll need to use both analog sticks just to pass a simple conversation. You never feel like you're actually doing something other than busywork.