Heavy Rain!

[natlinxz]

(I was going to make this thread once I finished my Heavy Rain commentary for youtube, but that would take a while. In the meantime...)

So, who's played/bought this game yet? For those who haven't tried it, it's a murder mystery type game, with really weird controls (but they grow on you). It's for PS3.

[Icedhope]

I love that game, so much. I have to pick it from Wal mart thursday.

[kaptein_kaffe]

Looks awesome. Peter Bogdanovich being director grabbed my attention. I must say that I'm interested in seeing what he'd do based on his experiences with The Sopranos. I love the way that show creates it's characters around psychology. It makes it a lot of more credible and realistic that way

Won't be getting it though. 360, that's how I roll

[Friar]

I might just pick this up at somepoint, although i have a couple of queries. How long is it? And how simple is it to play (my mum might enjoy it, but she gets confused by most control schemes)

[Marty]

Definitely picking this one up

[Yohmi]

I bought it today. I played from 7 pm to midnight, straight. It appears that I’m not that far in the game.
What I can say is I love it. I saw it molested almost everywhere. In fact, it’s just a dividing game. It divides people who play only to win, and people who play also for pleasure. Because yes, there is no challenge for the player in this game. Like in TGC’s Flower, for example. Sure. But there is a story, an atmosphere, you’re investigating, you’re living, you can do a lot of things, and also a lot of useless things. I read a lot of people complaining or mocking of some things… like the people walking… oh my god, people walking at home, I’ve never seen that before, why can’t I run ? Oh my god, I can’t flip myself in a quarter of a second, I’m compelled to move my body, that’s so disappointing. Oh my god, I can drink orange juice and that’s useless. Oh my god, there is a tutorial and it’s easy.

The game is all about how do you think you should act. Should I, should I not, which way, quickly, slowly, aggressive, calmly… you have the choice. To do the best. Or not doing anything.

To be honest, I don’t care about challenge. I’m not the kind of people who look at high scores, who collect trophies to show them proudly to other virtual trophies hunters, I mainly play for pleasure. For stories, or beautiful things, to live something.

For sure, this time, you’re not in the army, trained to kill, born to run, compelled to wear green cloth. You won’t have much the pleasure to kill bots or kill your friends by the Internet. To hide from "old times bad times" german soldiers, and heal war wounds.
But well… the job is well done. You’re oscillating between nightmares, trauma, reality, futuristic investigation, old fashion investigation, fat charismatic guy, shaking young FBI agent, puzzled man, quite good looking woman, that’s the deal. You’re walking.

Yeah. You’re walking. Under a heavy rain.

[adventureaddict]

Comes out in Australia tomorrow, and as soon as I'm off from Uni, I'm buying it! =]

[Emily]

I had a long dream last night about figuring out how to acquire / rent a PS3 so I could play this.

[JedExodus]

Originally Posted by Emily

I had a long dream last night about figuring out how to acquire / rent a PS3 so I could play this.

I'd no dream, but i'm def borrowing a friends PS3 ASAP

[coolsome]

the game kinda looks like shenmue but with a cop

[ShaggE]

Originally Posted by Emily

I had a long dream last night about figuring out how to acquire / rent a PS3 so I could play this.

Seconded. I didn't dream, but it's certainly been on my mind. I haven't wanted a game this badly since Dead Rising. (And how wonderful it was when I finally bought a 360 and a copy of said game.)

It's getting harder and harder to not seek a playthrough vid online.

[Lena_P]

Originally Posted by Sailorcuteness

the game kinda looks like shenmue but with a cop

A) I love "Shenmue".

B) I don't think they're that similar in actual gameplay, although I have yet to play "Heavy Rain" so I could be utterly wrong.

[Kroms]

I love having my buttons pushed. I love games that dare do something different. I love it when someone breaks every rule on the planet, and then invents their own.

I just hate Heavy Rain so, so much.

I've spewed this hate on other places, so I'll just vent out one more time here and leave.

A lot of it is just a reaction to my hatred of David "Citizen Kane" Cage, but a decent chunk of it is a reaction to Heavy Rain being CSI and thinking it's The Wire. Actually, CSI has somewhat believable dialogue. Heavy Rain is just unbelievably stupid. Why are people calling this incredible? It's not doing anything different, and what it does it's doing rather badly.

I admire that they tried doing a different kind of story. I admire that they didn't have you shooting people all the time. But that is not exclusive to Heavy Rain, and yet Sony and Quantic Dream are pretending that this is the case. Neither is the game the first "emotional" experience - so what gives?

I mean, the "sleazy place" scene has three or four variations, but they're just little touches. She gets beat-up more? So what? She doesn't give me the info? Unless that completely derails the story, it's a completely pointless scene. I might re-kindle interest if it does mean something, but I get the feeling it won't.

The thing that hurts me the most is that Cage actually believes this is a "mature" game, when clearly it is not. I'm dying to know if he believes it's a "thinking man's game" too.

Anyways, I'm taking a very large pass on this one. I have a hunch I'll be a lot more involved in The Last Guardian, and I might as well begin saving cash.

*backs off thread*

[natlinxz]

Okay, I finished my first impressions video, and here it is! It's spoiler-free, so it's something you might want to check out if you don't mind my voice at random points through the video.

[DarkStar Runner]

Personally, I enjoy what I've seen my dad play. It's quite amazing.

And what might just make small changes in one scene is going to make bigger changes halfway through the story.

[Hassat Hunter]

I liked Fahrenheit (well, most of it...) so I definitely give it a try...
...
...
...
...as soon as they make a PC version that is. PS3... HA!

[natlinxz]

Originally Posted by Hassat Hunter

I liked Fahrenheit (well, most of it...) so I definitely give it a try...
...
...
...
...as soon as they make a PC version that is. PS3... HA!

Well you might have to wait a while... because I don't think PS3 emulators are coming out any time soon.

[Katsuro]

I can see where people see similarities to Fahrenheit.
I just hope Heavy Rain will not become a "Push A to not die" game like Fahrenheit in the end.

So far I liked what I saw. Might give it a try. (once I get a PS3 that is )

[Yohmi]

Originally Posted by Kroms

I love having my buttons pushed. I love games that dare do something different. I love it when someone breaks every rule on the planet, and then invents their own.

I just hate Heavy Rain so, so much.

I've spewed this hate on other places, so I'll just vent out one more time here and leave.

A lot of it is just a reaction to my hatred of David "Citizen Kane" Cage, but a decent chunk of it is a reaction to Heavy Rain being CSI and thinking it's The Wire. Actually, CSI has somewhat believable dialogue. Heavy Rain is just unbelievably stupid. Why are people calling this incredible? It's not doing anything different, and what it does it's doing rather badly.

I admire that they tried doing a different kind of story. I admire that they didn't have you shooting people all the time. But that is not exclusive to Heavy Rain, and yet Sony and Quantic Dream are pretending that this is the case. Neither is the game the first "emotional" experience - so what gives?

I mean, the "sleazy place" scene has three or four variations, but they're just little touches. She gets beat-up more? So what? She doesn't give me the info? Unless that completely derails the story, it's a completely pointless scene. I might re-kindle interest if it does mean something, but I get the feeling it won't.

The thing that hurts me the most is that Cage actually believes this is a "mature" game, when clearly it is not. I'm dying to know if he believes it's a "thinking man's game" too.

Anyways, I'm taking a very large pass on this one. I have a hunch I'll be a lot more involved in The Last Guardian, and I might as well begin saving cash.

*backs off thread*

Cool, some good old fight, let’s go ^^

So, in first place, take a game for what it is and not for what marketing is calling it. You wouldn’t believe how many best gaming experience ever made are hitting stores every week.
Then, it’s great to tell things, but it’s better when your have some arguments. Because for you, what makes a mature game ? Amounts of blood ? Massive killing ?
Yes it’s a mature game, because it plays with your feelings, with your conscience, it lets you make choices, and not the most obvious ones. Of course, you can be sentimentally handicapped, I’m sure there is some people who will never empathize for a dad who lost his son and who sees his perfect life getting broken by this single element. Of course, I’m sure it’s not mature nowadays, when you’re stuffed with violence, to make choices to save someone you love. If it’s worth killing for. If it’s worth dying for. Because yes, in lot of games now, you kill, you die, and zap, three seconds after, you’re up to kill again. But when you look at it from a human side, like a movie, you know, that dark room where people cry when the hero dies, this game is Mature with a capital M. I won’t let my children play that. Not because it’s violent. Not because you see boobies. But because there is some choices a human should never have to do. Never.
But you’re compelled to do it, and your feelings will lead you to the way you think you should act. I finished the game today, trying to be fair in every scene. However, it’s not that easy, because sometimes you doubt, you misjudge, or simply fail at some tasks just too difficult to realize. Sometimes, your character is so freaked you just can’t do the right thing because you can’t read, because it’s shaking, because you don’t have enough time. And you do, just like when you’re stressed, something you regret. If only I had more time to think. If only I was not afraid of anything…

My character was in a very bad posture. I had to hold more than six buttons for many seconds, discovering one each new second (R1, then L1, then R2, L2, triangle, square, O, X). It saved my character, but to success, I was compelled to push it with my nose.

You know what ? that’s fun to judge a game you don’t know. To put some more arguments from my side, I finished the game as a total loser. The game itself named my save «*total impunity*». I made what I thought being the good choices. But maybe it wasn’t. Or maybe I failed at the most important scenes, I can’t know because everything in the game is related. What I know, is that I want to play again, and this time I hope there will be justice. I’ll do my best for that.

You know, in real life, when you’re fighting against somebody, if you fight longer, you won’t win anything for that, except more bruises. Right ? That’s exactly what’s this game is about. You can sometime fail, you can sometime success, sometime you just can’t change the way things are, it’s fate. But sometime, you can. Maybe you could just try, to see… Remember this first fight you talked about ? You can, if you want, just go away. You won’t have any wound. If you do well, you will have just a small scratch. If you do bad, you’ll be totally covered with bruises. Like in your everyday life, some choices will change your world forever. Some others won’t change anything.

Have fun with your gigantic mythologic shouting chicken.


Someone talked about Shenmue. Well, there is a little bit of Shenmue in Heavy Rain. First, in the massive use of MoCap, second on the human scale of the game (real objects you can use, contextual actions, feelings matters, and walking where it’s no place to run), and then of course, Quick Time Events.
But Shenmue has a semi-open world, where you have a quest, and you can totally forget about it. You can talk to every stranger in the street, and walk in any store you want, just to buy some tomato thingies. Heavy Rain is a lot more dense, you follow the story, you can only talk to some main characters, you can’t just walk around the street day and night to play afterburner. This is a design choice, because you can’t be free and let four stories being totally free. In Heavy Rain, you follow different stories, to see the investigation from different points of view, and the narration is quite precise and clever, so you can’t be as free as Shenmue let you be.

Shenmue II is still my best gaming experience in my life.
But Heavy Rain is something worth to try.

[wefeelgroove]

Is this at all like Indigo Prophecy? I'm asking because I really didn't like IP all that much. I don't have a PS3 anyway so it doesn't matter much to me but I'm just curious. I get a serious uncanny valley vibe from the character models, especially when they move their mouths. D: