Heavy Rain

[Teto 2609]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qExMV-zbaLs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxByTK-BqX8

"Heavy Rain is about normal people who have landed in extraordinary situations. I wanted a much more personal story. The first thing that came to my mind, as a father of two little boys, was that the main theme should simply be a father's love for his son. This is not a game about saving the princess or the world. Its [sic] purely about a father's love. The main story will revolve around four different characters, and we're putting the spotlight on their perceptions. The question 'what is good and what is evil' is the key here, that will be just a matter of viewpoint...I believe heavily in moral choices, I'm going to use them A LOT. They're not about being good or bad, but about finding the right balance."

Gameplay

According to a demonstration given to Edge magazine, the game will use a unique control scheme.A trigger button on the PlayStation 3 controller will move the character forward. It will take advantage of the button's analogue function, allowing the user to control the speed of the character's movement by pressing harder or softer on the button. The left analogue stick will control the movement of the character's head and the direction the character moves in relation to where the character is looking. David Cage explains that this frees the movement of the character from the perspective of the camera. The rest of the game is played using a series of context sensitive actions such as picking up a bottle in a grocery store and hitting a robber on the head with it, and quick time events, normally for chase and combat sequences. Players are able to bring up a selection of their character's current thoughts by holding the L1 button and pressing corresponding buttons to say or do what they're thinking. These thoughts will sometimes blur, and selecting them at the wrong time will affect the character's reaction, causing them to say or do something in the wrong way.

Action sequences, such as when the player is being attacked, play out as quick time events. Players will be presented with various symbols, requiring them to either press buttons, move the right analogue stick in a certain way, or shake or tilt the controller. Failure to execute these commands take the story along a different path, and certain mistakes will lead to a character's death. For example, in one scene, Norman Jayden is interrogating a suspect named Mad Jack when he starts to suffer from withdrawal symptoms and button prompts will show up. If he fails to take his drugs, he will be taken to a scenario in which he will have to escape from a car before it is thrown into a crusher, killing him. In scenes like these, a 'timer' scene is shown at the bottom of the screen, indicating how long the player has to escape from his predicament.

If a character dies, the game does not end, and play control switches to another character, with the events of the previous character's death affecting the story. In the event that all four characters die, there is a proper conclusion to the story and the game ends.

Am so getting this.

[Arcane 12]

I know, right? I've been so excited for it. This and FFXIII are my top two awaited games this year.

[Sahaqiel 1232]

This game looks more boring than life itself.

Also, why do you need to be able to control the animation frame the main character is at when getting out of bed? To seem reluctant? Hesitant? Anxious?

I WOULD TOO. NORMAL LIFE ISN'T THE BEST WAY TO SPEND THE DAY, EVEN WHEN YOU ARE A DETECTIVE.

The lack of music and the voice acting would be OK if you were, you know, in real life. But in video games, you'd be attaching an atmosphere to things it doesn't go with. When getting up on a bright, shiny morning, I don't get into third person and watch myself do everything with dramatic camera angles. It not only intensifies the boring factor, but conflicts with how real life is actually spent. In first person, it would look much more natural.

So hey, all four characters die, roight, and you just spent a good portion of the game on the last character. What happens? Does it just end there completely? Game Over? You have to start anew?

At first I was like, "Oh cool. One redeeming factor. Your death actually messes with the story."

Then I remembered there were only four characters and now the possibility of having to get up and brush my teeth looms in my head.

I can't even watch the first nine minutes. Any other game I can stomach at least just fast forwarding through, but the first nine minutes held absolutely nothing of interest at all.

Even the more actiony scenes are only cut scenes, I've seen so far. And they all have him running from stuff. I imagine he'd be really slow.

You know how movies about a father's love succeeds? Or any movie, really? By cutting out all the boring stuff. You don't watch the father brush his teeth and get his keys and drive his car a whole ten minutes to pick up his son, leaving the camera on him as he scratches himself in various places.

This, I am seeing, is essentially an interactive multi-ending movie. Only boring and uninteresting.

I will link the first nine minutes to anyone who hates on Wind Waker or any game for not being realistic enough.

Sahaqiel

[Teto 2609]

The first nine minutes? Yeah that totally reflects the game as a whole. Good analysis there. Considering there are around 200 scenes, 60 characters and over 2 hours of dialog gives me the idea that there would be some boring bits or wavering in the quality of the voice acting.

And as you should know, the start of a game doesn't give you a full idea of how the game will be. You should have sense enough to know that at least, Sahaqiel.

Also, out of interest, who's the detective you're talking about? I haven't looked at the first nine minutes btw. All I know is that there's a retired detective who's come out of retirement to work on the case, the FBI agent, the father who's all I have to save my son from this serial killer, and the woman who's sworn on her dead son's grave she'd kill the killer. So basically everybody wants the devoted father dead because he's being framed for the killings of all the other victims. Probably having his son used to lure him into situations to make him take the blame or something. I don't know, I haven't played it. But we both know how fun it is theorise.

Looked at the Mall scene they gave footage of and lol yes, bad voice acting. I'm counting on there being better throughout though. Well I hope so. After all, I've preordered this.

Oh lol the first nine minutes. I'm going to see what happens if I don't flush the toilet. And emotional music while showering. Glad I got the Limited Editon though, because that comes with a soundtrack, and this is wonderful just to listen to for me. It's strange that they only offer Limited Edition for Europe. Also the demo is UK only too. Hmm. Apparently at least. Also, he has a very nice house. Another scene I saw was after his son died, and it was a crappy little house with no lighting but a huge TV. You can do whatever, like make him do his homework. I do agree that that is pretty strange.

[Sahaqiel 1232]

I never said it was boring. I said it looked boring.

You have to admit that looked like a tedious mess.

The option to not do things or messing up on purpose is enticing, though.

Sahaqiel

[Teto 2609]

I want to see if you can even do any work in the house or if you can only drink juice and play with the car.

I saw another scene where you had to apply makeup to the girl's face though while playing as that character though. Which is like, weird.

And tbh, I didn't see it as very tedious. Seemed p. cool.

[Teto 2609]

Guys I have an awesome friend who used their awesome connections to get me a redeem code for the Heavy Rain demo.

Will give opinion later :D

You can tell I'm happy when I use emoticons :3

[Jo-Bengt 0]

It looks cool, but I don't know. I'm skeptical about it. I don't want to get up everyday and brush my teeth and whatever. I just did that when I woke up in real life. I mean, Sims isn't much different, and I'll be perfectly honest in saying that I can enjoy Sims(especially when you watch a single mom trapped in an inescapable room that has windows for walls where she can see the outside world but never experience it. She is forced to take care of her baby until she finally dies and social services finally get up off their asses and take the now orphaned baby away. Or if you just get people killed. Always funny.), but Sims is silly. The fact that I can make a custom playlist on it for my radio makes it even more enjoyable, watching these people dance their asses off to my favorite music. And then there's fighting. That's always funny.

Heavy Rain is currently looking like the Sims but with a serious tone. And when I say serious tone, I mean depressing oh man we're going to cut ourselves serious. Don't get me wrong, it looks interesting. I'd at least download a demo for it if I had a PS3, just so I could get a fair opinion on it. I don't want to go out and say it sucks or it's boring or whatever without having actually played it.

But, there are obvious exceptions to the above statement. There are games that you don't need to play to know they suck. Take ET for example.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Someone give me a whole helluva lot more cents so I can buy a PS3.

[Teto 2609]

lol Jo.

That's just the start of the game.

That guy has a nice house, nice family, then one of his sons is hit by a car and killed. His wife leaves or idk, and then he's living in a shíthole because he's depressed and he lost his job or something. Then his other son has been kidnapped by the Origami Killer and then, I think, he's being made to either kill people or make himself look guilty so they think he's the killer. For example, one of the trailers has him being asked to chop off part of his finger for information about his kidnapped son.

There are the other three characters who are all trying to track the killer for various reasons. One is an FBI agent, one is a chick who's son was killed by the killer, and the other is a retired detective who's like, come out of retirement to work on the case.

The demo I got had the FBI agent and the detective guy.

The killer kills children, don't think it's rápe or anything, cause it doesn't say so. He drowns them, covers their face in mud, puts an orchid on their chest and puts an origami figure in their hands.

Also, that guy, Ethan, who's being chased is mentally ill from all that business and has had nightmares about drowning bodies. So hmm.

[Arcane 12]

The gameplay sounds a lot like Shenmue. (Which I haven't played, but I've heard is good)

Anyways, I like games that are like movies, in that they have a constant, well paced story and such, so I'm wanting this of course. Plus, there's tons and tons of possible ways the story could go, so I imagine I'll be replaying this very much, making different big decisions, killing off a character at a certain part to see what happens, etc.

[Jo-Bengt 0]

^The reason I replay Mass Effect .

How was the demo, Silves? If I ever get my hands on a PS3, should I be excited for this one? Like uberly excited? Tell us how you felt about it.

I love rpgs with a passion, especially Mass Effect 1/2. If this game has as high a replay value, I'll dig it. The main thing that would pull me into this one would be all the different choices and the vast story that you yourself can develop.

Also, @Arcane:

I sort of consider games next-gen movies, where you're the character.

[Arcane 12]

IGN gave it a 9/10, or "Outstanding" rating. : D

[Teto 2609]

It doesn't look like it's an RPG, btw. It's more like an adventure game.

[Teto 2609]

Been playing it today.

Just got to a part where a religious nut pulled a gun on my fellow officer, claiming he was the anti-christ. The officer I'm hanging with is a total asshole though, so no surprise the religious guy thought that. So I pull out my gun. I could have tried talking with him, but I saw "R1" above all else and shot him in the side of the head.

I might have to replay that scene sometime.

[Eka 387]

Ah yes, one of my other friends has just been going ballistic over this game.

When she looks at it, she sees something amazing.

When I look at it, I see something that might as well be a movie. =\