Heavy Rain

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Heavy Rain; The game, not the weather pattern
Topic Started: Nov 2 2008, 09:19 AM (75 Views)
dagoss	Nov 2 2008, 09:19 AM Post #1
Level 1 Scholar / Level 10 Wizard Posts: 2,851 Group: Member Member #29 Joined: September 20, 2006	Here is a video of Heavy Rain for the PS3. It could potentially be good. I think the problem will be keeping the game interactive, rather than merely letting the player walk around and initiate a series of quick time events. Nevertheless, it is still worth gawking over the graphics. EDIT: The part in the video where the screen splits in two as the player walks around while the murder is in the house is ridiculously awesome. Edited by dagoss, Nov 2 2008, 09:23 AM.
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alxbly	Nov 2 2008, 12:36 PM Post #2
Alxblymus Primus Posts: 8,722 Group: Admin Member #168 Joined: October 18, 2008	Looks good. My only concern is that when developers try this hard to make a game cinematic the game usually sucks. But it is beautiful.
	Xbox Live: alxbly \| PSN: alxbly \| Wii friend code: 2326 4589 7536 6941


Stephen Young	Oct 26 2009, 08:59 PM Post #3
StYoung Forever Posts: 2,609 Group: God Member #17 Joined: July 13, 2006	I'm really excited about this game. With any luck it will bring about a new era (too much? probably) for video games. I read an interview with David Cage, the CEO of Quantic Dream and his opinions really match my own on the state of the gaming industry. I tried to find an online version of the interview but couldn't, so I'll just quote/comment on my three favorite parts: 1. "I've played games since games existed. Thank you, I've had enough. I don't watch the same movies or read the same books today when I'm 40 than when I was 15. That's a good thing, I hope. But they still give us the same games to play." Even though there are "mature" games out there, they aren't really mature in structure or thought. They're mature in the amount of violence or sexuality they feature. They don't require a strong mental involvement for the overall structure, and as a result are generally similar to previous games just with more brutality, etc. Its never a question of "is the player advanced enough to understand whats going on or to be able to relate to the experience?" as to "is the player advanced enough to see lots of blood or pixel-ated nudity?" 2. "But since you've developed the shooting engine, you need to have the shooting sequence ever level. [Then], you have to twist the story so that you have a shooting scene every 10 minutes, to the point where it becomes ridiculous. Where's the tension? Wheres the pacing? It's just shooting, shooting, shooting, shooting until everybody is dead so we can move to the same level and do the same thing again." He suggests having "scenes", and gives examples of switching from a fist-fighting scene to a gun fight and then possibly being in a chase after that. While I'm not quite sure how literally he means "scenes", the idea of something new, engaging, and MEANINGFUL every couple of minutes or however long is exciting. I just finished Uncharted and it comes to mind as a perfect example of the game that David describes above. The fights never really seem meaningful. They're there to give you something to shoot at. Why are there hundreds of henchmen conventionally located around every corner? Just because. Instead of having fights that have dramatic buildups and appear meaningful to the player, we're given a ten-minute long shootout with generic characters every ten minutes. If there is a fight, there should be a reason for it. It should be relevant to the story and there because it belongs, not just because there needs to be a fight every so couple minutes. 3. He talks about playing a brand new game that is really good, then watching the movie Up. With Up, he thought about the movie and was effected by its character long after the film had ended. He had a general sense of sadness and wonder. With the game, "...there was a vacuum. The game left nothing in me. It didn't change the way I feel or see things." The only game I can really remember thinking about after completing was Shadow of the Colossus. The game really made me think about what my actions caused and left room for me to wonder about the nature of the bosses, the land, the other characters. I could relate to the main characters sense of desolation and wonderment. I had an emotional attachment after completing it. Most games don't leave you with that. I don't know. I'm not suggesting every game should be like Heavy Rain (I love Oblivion...) but I think that its success both critically and commercially would be a very good thing for the industry. I know people on here will disagree and continue playing the same thing for the thousandth-hour or two. But I do feel that video games are wasting a lot of potential. Having direct control over a character should lead to a heavier involvement with the character. Games are given this advantage over films and have never truly used it. Heres hoping that Heavy Rain will...
	dagoss Nov 17 2007, 05:13 PM OMG, this is the best topic ever made. I nominate Steve for God!


alxbly	Oct 27 2009, 08:28 PM Post #4
Alxblymus Primus Posts: 8,722 Group: Admin Member #168 Joined: October 18, 2008	I hope he is able to develop something that is genuinely moving. I think gaming in general will move different directions within the next few generations when we reach a point where graphics aren't gonna get massively better (you could even argue we're there today... but I don't think we're there just yet). When it's not all about flashiness then developers will need to look for other things that will draw people in (as the Wii has) and hopefully they'll be able to produce deeper games with better story telling. The thing I'd worry about is if all the "emotion" is attempted purely with cut-scenes. Shadow of the Colossus was good because the music and tone told you everything you needed to know without the need for lengthy dialogue. For me, long cutscenes are an unwelcome reminder that I'm playing a game because I'm no longer in control of the character. Unless I'm really sold on the story I tend to lose interest during the cinematics. So it needs to be more than just good story telling, it's all about how they tell you a story without it being forced on you. Half Life 2 does a really good job of this without ever needing to resort to cut-scenes.
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floorcat	Oct 28 2009, 12:13 AM Post #5
Nintendo sixty-floorcat :P Posts: 2,646 Group: Admin Member #10 Joined: May 11, 2006	alxbly Oct 27 2009, 08:28 PM The thing I'd worry about is if all the "emotion" is attempted purely with cut-scenes. Shadow of the Colossus was good because the music and tone told you everything you needed to know without the need for lengthy dialogue. For me, long cutscenes are an unwelcome reminder that I'm playing a game because I'm no longer in control of the character. Unless I'm really sold on the story I tend to lose interest during the cinematics. So it needs to be more than just good story telling, it's all about how they tell you a story without it being forced on you. Half Life 2 does a really good job of this without ever needing to resort to cut-scenes. I'm actually RIGHT with you on this, alxbly... pretty much 100%. I'm of course quite interested in this game, but I'm also kind of scared that it might evolve into a context-sensitive cut-scene fest, just with better-than-real-life character modelling/facials. I'm not afraid of the story sucking, because I'm pretty sure it won't, seeing how this appears to be a very plot-driven game... but RE5 showed me that even with stupidly nice graphics, cut-scenes (esp. those bookended with load times) work extremely well to pull me out of any hard-earned immersion the game placed me in. Hopefully Heavy Rain won't have RE5-style quick time events. That would be like the worst thing ever.
	(SNES-owning, sane) alxbly R.I.P.


alxbly	Oct 28 2009, 03:00 PM Post #6
Alxblymus Primus Posts: 8,722 Group: Admin Member #168 Joined: October 18, 2008	I guess I prefer quick time events rather than just straight cut-scenes; at least with a quick time event you have some input. It would be better if it was a choice thing though; Stab him in the heart: A, B, Y Run to the next room: B, B, X Or something like that... but, given the choice, I'd rather they done awy with cut-scenes entirely.
	Xbox Live: alxbly \| PSN: alxbly \| Wii friend code: 2326 4589 7536 6941


floorcat	Oct 29 2009, 12:01 AM Post #7
Nintendo sixty-floorcat :P Posts: 2,646 Group: Admin Member #10 Joined: May 11, 2006	Choose-your-own QTE... interesting concept. But if you're going that far with button presses and player choices, why don't you just make it like: down, down-forward, forward, square (HADOOOOKEN!!!) Anyways, for fear of being subjected to Mop's topicality enforcement, I've created a new thread (ZOMG with POLL!) on the subject of quick-time events in video games. And back to Heavy Rain... I have a strange feeling that so much of the developer's focus/effort will have been placed on the characters, their faces, and the story, that other aspects of the game might be jarringly unpolished. Let's hope not!
	(SNES-owning, sane) alxbly R.I.P.


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