Heavy Rain Demo

[Zipp]

This isn't Indigo Prophecy.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/106/1067755p1.html

[BooDidley7]

This isn't Indigo Prophecy.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/106/1067755p1.html

IGN:

Heavy Rain:

9.0 Presentation

8.5 Graphics

8.5 Sound

9.0 Gameplay

8.0 Lasting Appeal

9.0 OVERALL

Games have come pretty far in terms of how well stories are told and the level of writing quality that some of them are able to achieve, but Heavy Rain is easily amongst the best that's ever been put onto a disc.

Indigo Prophecy:

9.0 Presentation

7.5 Graphics

9.0 Sound

8.5 Gameplay

8.0 Lasting Appeal

8.4 OVERALL

...the game’s sound, story, and characters are so strong...

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/652/652204p4.html

Heavy Rain does indeed sound better, and I do applaud Quantic Dream for trying to do something unique. But I wouldn't be sold on the game just yet after seeing IGN's Indigo Prophecy review.

[Zipp]

Indigo Prophecy is NOT a bad game. It was a game of wasted potential and even then was captivating enough so that everyone who started it finished it. I think they just ran out of money half-way through.

Heavy Rain had a much longer development time and much more money poured into it. I have high hopes.

[BooDidley7]

Indigo Prophecy is NOT a bad game.

I wouldn't call it a good game either. Definitely not an 8.4.

They quickly go from at attempt of telling a mature, psychological murder mystery to giant bugs, killer apartments, deathtrap rollercoasters and running alongside the wall of a building in -100 Fahrenheit while carrying a schoolgirl in a skirt, as helicopters launch rockets at you, with an ancient voodoo assassin and some physical embodiment of the internet also trying to kill you at the same time. Oh yeah, I think the main character is technically undead at that point, or something.

This was entertaining on a laugh my ass off at the absurdity level, but probably not the developers intention.

Now having seen the Heavy Rain demo in action, so far it feels almost comical having to go through button sequences just to climb a muddy hill or pass a dumpster. Walking with R2 is awkward.

And for me at least, some of the characters look dead stuck in the uncanny valley, and at this level, when there's flawed facial animation, it makes it all the more distracting. I can probably get over it, but utter realism was supposed to be one the game's big selling points.

I like the idea of the CSI elements, but maybe it's not the best choice to introduce it to us by having a character walk around at night in the rain with dark sunglasses and a powerglove.

The acting is all over the place too. The old detective has gravity and believability, but the hooker sometimes sounds robotic.

I do wonder if the implementation of the QTE events and interrogations presentation will one day be seen as groundbreaking or a misstep.

I think the most unfortunate part I take away from the demo is that we really don't have the technology yet to fully realize the kind of intimate experience this game really wants to deliver, and we end up chained to QTE's and floating text.

[Thin Crust]

I think we should all just forget the hooker due to her not-perfect acting and strange design. If not for her, I think the demo was perfect for all its acting and character design. We've barely seen any of the characters so far so we should just wait till the game comes out to judge that.

That being said, does anyone remember the old days where we put aside our grievances in order to enjoy the experience better? I think the R2 mechanic isn't bad enough to go complaining about, and it shouldn’t even be considered to be something to not buy the game over.

[Nekofrog]

Controls make or break a game. R2 breaks this game. How am I supposed to be immersed when my character walks around like a retard in circles?

[Thin Crust]

Controls make or break a game. R2 breaks this game. How am I supposed to be immersed when my character walks around like a retard in circles?

You adapt. That's what we did in the old days.

[BooDidley7]

You adapt. That's what we did in the old days.

You know what else we did in the old days? Put our quarters in a better game instead.

[Nekofrog]

You adapt. That's what we did in the old days.

No, in the old days we just stopped playing games that controlled like pieces of dogshit.

Like Heavy Rain.

[Vivi22]

No, in the old days we just stopped playing games that controlled like pieces of dogshit.

If that were true then Resident Evil wouldn't have made it past the first installment. I mean, the game didn't even have auto aim for fucks sake.

As far as I'm concerned, walking in Heavy Rain wasn't that hard to get used to, and since it's not exactly an action game it doesn't bother me that much. I can easily look past that one aspect to enjoy the rest of what it looks like the game will offer.

[Zipp]

If that were true then Resident Evil wouldn't have made it past the first installment. I mean, the game didn't even have auto aim for fucks sake.

As far as I'm concerned, walking in Heavy Rain wasn't that hard to get used to, and since it's not exactly an action game it doesn't bother me that much. I can easily look past that one aspect to enjoy the rest of what it looks like the game will offer.

Thank you for the truth in your words.

[Thin Crust]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgFJZFPPoXY

[Cerrax]

Honestly the controls are hit or miss. The fighting was awesome (well about as awesome as an interactive cutscene can be anyway) but simple things like climbing were a pain in the ass. (Seriously, who has that much trouble getting up a slope of mud?) The investigation is about as intuitive as Batman Arkham Asylum (which is to say not at all). The best parts of the demo are the conversations with characters and the movements with the right stick which feel very natural while other "natural" motions like walking and climbing require an awkwardly high amount of finesse.

[Alexis]

Just finished playing the game. As a story, it's great. As a game...eh, not so much. About ten minutes in, I had to stop thinking of it as a video game. As a video game it's terrible. I hate the camera, R2 to walk is stupid, and a lot of the button combinations seem very forced. As an interactive movie, it's awesome. Having the ability to change the outcome of the game is really cool. Some of the situations you're put in require a quick decision and you're never quite sure what the right one is. In this aspect, it's one of the most immersing games, because what you do in some of these situations completely effects the outcome of the game.

Spoilers Ahead:

So I've heard there's several different endings. I'm curious as to what other people got. Here's mine.

Ethan goes into the last house and drinks the poison. Since I didn't kill the guy from the mission before, the hangman is incomplete, and the address can be one of five different locations, so it's a crapshoot. He picks one, and drives there. It's a restaurant, and it's the wrong place.

Meanwhile, Madison figures out who the oragami killer is and goes to his apartment. She finds out the address of where Ethan's son is in a hidden room. She is about to leave when he comes home. He locks her in the hidden room and sets the apartment on fire. She escapes by knocking over a tank of hydrogen and shielding herself from the explosion Indian Jones style in the fridge. She calls the FBI agent and gives him all the information. She gets to the location first, a warehouse, and finds the boy in a sewer grate. She tries to get him out but the killer comes in and they fight. The FBI agent shows up and rescues the boy, then rescues her, and kills the killer.

Here's where I get confused. I drank the poison, ok? But the next scene shows Ethan, Madison, and his son in a new apartment that they're all going to move into. So...if this poison was supposed to kill Ethan in an hour, how was he apartment shopping? Quite the major plot hole.

What endings did you guys get?

[Zipp]

In answer to your question, nosense...

OH... MAJOR SPOILER HERE. SKIP THIS POST IF YOU HAVENT BEATEN THE GAME.

If you do manage to bring Ethan to the site, you'll learn that the poison was a hoax. The Origami Killer (who shall remain nameless... that's too big a spoiler for any forum) was schizophrenic as evidenced by his behavior throughout the game. The final test was one of willpower, a test of Ethan's faith.

[Alexis]

In answer to your question, nosense...

OH... MAJOR SPOILER HERE. SKIP THIS POST IF YOU HAVENT BEATEN THE GAME.

If you do manage to bring Ethan to the site, you'll learn that the poison was a hoax. The Origami Killer (who shall remain nameless... that's too big a spoiler for any forum) was schizophrenic as evidenced by his behavior throughout the game. The final test was one of willpower, a test of Ethan's faith.

Yeah, but the game never explained that in my ending, so how was I supposed to know what happened? I had assumed he just died somewhere on the sidewalk near a restaurant, then he magically reappeared. How hard would it have been to put in a little scene at a hospital or something where they explain to Ethan that he hasn't been poisoned or something?

[Alexis]

In answer to your question, nosense...

OH... MAJOR SPOILER HERE. SKIP THIS POST IF YOU HAVENT BEATEN THE GAME.

If you do manage to bring Ethan to the site, you'll learn that the poison was a hoax. The Origami Killer (who shall remain nameless... that's too big a spoiler for any forum) was schizophrenic as evidenced by his behavior throughout the game. The final test was one of willpower, a test of Ethan's faith.

Yeah, but the game never explained that in my ending, so how was I supposed to know what happened? I had assumed he just died somewhere on the sidewalk near a restaurant, then he magically reappeared. How hard would it have been to put in a little scene at a hospital or something where they explain to Ethan that he hasn't been poisoned or something? It just bugged me that the story was so well explained up until that point.

[Zipp]

Yeah, but the game never explained that in my ending, so how was I supposed to know what happened? I had assumed he just died somewhere on the sidewalk near a restaurant, then he magically reappeared. How hard would it have been to put in a little scene at a hospital or something where they explain to Ethan that he hasn't been poisoned or something? It just bugged me that the story was so well explained up until that point.

Part of the point of the game is that you have to try to do things a little differently each time you play if you want the full story. I personally like the fact that there were things left unexplained in certain endings. That's life. And it's not like the information isn't in the game, you just have to try out different stuff to access it all. Pretty cool, actually.

[Tinus]

Sorry to bump an old thread with a kinda off-topic post, but I just noticed I never responded to this question

Do you own an HDTV?

Nope. Most of my friends do and I've seen plenty HDTVs in stores. Based on that I've decided that HDTV isn't so much better that I need one right now. Also while watching DVDs or playing last-gen video games, I never even once had the feeling that I needed a higher resolution, so it's really not worth spending lots of money on. I guess whenever I'm going to buy my next tv it'll probably be an HD one.

I was kinda hoping to see other innovations for television. Like 3D (which seems to slowly be coming our way now), or being able to switch between different audio and subtitle tracks on television programs. I'm kinda disappointed that HDTV is the only "innovation" we've seen.

[Thin Crust]

Sorry to bump an old thread with a kinda off-topic post, but I just noticed I never responded to this question

Nope. Most of my friends do and I've seen plenty HDTVs in stores. Based on that I've decided that HDTV isn't so much better that I need one right now. Also while watching DVDs or playing last-gen video games, I never even once had the feeling that I needed a higher resolution, so it's really not worth spending lots of money on. I guess whenever I'm going to buy my next tv it'll probably be an HD one.

I was kinda hoping to see other innovations for television. Like 3D (which seems to slowly be coming our way now), or being able to switch between different audio and subtitle tracks on television programs. I'm kinda disappointed that HDTV is the only "innovation" we've seen.

3D should be out this summer I'm told. There's going to be a ps3 firmware update that will support ps3 3D gaming. Shame I don't have an interest in it though.

[Schwaltzvald]

Does anyone remember the old days where we put aside our grievances in order to enjoy the experience better?

The only problem with this is, generally speaking, there is a new generation of gamers who can't say they remember such days as we can. There are even gamers who never even touched a Mario game, let alone a beaten up yet strongly made pinball machine within a practically run down "recreation center".

The newer generation of gamers are less forgiving than the older generation as far as I've seen; more prone to go after a quick satisfaction over grindan sessions as well as take the time to figure out in-depth puzzles (I'm looking at you PS1-SH1's piano puzzle). I even got over the tank like controls of SH1's as well as the RE series.

That said, I was not bothered by HR's controls.

Seriously though the old resident evil's controls were not so bad it became impossible to play. Hell the controls in that game were the least of my worries; even less so when it came back in the Resident Evil REmake.

Fucking reanimating zombies turning into the epitome of "rage".

edit. And for some reason I responded to a month old or so post...

what the fuck...

[Tinus]

3D should be out this summer I'm told. There's going to be a ps3 firmware update that will support ps3 3D gaming. Shame I don't have an interest in it though.

I'm not yet sure how I feel about 3D TV, but I liked it in movies like Avatar. I'm curious how well it'll work with video games.

I'm pretty sure there are already some PC games that support it, maybe I should get myself some 3D glasses and try it out.