Heavy Rain

By Tom Bramwell Published 28 August, 2009

Life on Mars.

"We don't make Dragon's Lair! This is not Dragon's Lair - do you think I'm crazy? I'm not stupid. Do you think I develop on PlayStation 3 to do Dragon's Lair again? It would be absurd. Of course it's not." David Cage is basically hopping up and down in the middle of a hotel room in Germany. "When there is an action sequence, yes we integrate this quick-time event sequence. We've done it really in a new way, we really started from a blank page again to try to take the best out of this type of interface and find the thrill and excitement and make you feel at the heart of the action."

There's no word of a lie there. Describing Heavy Rain as a bundle of quick-time events simply isn't accurate. Although, doing so has led to some excellent sarcasm, my favourite being smartgun's comment on the Mad Jack video: "I like the bit where you have to press Triangle. I love pressing Triangle."

But while you may be tugging odd triggers and choosing between context-sensitive button prompts, rather than twirling analogue sticks to move and see and punching people with the X button, you're in full control almost all of the time. The QTE jab must be particularly frustrating for Cage, too, because Heavy Rain's interface is unusual, but it's slick, and actually far more versatile than the majority of other action-adventure games to which people refuse to compare it.

It not only gives you direct control over a vast number of items in the environment, but combines that with numerous options to express yourself, and in scenarios other games would choke on. During quieter scenes, exploring the sets Quantic Dream has built to tell its story is almost distracting. Ooh, I can open the microwave. Ooh, I can turn on the washing machine. Ooh, I can juggle the fruit. The fine detail is amazing.

Up to now presentations of Heavy Rain have focused on tension and action. The original teaser scene involved breaking into a house and then escaping again when its murderous owner returned unexpectedly. FBI profiler Norman Jayden's investigation at a wrecking yard ended in a brutal fight over and around a crusher and a JCB. Madison Paige's attempt to outwit a club owner at E3 was tense and uncomfortable (and pretty distasteful to some). Today's scene certainly is quieter: it's Ethan Mars, a single dad, looking after his son for the evening.

'Heavy Rain' Screenshot 1

Ethan Mars and the other characters are extraordinarily lifelike - a testament to the painstaking work by Quantic Dream and the actors involved.

Heavy Rain has four playable characters (the one I've not mentioned so far, Scott Shelby, is a private detective) and each has a particular interest in the Origami Killer, whose victims are discovered dead, four days after their abduction, having been recently drowned in rainwater. At the stage we're seeing Ethan Mars today, his involvement isn't completely set: it won't be until his son, Shaun, is kidnapped, and he realises he only has four days to do something about it.

That's why there's no essential gravity or urgency to the scene, but also why, for Cage, it's so essential: in order to empathise with Ethan's plight later on, we first need to get to know him, and understand his relationship with his son. By wandering around his bleak, depressing little terraced house (it reminds me of the place my dad bought when my parents split up), and speaking to Shaun, we get to see that in action.

It's also, in a game where many events will be determined by your actions, full of minor decisions. On the blackboard in the kitchen there's a schedule for the evening - give Shaun a snack, get him to do his homework, make him dinner, let him watch TV, put him to bed. You can choose to do your best for him - gently put your foot down about getting the homework out of the way, for instance, and check it for him afterwards - or not bother. If you switch off the TV and refuse to let him watch cartoons, he goes to his room and screams at you when you confront him.

It's easy to find out about Ethan and Shaun's past, as the game weaves it into a number of scenarios - Ethan blames himself for the death of Shaun's brother, who ran in front of a car after getting lost on a shopping trip - but the more you explore the house the deeper the revelations go. In Ethan's office there's an architect's drawing coated in dust - a reminder of happier days in the family home and his old job. If you switch on the small TV here Ethan watches a home movie of his sons playing in the garden, and breaks down crying.

Is it fun? Almost never. Using the DualShock3's motion sensor to cut out a slice of pizza, or going downstairs to search for Shaun's teddy bear before bed, or sitting down at the kitchen table to watch over him while he does his homework - it all fits, but none of it entertains. Is it interesting? Almost always.

Cage has spoken in the past about his belief that the majority of games are emotionally shallow, perhaps making you angry, frustrated or anxious, but little more. Are we feeling anything else here? It's certainly difficult not to empathise with the broken husk of Ethan Mars, going through the motions of fatherhood despite his very obvious depression. In my life, I've lain in bed at night sometimes and wondered whether my dad's really alright living alone in another city. It makes me sad. Ethan Mars looking after his kid brings that out again.

That foundation seems to be what Cage is driving at, and in that sense the Ethan Mars scene is enormously successful. Achieving it has taken painstaking work, too, and not just in the banks of artists building and lighting every object, or in Cage's extensive scriptwriting. The camerawork deserves particular credit - the way the fixed view switches to inside a bathroom cabinet looking out from behind a box of sticking plasters to frame Ethan's face, for example, may be incidental, but it holds your attention despite the functional context.

Elsewhere Pascal Langdale, the actor who plays Ethan Mars, talks to us about endless days in a full-body motion capture suit, about having to redo facial close-ups because a bead of sweat displaced one of the reflective markers attached to his cheek, about having to learn every line of dialogue in every possible outcome, because if his eyes moved left and right to read a script it would show up in the recording. The strength of the acting is particularly impressive when you consider that Ethan may need to get angry or soften considerably from one moment to the next depending on your input - getting that to look authentic must be torturous.

It's a testament to the developers' and actors' extraordinary dedication, then, that my first instinct is to react to the scene in terms of its dramatic goals and content rather than its technical construction, which is immaculate. And despite my initial reaction on the day (something I alluded to prematurely in our gamescom awards piece) listening back to the tape I feel different about it - never does it really feel forced or overtly contrived, despite the complexity of its purpose. "No one will shout at you or blame you if you do something wrong," says Cage. "It's just that the relationship will be affected."

'Heavy Rain' Screenshot 2

The game sometimes uses split-screen and other directorial flourishes, but they all feel coherent. A lot of the time the fixed angles merely frame the obvious, and frame it well.

The only slight concern is the strength of the dialogue, which is a little stilted in places. "You can come now Shaun," says Ethan from the kitchen. "Your meal is ready." But then in other places the tone and delivery is pitch-perfect. "Dad? Why do you look so sad?" asks Shaun after Ethan tucks him in. "I think I just need some time to get back to the way things were." "You know dad, what happened to Jason wasn't your fault," Shaun ventures. It's a brave thing for a child to say, and it's at this point that my attitude towards Ethan's son solidifies into compassion. "Good night Shaun," says Ethan, ending the conversation, but not harshly. As he exits the room, he leaves the door slightly ajar so that Shaun won't be left in total darkness.

There are other games that deal with weighty subjects, and there are other games that use intimate, everyday events to develop their stories, but it's enormously encouraging - and unlikely - to encounter one with such vast financial backing and creative freedom. Heavy Rain won't be for everyone. It will be exciting and intense in places, but it doesn't seek to be "fun" by any traditional gaming yardstick; its controls and gameplay scenarios, though interesting and progressive, are a means to an end.

Its success or failure, overall, is impossible to judge even after so many showcases and miles of copy. But rather like our understanding of the mechanics, there's a sense beginning to crystalise that it may not end up being a game that its audience goes into expecting to be entertained, but something they choose to go into for other reasons that prove to be just as valuable. It's as fascinating a prospect now as the semantics about quick-time events and button-matching are ultimately irrelevant.

Heavy Rain is due out exclusively for PS3 next year.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (95) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Santino #1 2 years ago

    alec baldwin

  • cianchristopher #2 2 years ago

    Boy, that David Cage is a right faggot isn't he? I hope his fucking game tanks!

  • UncleLou #3 2 years ago

    Boy, that David Cage is a right faggot isn't he? I hope his fucking game tanks!

    I like him. He's got passion. Confronted with utter idiots who spout "Dragon's Lair" and similar nonsense, I can understand how it makes him angry. Stupid people can be annoying.

  • jack_klugman #4 2 years ago

    A game might have to be fun, but I don't think "games", with implicit challenge and reward, are necessarily the be all and end all of interactive entertainment. I think this has the potential to be something very new, very interesting and entirely worthwhile. And I admire Cage for going so willfully against convention. Similarly I think cianchristopher's probably a bit rubbish - his valueless comment certainly was.

  • Zebula77 #5 2 years ago

    Whether or not this game manages to earn great review scores, I still think what Cage does is extremely important to the medium. Most games that come out, good or not, are derivative in some way or another. To try to create something entirely new like this, is ambitious and brave. I hope more developers out there have the balls to do similar things.

  • JJrabbit #6 2 years ago

    @disc. Not really. Many things can be interesting, but not fun. A storyline might be interesting, but poor controls stop it from actually being fun to play and to uncover the story. (Not saying HR is one of those). In HR, it seems like a much slower paced game than many. The story but be good, but the pace may not be everyone's cup of tea and, therefore, not fun.

  • Khanivor #7 2 years ago

    At last this game sounds intriguing.

  • woodnotes #8 2 years ago

    Movies are fun and you don't have to do anything when watching those.

    Don't see why this can't be fun in its own way. I'm looking forward to it.

  • dingo75 #9 2 years ago

    That game will tank finacially unfortunately.
    It might me pick up a PS3 in a couple of years though.
    Life's a bitch! :p

  • JahB #10 2 years ago

    Confronted with utter idiots who spout "Dragon's Lair" and similar nonsense,

    we have yet to see if these people are idiots. none of us has played this game yet, and while i want this to be good, there's a big chance that it will be total fail.

    let's reserve the judgments until after release

    edit: -6 for not biting into the hype? lolz
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 14:08

  • Scimarad #11 2 years ago

    I know it is a very impressive achievement and probably an important step for games in general, but I can't help thinking it sounds intensely boring and better suited to another medium. Then again, that's definitely a matter of taste.

    It doesn't help that I thought Fahrenheit was abysmal.

  • wizlon #12 2 years ago

    I am really excited about this, it's not your typical game. It seems more like watching a film where you can choose what happens, and I love films, so I gotta at least like this.

  • TheBard #13 2 years ago

    I played the demo on Gamescom and it really is a whole bunch of QTEs. But good ones.

    You don't have a normal "Button A does this" "Button B does that" control mapping. Only moving around stays the same.

    If you can interact with objects on screen, they have a small icon which tells you which button to press. In the demo on the show floor, which seems to be a different one than shown to the press, the protagonist had some analysing sunglasses available. He would walk around the world with a small "quartercircle right CW" icon next to his head. All the time. If you make a quartercircle with the right thumbstick, he would get his glasses out of the pocket and wear them, giving more options for gameplay like a small "R1" icon hovering next to his right hand, to analyse the environment.

    But if some action happens, stuff you can do also gets a small icon that suddenly appears on screen. And this is no different from a QTE.

    That said, many of the QTEs seem fitting. There are some buttons, like the L1 and R1 buttons, which seem to control the hands in one way or another. But the rest, for me, was guesswork.

    The problem: Having to instant-press "X" oder "Triangle" or whatever, when you have no clue where this button is, because you don't know the controller layout is INFURIATING.

    I have an Xbox, and I never owned a Playstation. But with the reduced price, I'll get a Slim for this game. Yes, it is that

  • RexRunti #14 2 years ago

    On my sliding scale of "hoping for the best"/"expecting the worse" this article has given me enough points to be firmly in the "hoping for the best" side.

    Thinking about it now this game reminds me of that wierd free downloadable game where you go to dinner with friends and your actions decide if they get divorced or not. (Your side of conversations was free text.)

  • cianchristopher #15 2 years ago

    This game is hardly going to be brilliant, now is it? It may be of interest to some, but sales will tank! 6 out of 10!

    It's great that Sony are moving things forward with games like this (though I don't think the finished product will shine), LittleBigPlanet and *cough* Resistance 2 (aka Me Too).

    Just kidding about that last one, that game is the worst piece of shit in existence! But seriously, Media Molecule were talented enough to pull it out of the bag for Sony; these cheese-eating surrender monkeys will do no such thing!

  • paulf #16 2 years ago

    I really want this game to be good, just because it's trying to be different and thats a brave thing

  • Tonka #17 2 years ago

    I just love it when I see someone with a -5 rating. I feel like god when I send them into obscurity with my added -1. I don't even read their posts. I just click that red juicy minus.

    TBH I click it on all comments.

  • schnide #18 2 years ago

    Is it fun? Almost never.

    TADA!

  • SeesThroughAll #19 2 years ago

    Boy, that David Cage is a right faggot isn't he? I hope his fucking game tanks!

    And we thought Nick_whatever was bad!...

  • Bigglesworth #20 2 years ago

    m_personalInterest++;

    Also, I'm suspicious that many of the 'Dragons Lair' shouty-crowd haven't actually played Dragon's Lair...

  • Nova5lag #21 2 years ago

    So are we or are we not pressing X to not die?

  • schnide #22 2 years ago

    I'm still shocked at how many people refuse to see why this isn't going to work.

    Films don't have to be fun but can still be interesting because you are being taken on a journey. You don't know where you'll be taken next by the storyteller which makes the story unpredictable - and predictability isn't interesting OR fun. In games, the more interactivity you have, the more you affect the outcome and thus increase predictability, reducing narrative effect.

    Narrative and interactivity are at opposite ends of a spectrum and merging the two at the same time can only produce a horrible, awkward mess that ends up being neither.

    This is why games have cutscenes, to tell the story, then gameplay segments, where you play the game. You might have long cutscenes with short gameplay (MGS) or short cutscenes with lots of gameplay (Mario) - but you can't do both at the same time.
    Edited by 2 at 28/08/09 @ 14:25

  • septimus #23 2 years ago

    Wow, cianchristopher is an ass. I can't even be bothered to minus your posts. Ignored, everything you type is pointless shit.

    Game looks as though it could be something refreshing. I hope the Press X not to die is kept to a minimum though.

  • JJrabbit #24 2 years ago

    @disc: I agree, but it doesn't work both ways in my opinion. Being interesting, doesn't have to make it fun, but not being interesting cannot be fun. As per my example above, a game with an interesting story can immediately be put on the backshelf with unresponsive controls. But that's just my opinion. Pretty sure there's no hard and fast rule about it :D

    @story: This is the type of game that seems pretty cool. I don't have a PS3, but if I got one, it's probably be for this (after reviews) and uncharted 2 (who needs reviews? :D )

  • ukslim #25 2 years ago

    Films aren't necessarily "fun". Look at something like Antichrist. Pretty much engineered not to be fun. But interesting, and therefore entertaining.

    This game looks crap though ;)

  • Bigglesworth #26 2 years ago

    Films don't have to be fun but can still be interesting because you are being taken on a journey. You don't know where you'll be taken next by the storyteller which makes the story unpredictable - and predictability isn't interesting OR fun. In games, the more interactivity you have, the more you affect the outcome and thus increase predictability, reducing narrative effect.

    Not sure what you're getting at. You're saying that when you played Halflife, or Final Fantasy, or insert-general-story-driven-game-here, you knew exactly what was going to happen all the time and hated every minute?

  • mcwildcard #27 2 years ago

    This is beginning to sound every bit as innovative as Fahrenheit, but on a much larger scale.
    Great piece btw, it really emphasises the underlying properties of the game, I think for the first time I understand what Cage is trying to get at with this.
    Could be one of the very rare breed of genuinely mature games for grown ups.

  • schnide #28 2 years ago

    @bigglesworth

    When you were shooting down a walker in Half Life 2, were you enjoying the challenge of blowing it up, or enjoying what might happen next in the story as you did? My guess is that you enjoyed the challenge, only having the context of the story to surround the gameplay.

    You weren't literally deciding what would happen in the story next by pressing each button, which is what Heavy Rain wants you to do.

    As far as Final Fantasy goes, it breaks down story/gameplay/story/gameplay into pretty much the smallest that each chunk can be and alternates between them, but you're still only either following the story, or engaging in gameplay at any one time. Sure, in some games such as RPGs you do get to make choices, but they rarely affect major story arcs.
    Edited by 2 at 28/08/09 @ 14:34

  • kendoji #29 2 years ago

    It's early days, but if this turns out the way it looks like it will, it will be the first game to make me wish I had a PS3.

  • Bigglesworth #30 2 years ago

    @schnide
    It depends entirely on the type of game. If I were playing Half Life 2, or any other story-driven game, then I play it for enjoyment of the story. If its, say Burnout, then its for the challenge.

    You weren't literally deciding what would happen in the story next by pressing each button, which is what Heavy Rain wants you to do.

    I don't know, I haven't played it. It seems to me like you're essentially micromanaging the characters, making dialogue or manipulative actions, with no way to know how they will effect the big picture. It's not like its asking you to press X for the good ending, Triangle for the bad =)

  • Kenshin001 #31 2 years ago

    Quite surprised by the tone of the article. For some reason I thought Tom had it in for HR. Anyway, it piqued my interest again. There'll be plenty of shooty/racing/hack and slash stuff out for "fun", so something a bit more involved and absorbing but interesting nonetheless will make a nice change of pace.

  • samaran #32 2 years ago

    i've said it before but can someone please ask david cage why all his realistic, down-to-earth characters have to have names like extras in universal soldier

  • groovychainsaw #33 2 years ago

    In response to above if films gain most from unpredictability, how come people watch them more than once? A game has more replayablility than a film due to differences that can come about due to the decisions you make. This is an effort to put more weight on those decisions than there are in most games, and should be applauded.

    That said, I thought that fahrenheit devolved into a complete mess as it went on, and the blatant QTEs in that caused me to miss 90% of what was happening on screen (i have to concentrate on the button prompts, not the action!). Hopefully the button prompts in this are logical and consistent, rather than random, thereby forming a control system, rather than a reflex test (someone else mentioned some consistency with L1 and R1 being standard controls for your hands, which would help). We shall see.

  • schnide #34 2 years ago

    @Bigglesworth

    The Half Life 2 story is hardly remarkable and doesn't feature that heavily. Most of the time, you are playing a first person shooter - it's the way that story is told that's well done.

    It seems to me like you're essentially micromanaging the characters, making dialogue or manipulative actions, with no way to know how they will effect the big picture.

    Agreed. And if you don't know how they will affect the big picture, how can you make a valued decision?

  • Bigglesworth #35 2 years ago

    Agreed. And if you don't know how they will affect the big picture, how can you make a valued decision?

    This is where you lose me =)

  • schnide #36 2 years ago

    In response to above if films gain most from unpredictability, how come people watch them more than once?

    There is a law of diminishing returns here. How many people watch The Sixth Sense again straight after viewing the first time? The first time you do, you get the twist. You then revisit it some time after to master in how it's been told.

    Let's say you get to choose a level of interactivity instead, which is close to what Heavy Rain wants to be. Bruce Willis is standing there just before his wife is about to say something telling. You control whether Willis runs out the door to hear it or not. You choose to leave. You don't find out the dialogue. There's no story.

    Next play, you choose to stay. You choose her dialogue. She says the Bruce Willis character is dead. You get the best possible story that was already told by the film.

    Next play, you choose to her to say the Bruce Willis character isn't dead. You get a dull story. What's the point? A well written, non-interactive narrative chooses the best possible story. Any interactivity just allows you to experience the less exciting alternatives.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 14:52

  • TheComedian #37 2 years ago

    Pretty much the only reason I would consider buying a PS3. But christ, is it a good reason. This has got me seriously tempted.

    Fahrenheit was very over-rated, imo, but this looks like it could be the real deal. The only problem is that, for me, this game will be made by its dialogue - and David Cage isn't a very convincing writer. I know he's got his heart in the right place, but perhaps he should seek more external help for his scripts.

  • Hamflank #38 2 years ago

    Whether this fails or not, I'm delighted to see a developer willing to take a risk, despite the times, and trying to do something totally different.

  • sarcasmoidosis #39 2 years ago

    @schnide

    Movies are "fixed" pieces of art. They take you somewhere and the outcome is set from the beginning. That doesn't mean that the story couldn't have fluctuated one inch during production. Heavy Rain is (I guess) being built just like that. To be able to fluctuate and still be a good story.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 15:02

  • Bigglesworth #40 2 years ago

    @schnide #41
    You're cherry picking arbitrary examples to back up an (apologies) irrelevent argument. There's a name for that sort of logical fallacy but I'm not a master debator.

  • space_ace #41 2 years ago

    it's not dragon's lair, it's space ace :)

  • StooMonster #42 2 years ago

    Does sound intriguing, even though I'm not a fan of QTE; hope they've managed a new take on this old style tech.

    Back in the 1980s I used to have a Space Ace machine in office reception, plus have the whole Don Bluth set of games on DVD in case I ever needed an old skool QTE fix.

  • curtlikesmeat #43 2 years ago

    I see the fanboys are out in force today, any word against this and it's a minus sixteen rating for you!

    (cue ironic negative votes on this post)

  • El-Dev #44 2 years ago

    PS3 Exclusive thread, what a suprise most of the posters own only a 360.

  • UncleLou #45 2 years ago

    Films don't have to be fun but can still be interesting because you are being taken on a journey. You don't know where you'll be taken next by the storyteller which makes the story unpredictable - and predictability isn't interesting OR fun.

    That's not true at all, in my opinion. Unpredictability might be an important factor for some forms of story-telling, but many others do neither have, nor need, unpredictability.

    Quite on the contrary, many novels or films run towards one inevitable ending right from the beginning, and they're all the better for it. Once you've read the first few chapters of Moby Dick, you'll know Captain Ahab will inevitably die, even if you've never heard of the story before.

    It's mostly light entertainment stuff that needs unpredictable twists and turns to create tension. Now you can argue that this is a game and will be exactly that sort of light entertainment, but my general point that predictability rarely is a valid criterion for the quality of a narrative stands.

  • chubster2010 #46 2 years ago

    I'm really looking forward to this - and its good to see that Eurogamer are impressed with it.

  • ronuds #47 2 years ago

    A video game that will live or die based on how good a story it has to tell? Oh boy! :p

  • charming_fox #48 2 years ago

    Games like this, unchartered are making that price-cut PS3 appear very temping, what other games are there to look forward to on PS3 and what have I missed during my 360 only term?

  • Bigglesworth #49 2 years ago

    the overriding thing I took away from that hands-on was "Is it fun? No."

    You cut the quote early, presumably because you thought "Is it interesting? Almost always" wasn't important? It's pretty obvious that a lot of people are willing to accept and even appreciate that difference.

    Look at it another way: there have been a lot of very successful and entertaining movies that you wouldn't necessarily describe as 'fun'.

  • groovychainsaw #50 2 years ago

    QTEs are random button presses where you fail against the clock. A control system is where you have been taught early on what button will do what in a given circumstance and you can anticipate what to do before you are prompted (even context-sensitive action have some repeatability). You don't follow a 'script' of button presses, you have some flexibility. I don't know what this game is going for, but it will have a significant impact on my purchasing decision. I am so bored with QTEs. If I don't press the (randomly assigned, for a QTE) button in time, my char dies - reload. Press it in time the second time. What was the point? Let hope the system works better than that.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 15:30

  • Rorsch #51 2 years ago

    Buying a PS3 just for this game!

  • schnide #52 2 years ago

    @Bigglesworth

    I'm not a master debator.

    You're right on that.

    Wait for the reviews and we'll see who was right on the game.

  • andromeda #53 2 years ago

    hey ! HOW ABOUT THE DiRT REVIEW?? I WANNA SEE THAT SUCKER BURN YEAHHHAWWW

  • Widge #54 2 years ago

    Quite, its not as easily marketable as your yearly sports game of choice iteration or 2010's best ever shoot someone in the face multiplayer game.

    Think back to Ico and the regard that is held in. Didn't it tank on release? Only becoming a must have item once those who loved it screamed "its out of print and now you've missed it you fools!". Could very well be the same scenario.

    Regardless, I'm up for something a bit interesting and different at any time, as long as I get my hands on it and like it, then thats great! I love story driven games anyway, I repeatedly played MGS1 for the joy of the story and the experience. Hoping that this lives up to its promise to spring surprises, alternate branching outcomes and dialogue, for repeat plays.

  • schnide #55 2 years ago

    @Widge

    Putting this anywhere near Ico is a bit of a stretch mate!

  • Bigglesworth #56 2 years ago

    @Ashen-Shugar
    I see what you mean about movies; I wasn't trying to get into semantics though, more so highlighting that you'd happily call, say... 'Ghostbusters' a 'fun' movie, and, oh I don't know, 'Schindler's List' an 'interesting' movie; both are also entertaining.

    Back to games, you *always* have to take yourself out of the immersion in order to press buttons, it's only because QTE inputs are often arbitrary and, yes, essentially 'press X to not die' that they're more jarring than standard controls. I'm just willing to suspend judgement on Heavy Rain's gameplay until it's out.

    @schnide
    Put your handbag away, it's not a competition...

  • RedPanda #57 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • ObiChrisKenobi #58 2 years ago

    Could be the Shenmue 3 we'll never get?

  • RedSparrows #59 2 years ago

    @Disc: I'd find watching an autopsy interesting, but it wouldn't be fun. If I could stomach it.

    Anyway, sounds really quite interesting. This kinda game has to go all out, brilliant everything, or else it failzorrs trying to replicate the simplest of things, like everyday life. It sounds promising.

  • mcwildcard #60 2 years ago

    Don't forget God of War 3

  • schnide #61 2 years ago

    @Bigglesworth

    Handbag away. I'm only debating with you mate. I'm choosing to make points rather than just call your arguments irrelevant, especially when mine are entirely relevant. But these are words on the internet, and it's Friday, so love to you and yours.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 16:40

  • Bigglesworth #62 2 years ago

    @schnide
    Friday-hugs all round =)
    Okay, now that we're friends again, look back at what you said in #41. Essentially you set up a completely new proposal, then explained why playing something like that would be rubbish. Its a straw man argument, sorry =)

    Beer?

  • Goodfella #63 2 years ago

    Pretentious rubbish?

    Get back to your brainless shooters then. I pity society I really do.

  • RedSparrows #64 2 years ago

    Donnie, your world is boring. Given your precedent, you're also saying this in a pseudo-reasonable way simply because you a giant fanboy.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 16:51

  • Miths #65 2 years ago

    "... Back to games, you *always* have to take yourself out of the immersion in order to press buttons, it's only because QTE inputs are often arbitrary and, yes, essentially 'press X to not die' that they're more jarring than standard controls. I'm just willing to suspend judgement on Heavy Rain's gameplay until it's out."

    Same for me - but the implementation of quick time events in this game (and I don't care if they call it something else to try to avoid some of the QTE stigma, the videos I've seen so far with action/fight sequences clearly use what I consider QTEs), could make or break Heavy Rain for me, no matter how great the other elements of the game might turn out to be.
    I really hope I'm just being needlessly pessimistic because everything else but those quick time events pretty much says "day one purchase" to me.

  • El-Dev #66 2 years ago

    @Ashen-Sugar, why bother talking about the game on Eurogamer? Every thread ends up the same, or maybe you haven't noticed. Usually the first post is someone spouting rubbish then the rest of the posts are either defence of this rubbish or someone pointing out that the rubbish is in fact rubbish only to be called a fanboy. I hardly started the pissing contest on this thread, the second post is someone calling the creator a "faggot" and what a shock they own a 360.

    To prove my point look at any article about a PS3 exclusive over the past year and you'll see alot of the same people saying the same things.

    But I will say something about this game to keep you happy.
    I'm happy Sony are investing in new games, unfortunately this one does not appeal to me. Mainly due to my dislike of QTE's, but I do hope it is good so I can give it a try at some point and I may like it.

  • B0MBJ4CK #67 2 years ago

    Regardless of whether it turns out being good or bad....Kudos to Sony for being brave enough to broaden the genres of gaming.
    Its nice to see them pushing games that aren't music peripheral or FPS related.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 17:19

  • schnide #68 2 years ago

    @Bigglesworth

    I'll have that beer mate.

    And over it, you can give me some kind of counter-argument, rather than try and cover up a lack of one with some fashionable terms against mine you read about on the internet.

    Kronenberg if they've got it.

  • Marijn #69 2 years ago

    @ Schnide & Bigglesworth

    Amusing faux civility aside (you must both be British), I think this argument/contest has run its course, no? If not, PM each other or something.

  • schnide #70 2 years ago

    @Ashen-Sugar

    #51 was spot-on mate. Absolutely spot-on. My interpretation is that most of the gaming press agree with us, they just can't say it yet.

  • QotSAfan #71 2 years ago

    "Movies, successful ones anyway, are about immersion and when watching an absorbing movie you lose peripheral vision and other ambient senses. Having to pull yourself out of that immersion to play simon says on a controller is the equivalent of having a soggy dog thrown on your lap."

    Books can generally be considered more immersive than movies and you have to turn a page every twenty seconds!

    Immersion is more to do with getting an audiences sympathy for a character and having a well realised world that they work within. It seems to have worked with Tom here and that is a very good sign for the rest of the game. Im looking forward to it.

  • triple_a #72 2 years ago

    Fahrenheit was good until the script went bad near the end. So if they have a decent script and improve upon the aspects of Fahrenheit that worked, I think this has all the chances to be a good game.

  • Knot #73 2 years ago

    People need to get over themselves in context of the control interface. QTE's exist as much in a game as you let them exist in your mind.
    The essence of the game however, is all about taking decisions ; big & small.

    Fun ? Not in the traditional gaming sense of direct exciting fun, but I think it'll be fun on the long term of the whole gameplay time span ; because you will be able to see the consequences of your decisions in later stages of the game.

    In real life, your direct decisions might not have direct impact either, but perhaps a small decision now, might have a huge impact later in life. That, is what I think, this game will show people, and thus that is FUN to see how 'life-changing' decisions, change the course of the game character's life. The Origami killer context only adds an suspense ful layer on top of this innovative concept.
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 19:10

  • UncleLou #74 2 years ago

    " like it or not gaming is a money driven industry and pumping money and dev time into pretentious rubbish like heavy rain is a stupid decision.( IMO) if its your cup of tea though far enough but most will avoid the game"

    So, Wii Sports, World of Warcraft, Modern Warfare. Welcome to your world.

  • djed #75 2 years ago

    I sure hope the actual game isn't as predictable and presumptuous as this comments thread has become.

  • Sunyavadin #76 2 years ago

    It's not sounding so much like Dragon's Lair to me, more like Shenmue.... I see this as working out badly for them.

  • Rodchenko #77 2 years ago

    Thanks djed. I just wrote a lengthy reply on schnide's first post on why I think that predictability/unpredictabilty has no effect whatsoever on the quality and narrative (or lack thereof) of either a movie or a game, but you are perfectly right of course. Let's just wait and see how the whole thing roles out.

  • kgthatsme #78 2 years ago

    Nothing i've ever read about this game has made me think its vastly different from the previous Farenheit (Indigo Prophecies).
    -That game was a dissapointment to me as far as the (non-existant) gameplay, it seems to be an afterthought to the story, a change I suppose.....

  • makeamazing #79 2 years ago

    @Donnie this might not be a massive Halo type seller, but this is why many people like Sony, because they try to do something different from some of their exclusives. I for one am glad that Sony make a few game exclusives that are different... I dont want all of their exclusives to be games that all of the normal 3rd party companies are making, what is the point of that :D. Yes Sony are making Racing (GT) or FPS (KZ2), but they are also trying these different games.

    Ive not been this interested in a storyled adventure type game since Blade Runner on the PC many years ago.

  • UncleLou #80 2 years ago

    my feelings about heavy rain,which i feel is a bad investment by sony and will not sell due to it only appealing to a minority of gamers

    Why do you even care? I don't get it. You somehow confuse Sony's commercial success with whether the game looks interesting or not. And what's your solution, anyway? Should Cage and his team develop an alternative to Wii Sports? Are you seriously suggesting everyone should just do what the absolute majority might be interested in? What an absolute nightmare.

    Do you also exclusively watch Hollywood blockbusters, and only listen to the top 5 albums in the music charts? Only read Dan Brown?
    Edited by 1 at 28/08/09 @ 22:56

  • mkreku #81 2 years ago

    I don't understand people. This is the most interesting game I've ever seen on the Playstation 3, and I really wish they would make it available on other platforms too. Personally, I can't wait to find out what happens with the Origami Killer and the people involved.

  • mowgli #82 2 years ago

    Eek, didn't do much to weaken my concerns. I hope this turns out to be good as with the exception of the family bits it looks to be a very stylish adventure. But the fact that there appears to be very little actual control or interaction has me worried, especially as the graphics and voice acting don't appear good enough to make up for this.

    I hope it turns out good, and I'm sure it will be interesting but from what I have seen so far I can't help but feel my time would be better spent watching an episode of CSI and using the sky remote to pause, rewind and zoom in.

  • VMerken #83 2 years ago

    I stand by my original opinion: if this game can keep the momentum going from start to finish, it'll be great. If it devolves halfway into a ridiculous plot interspersed with QTE sequences which are completely unintuitive and absurdly long (e.g. Fahrenheit apartment sequence), I won't be touching it.

    Quantic has the potential, it is up to them to learn from Fahrenheit's obvious gameplay mistakes and not do them in Heavy Rain.

  • organica #84 2 years ago

    If nothing else, this sounds original and refreshing. I'm looking forward to trying it out - even if new styles don't exactly work they're always worth a look. Mirror's Edge being a prime example of that. And frankly it's about damn time we had something new in the endless mix of FPS/MMO/RTS/Whatever.

    It does sound like complete Marmite though, evidentally even before release as indicated by the contents of this thread...

  • ILOVEU #85 2 years ago

    Sorry but this game just looks like Farenheit 2, the original being an ok but not outstanding interactive movie that heavily ripped off Shenmue's occasional QTE's and made an entire game based out of them. I don't expect this game to be any different. All this game shows is that Sony's marketing machine is totally out of control and we are just been ordered we have to like this game because its their exclusive and if we don't then it might flop and Sony would lose even more money and we can't have that cause it would be bad for Sony so WE MUST LIKE IT AND BUY 10 COPIES EACH!!!!

    And if people think I'm just a Sony hater, I own a PS3 and am slagging them off because I am sick of been ordered to like a succession of crap, Sony produced games ranging from the dire Heavenly Sword, to the grossly poor man's Tomb Raider of the overated Uncharted, to the cute but pointless Little Big Planet. Why can't Sony actually spend mutli-millions on games that are actually good? Do they not have any quality control?

    And if people think this just applies to Sony, I'm sick of Microsoft and Nintendo too as they're all pretty much the same. All of them order their rabid fanboys to like something and no matter how pants it actually is we have to pretend its good. To me, heavily hyped in house exclusives are become another word for crap.

  • makeamazing #86 2 years ago

    Uncharted is great and LBP provided lots of entertainment for both me and the kids. I think there is enough people who agree to show you are a minority...

    In fact reading your post saying your sick of Nintendo and MS too, sounds like you need to find a new hobby as this one doesnt seem to agree with you at all. I think there are things for all gamers to find something they enjoy in one of those three platforms... so perhaps go and do knitting or something as a hobby instead.

  • dominalien #87 2 years ago

    This is the first of the "ambitious" Sony games which I personally find interesting. Flow, Flower, LBP, etc did not manage to entice me. I need a story, doesn't even have to be particularly good, to draw me along. This seems to have plenty. Someone mentioned Blade Runner; an apt comparison, I think. Although I didn't like it very much. :-(

    Someone else said they hope it sells enough for them to make HR2. I say I hope it sells enough for them to continue risking money on such endeavours.

  • Lamont #88 2 years ago

    Good movies actually have good writing and acting, both are awful in this. You can choose to plod through a bunch of horribly acted and clumsily written sequences - oh goody.

  • HeinzHarald #89 2 years ago

    Heavy Rain makes me proud to be a gamer. It's a bold game that truly tries to expand what games can be and do. This is exactly what we need for games to mature as a medium.

    I will buy and try Heavy Rain day 1 no matter the reviews, this is something I feel I must experience for myself and an initiative I must support (if only to do what I can to ensure that Cage continues to probe the borders of known gaming, should this kind not work out at all).
    Edited by 2 at 30/08/09 @ 16:42

  • DjFlex52 #90 2 years ago

    It's the same old story for the most part with Sony loyals...If Sony publishes a game it's original, interesting and/or innovative. If Microsoft publishes a game, the excuse is that it's unoriginal, copied from another company's ideas or MS bought the company & game.

    Heavy Rain is not bold or original. It's just like Fahrenheit, copies Shenmue and Sony bought the rights or else it would be on PC just as Fahrenheit was. Please remove the rose-tinted glasses. And that's not saying this game couldn't be a fun and enjoyable game, though.

  • jjolley #91 2 years ago

    It's interesting that a poster here mentioned Facade. That game had issues related to input because it attempted to do natural language processing and failed in my view at least. As a story, it was difficult to really empathise with it, purely because there was such a time restrictive method of interacting. Heavy Rain may suffer from this, but i'm hoping not.

  • M_of_the_sys #92 2 years ago

    It's the same old story for the most part with Sony loyals...If Sony publishes a game it's original, interesting and/or innovative. If Microsoft publishes a game, the excuse is that it's unoriginal, copied from another company's ideas or MS bought the company & game.

    The door swings both ways. Both PS3 and 360 fanboys do it. Try your best to ignore them.
    Most games are unoriginal but that doesn't stop them being enjoyable. I loved Fahrenheit and am looking forward to this. I'm not hailing it as a work of art yet. I'll wait until it comes out but it certainly looks interesting. Dunno if I can be arsed baby sitting a kid in a game though.

  • supermaxio #93 2 years ago

    hmmm. not sure whether i would be worrying about the amount of fun. problem for me would be the fact that the tech might not be completely ready for this kind of a step. the closer you get to creating total realism, the more atttention is drawn to the little problems. seems to me like modern graphics are capable of succesfully evoking most anything at all, except for genuinely convincing facial expressions. i reckon that this game would benefit from a different approach to the 'art' style or something, to lose that slightly uncanny blank stare thing and deflect the inevitable comparison to film. all the gameplay footage i have seen of this game is a bit creepy, so far.

    kind of reminds me of an old point and click otherwise, bit like the blade runner game (as i remember it)

  • Martin #94 2 years ago

    Grrr, would've loved for this one to show up on the 360. :(

  • rayk2099 #95 2 years ago

    Thank you, Tom.