Molyneux is big fan of Heavy Rain

By Ellie Gibson Published 17 March, 2010

Reckons it's "the future of videogames".

Never mind Fable III - Peter Molyneux thinks PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain is where it's at when it comes to next-gen entertainment.

"I recommend anyone who wants to start to see the first glimpses of the future of videogames to go out and buy it," he told Joystiq, adding that he reckons Heavy Rain is "absolutely brilliant".

"Personally, I could not bring myself to play more than 90 minutes, because the world that was there was so dark and so emotionally involving I felt emotionally beaten up," Molyneux said.

"But there's no question in my mind that games like Heavy Rain - games that have a new fidelity in the way that they present their experiences, obviously made with cinematography and motion capture in mind - can really show the way forward to a new form of entertainment, which is evolving the story and choices and consequences."

Molyneux said he takes his hat off to Quantic Dream, not least because of the "revolutionary" nature of Heavy Rain and its use of quick-time events.

"Us designers were just laughing because we thought quick-time was dead, but that really was part of the drama of Heavy Rain," he stated.

Molyneux isn't the only one who's a fan of Cage David's opus - read Tom's review to find out why he reckons it's a 9/10.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (45) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • Slipstream #1 2 years ago

    Quick time dead? Never! When done right it's a perfectly viable gameplay mechanic, I thought Shenmue and God of War had shown this before hand.

    Heavy Rain takes QTEs to the next level; slicing Pizza, feeding a baby, making an omelette, oh and of course epic action scenes.

  • ryandsimmons #2 2 years ago

    He loves it but he can't play more than 90 minutes?

  • RobotRocker #3 2 years ago

    Heavy Rain takes QTEs to the next level; slicing Pizza, feeding a baby, making an omelette, oh and of course epic action scenes.

    You forgot having to Press X to Jason

    [link url=http://www.heavy.com/post/press-x-to-jason-the-game-4539
    ]http://ww w.heavy.com/post/press-x-to-jas...[/link]

    ~Innovation~

  • woodnotes #4 2 years ago

    Heavy Rain was a great experience. I felt Heavy Rain's decision to stick in the "real world" (well, apart from those fancy glasses) made a nice change from the norm. But if it's the future of videogames then I might just stick to watching movies instead. It was great as a one-off, fresh, innovative game but by the end I wanted to go back and play something meatier with more skilful gameplay in it.

    I'm now playing through Mass Effect 2 and that's a perfect example of matching a perfect balance of action, gameplay and story while still giving you the freedom to make decisions which affect the game's outcome.

  • LR100 #5 2 years ago

    He didn't even finish it!

  • levitate #6 2 years ago

    That's like playing an MMO for 30 minutes and giving it a low score... oh wait!

  • Phishfood #7 2 years ago

    Hopefully this means Fable 3 will be a better game.

  • Zomoniac #8 2 years ago

    He only played 90 minutes?? But the first hour was reaaaaally boring. And I think Heavy Rain's the game of the generation.

  • Stuz359 #9 2 years ago

    Heavy Rain is a great game, but I find it ironic that games like Monkey Island did the whole 'interactive movie' thing a lot better 20 years ago.

  • Zomoniac #10 2 years ago

    Heavy Rain is a great game, but I find it ironic that games like Monkey Island did the whole 'interactive movie' thing a lot better 20 years ago.

    They have some similar elements but it's not really fair to compare them. Monkey Island didn't present you with many genuinely emotionally distressing decisions.

  • Cpt_McOneball #11 2 years ago

    @Those complaining he only played half an hour

    How is that a problem? Unless the game gets progressively worse as you play through it (which it doesn't).

  • ryandsimmons #12 2 years ago

    I'm complaining as generally if I like a game I'll actually play it a fair bit. I am a big fan of Molyneux, but he doesn't really come across well here. It would make more sense if he said "I am a big fan of what they did" or "I applaud the innovation." Saying he couldn't bring himself to play seems to undermine his statement that he loves it. And it doesn't reflect well that he thinks that games you can't play for more than 90 minutes are the future when he geneally works hard to make games more accessible and welcoming.

    For what it worth I do think that Heavy Rain was an awesome game, and hence thats why I completed it.

  • lennon #13 2 years ago

    Loved Heavy Rain. I pray that it is not the future of gaming though.

  • altitude2k #14 2 years ago

    I'd be happy to have a bit of the Heavy Rain style stuff using Natal in place of cut scenes. But I'm not a fan of the idea of a whole game based on that idea.

  • ignatiusjreilly #15 2 years ago

    Isn't the future of gaming going to be a wide range of different styles of games, including Heavy Rain's movie/game hybrid? That's my prediction.

  • HermitArcader #16 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Widge #17 2 years ago

    I love Heavy Rain, but "Press X to Jason" is one of the best phrases ever!

  • Murton #18 2 years ago

    The problem here is that the phrase "the future of..." is bandied about way too much and has lost all of its meaning. The future of videogames clearly covers many many genres, I think what Molyneux means to say is that games like Heavy Rain have a very solid future ahead of them while other, more mainstream games are starting to look a little stale and as such will likely see less growth by comparison.

    I do agree with people's criticism of his comments though. Saying that he loves the game when he's only played the first 90 minutes seems a bit off. What makes Heavy Rain so good is the depth of the characters, characters that after 90 minutes he barely knows at all. If he truly loves it after 90 minutes I can't imagine what his opinion would be after playing it all the way.

  • metalangel #19 2 years ago

    So the future of gaming is cutscenes and QTEs? Molyneux seems to forget the "interactive movies" plague of the mid 90s, which coincidentally was when he produced some of his best stuff.

  • Atropos #20 2 years ago

    Ok, I loved Heavy Rain, but all this "the first truly branching interactive story" is getting me annoyed. Three words: The Colonel's Bequest. There, I said it. Can open, worms everywhere.

  • RobotRocker #21 2 years ago

    The only good thing about Heavy Rain will be if it convinces Sega to fund Shenmue 3. Truth.

  • welshben23 #22 2 years ago

    @Cpt_McOneball - What school did you go to? Half an hour?

  • RumpyStumpy #23 2 years ago

    I thought I would show my wife Heavy Rain when I picked it up.

    Now she can't wait for me to get home from work and insists I play it. She was most upset when I said I was watching the football last night. This might be the game to finally convince her that my hobby is worthwhile and not for stupid nerds!

    Although I think it is my Star Trek - The next generation and Buffy the Vampire Slayer collection that confirms her fears!

  • Bigglesworth #24 2 years ago

    @ryandsimmons
    No offence but I think you're just misunderstanding his sentiment.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #25 2 years ago

    I don't know about you lot but sometimes I actually like to test my hand to eye co-ordination, my reflexes, my puzzle solving abilities and my tactical skills. Strip the story out of HR and there's not a lot of game left. Great story it may be. Emotional? Yes. But I don't want this type of game to be the 'way forward'.

    I don't see why games like Monkey Island 2, Modern Warfare and StarCraft can't be emotional and involving while at least keeping 'proper' gameplay mechanics. Improving conventional games with decent storys, well wrtten dialog, involving settings and engaging characters like Heavy Rain is the way forward surely?

  • altitude2k #26 2 years ago

    @SpaceMidget75

    As I said before, use Natal or even Move to get you more emotionally involved in the cut scenes. Leave the main gameplay control down to the pad.

  • Unknown27 #27 2 years ago

    Have to jump in on this one as there's nothing wrong with the whole 90 minute statement. Everyone seems to be missing the end of the comment which explains why he only played for 90 minutes: " ...because the world that was there was so dark and so emotionally involving I felt emotionally beaten up,".

    What that says to me is that he feels the devs have acheived what they set out to do (create an "emotionally involving" experience) so well that it overwhelms him. I loved Dead Space but could only play it for about 15 - 30 minutes at a time cos it scared the crap out of me, which is exactly what it was designed to do.

  • Skooch #28 2 years ago

    We should appreciate an MS employee showing his appreciation for a PS3 exclusive title, doesn't happen very often.

    As for Heavy Rain, I haven't played it, but I question whether gamers do actually want emotionally draining games. Many of us have enough stress in our lives that games are often a way out or time off - I'm not sure I want to start feeling drained after playing a game.

  • Yossarian #29 2 years ago

    (Retarded) birds of a gaming design feather flock together, I guess.

  • GamesConnoisseur #30 2 years ago

    How about some equal chummy loving from any PS employee or Sony's third party for MS games?

    Still seriously would have loved to see more maturity in cross platform recognitions or support, such as Bungie assisting with Uncharted 2's MP be made more public and hopefully lessen the silly console wars attritions!

  • makeamazing #31 2 years ago

    I really enjoyed HR, and would get HR2 on day one no doubt. Theres alot of room for improvement, more scope of things you can do, more variations (going through the endings trophy and its great but very linear).

    As for PM's comments, i wonder if this is the start of MS trying to get a relationship with QD, recently i read how DC was not sure about the next product OR platform... interesting stuff.

    Hopefully Sony at least pay them to do HR2
    Edited by 1 at 17/03/10 @ 12:55

  • Timbercottage #32 2 years ago

    That's the first sensible thing he's said all year

  • frunk #33 2 years ago

    Who is PM working for these days...

    "Heavy Rain" is "future of video games"
    "PS Move" is for the more hard core gamer.

    OK Pete... I get it... buy a PS3 :)

    Bless his cotton socks - I can see him having a hard time when he has to report back to HQ for "reconditioning".

  • kangarootoo #34 2 years ago

    @ryandsimmons

    "Saying he couldn't bring himself to play seems to undermine his statement that he loves it"

    No it doesn't. He said he could only play 30 mins because he found it emotionally taxing.

    I found the same thing with Silent Hill 2 as it happens. I could play for more than 30 mins, but everyso often I just needed a break. Same for Burnout 3. I loved that too, but the adrenalise was too much without a break after every set of races.


    I think you are deliberately misunderstanding him, 'cos what he said is pretty straight forward. I also think that playing games in short bursts IS the behaviour of the wider audiences. A game that you have to play for 90 minutes straight isn't going to open the hobby up to a wider audience - quite the opposite (imagine if all TV programmes were film length - viewing figures would plunge).

  • patchbox360 #35 2 years ago

    is it even possible to define the future of gaming?

  • kangarootoo #36 2 years ago

    @patchbox360

    Yeah, its a bit of a pointless statement really isn't it.

    Was Lord of the Rings the future of fiction novels? Was The Piano the future of films?

    The future of games will still include FPS games and driving sims and whatever else you can imagine. Heavy Rain might mean there are a few more story driven adventures, but its not like the landscape is going to change.

  • ronuds #37 2 years ago

    Yeah, I'm sure plenty of people liked HR. But if that's the future of gaming - I'm out!

  • miiiguel #38 2 years ago

    is it even possible to define the future of gaming?

    I have to quote this patch dude, when for about a year he only posted this in every single thread: Killzone 2.

  • old_skool #39 2 years ago

    Have to jump in on this one as there's nothing wrong with the whole 90 minute statement. Everyone seems to be missing the end of the comment which explains why he only played for 90 minutes: " ...because the world that was there was so dark and so emotionally involving I felt emotionally beaten up,".

    What that says to me is that he feels the devs have acheived what they set out to do (create an "emotionally involving" experience) so well that it overwhelms him. I loved Dead Space but could only play it for about 15 - 30 minutes at a time cos it scared the crap out of me, which is exactly what it was designed to do.


    The first Silent Hill did that to me. I showed the game to a friend , I was playing and he was watching, after 5 minutes he begged me to put it off, he was scared shiteless.

  • HerbertLom #40 2 years ago

    Oh come on! He couldn't continue cos he fealt emotionally beaten up, piss off! it's a really good game, but there's seriously something wrong if Heavy Rain affects you so much that after 90 minutes your not able to play anymore. Watch the film ' Reqium for a dream' if you want to really be emotionally beaten up. And as for some people having to turn off Dark space cos it scared the crap out of em, give me a break! How old are you six? Come on, hit that minus you molyneux fanboys, and don't forget to finish your homework.
    Edited by 1 at 17/03/10 @ 18:05

  • Lamb #41 2 years ago

    @ Kangarootoo

    Was shooting behind a blue lense the future? :p

    How about Michael J. Fox, Back to the Future IV, a video game? A movie? They made Indy 4 and Ghostbusters.

  • smelly #42 2 years ago

    Well if it's the future of GAMES then i find that quite depressing.

  • vizzini #43 2 years ago

    The demo, played through with the different outcomes and difficulties is probably 90mins of gaming; maybe Peter just owns the console & PSN account, not the game. It is definitely a good sign that he can compliment rival platform exclusives.

    It would be quite nice, if Jack Trenton said he's a big Virtua Fighter fan, and has moved from VF5b to VF5c on the 360 in the last 12months. And held it up as his future of competitive gaming.

    I do wonder if the success of Heavy Rain has persuade Microsoft to fund the next Shenmue game(that Sega is apparently offering as an exclusive for cash) or the next Quantic Dream project.

    Although I remember reading an interview with David Cage somewhere before the Heavy Rain launch, that it will definitely not be getting a sequel; or was it that he & QD definitely wouldn't be doing a sequel.

  • des #44 2 years ago

    Why am i not surprised...

  • Grayvern #45 2 years ago

    Heavy rain is a good game yes. It is the future perhaps in having every character be consistently better than those in most games.

    It may show show a future where characterisation and story are better in games that specifically aim for those things. But you cant help feeling that the only reason its getting praised for its story is awareness of its existancedue to hype, and the real world setting. By people who would ignore the relevance of Mass Effect 1 and 2 because they're sci fi. And many CRPG's over the ages because they are RPG's.

    Its kinda scary when a gameplay reductionist like moleneux appears and says he likes it. Because you just know its the simplicity of play he likes not the branching story. And no i don't think Heavy Rain was one long qte I thought the button combos were quite well done and did increase dramatic tension.

    This kind of interactive movie/ game hybrid does have a place but people would do well to remember it is far from the be all and end all of storytelling in interactive entertainment.