Unfortunately I can’t take my own screenshots of this one. It’s sad, but I’d play more console games if I could screencap them more easily.
Ah, Heavy Rain. One of the most story-heavy games in recent years. Arguably the most cinematic game ever made. An incredibly ambitious attempt to take the world of adventure gaming into two new, largely unexplored countries: AAA console action and psychological drama. I applaud the effort. I really hope we see more games follow in its footsteps.
Bit of a shame it’s not very good, really.
In terms of atmosphere and visuals, I really have no complaints. It looks great. It sounds… okay… even if some of the voices are distinctly clunky. There are some absolutely phenomenal set-pieces, most of which speak for themselves. The opening scene of our lead character, Ethan, desperately pushing through the crowds at a mall in search of his lost son is genuinely heartwrenching. The rain splashing down on the city lends it phenomenal ambience. Many of the individual scenes and moments are truly inspired, not least because of the choices you get. Talk down the gunman or just shoot him? Surrender or fall to your death? Chop off a finger in the name of saving your son, or take the door marked ‘Coward’ and face the consequences? Individually, there are some superb scenes, brilliant fights, and even a few genuinely difficult choices (although not as many as I wanted) that force you to make snap decisions with long-term ramifications. And yet…
For all the people involved with Heavy Rain’s creation, one more staffer was desperately needed: someone looking at the story from outside, with the power to slash the script into pieces with a big red pen. Tonally, it’s a complete mess. The gimmicks badly hurt the action. The story may have cost millions and millions to put together, but it’s broken in so many ways that there’s really no excuse for someone not to have caught. Ultimately, I ended up very disappointed with it.
Don’t worry, I’ll flag up the part of this write-up where big spoilers begin (although assume that the comments will be open-season), but just to be extra safe, here’s the jump.
Moderate spoilers and no bitching about QTEs ahead…
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“He was dead. Dead like his carpet was ugly. Very, very dead. And covered in weird stains I chose not to investigate.”
Looking back over adventure history, something that’s always stood out for me is how few detective games there are. Let me clarify before you start listing them. Yes, Cruise For A Corpse, Max Payne, Heavy Rain, Emerald City Confidential, Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes, Tex Murphy, Nightlong, Blade Runner… there’s definitely no shortage of games where you play a detective character, but very few that focus on actually investigating things. For the most part, you simply solve the puzzles in front of you and eventually the plot is explained, the villain cornered. You don’t really investigate the case any more than you really learn how to cast fireballs in D&D.
The main reason for this is that while mysteries are fun to solve, not solving them is a different matter, and few of us have a Holmes level intellect. Going to all that work and effort only to be told “Wrong!” or worse, “Maybe…” wouldn’t be remotely satisfying. There are ways around that (if I was making an episodic adventure series, I’d almost certainly be looking at a detective style affair merging the existence of online communities and the small-scale nature of the classic stories) but never anything that’s really nailed the experience I want out of a proper investigation.
Individually though, games have served up all the pieces. The Last Express nailed the small-scale design and highly effective real-time element. Roberta Williams’ The Colonel’s Bequest and its sequel, The Dagger of Amon Ra handed the investigative reigns over entirely, ending on a quiz that tested your observational skills and determined how good the ending you got was. And then there’s Private Eye, a 1996 adventure with one genuinely clever idea that really deserves to be stolen…
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The Lynx Effect. Sometimes it bites back.
Game: Jack Keane
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Nothing adds a bit of spark to a game like a quick musical number. A comic song is often a game’s funniest, most memorable moment – a spooky vocal track the most haunting bit of sound. In the first of this irregular series, let’s take a look at ten interesting ones from the world of adventure games. Not a Best Of, not a comprehensive look, just a random pick of interesting tunes, served up courtesy of YouTube. Let its name be praised.
#1) The War Song – Sam and Max
Jared Emerson-Johnson’s music is one of my favourite things about Telltale Games’ episodic adventures, and never more so than when a musical number kicks off. Just listen to the fantastic You And Me And Ted E. Bear about how the Mafia is definitely, absolutely not involved with the city’s casino, or the soft World of Max that plays out as the main characters happily travel the world punching people in the face. I really want a full-musical episode of Sam and Max in the next series, though I’m not holding my breath because that would probably kill the writing team stone dead.
At least we’ve got The War Song. This was originally intended as a quick sequence… just a few funny lines… but got quite badly out of control when Jared wrote a full showtune instead, resulting in this hastily but wonderfully choreographed song and dance number. We join our heroes in the Oval Office of the White House as they manipulate America into a war for their own benefit. You think they’ve been looking forward to it a little too much? Their bloodlust is our gain.
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“Sorry, Captain. Starfleet protocol demands we humour the Klingons.”
Game: Star Trek Online
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