Comments on: Heavy Rain

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:48:30 +0000

Well, they can be done. But they read like “This game has five levels. It runs at 1920×1080 resolution. The music is encoded with the MP3 codec.” They’re useless. In practice, demanding more objectivity is usually just the polite way of saying “I disagree with what you said, and also you smell.”

By: qrter

qrter — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:40:57 +0000

I love that there are still people who harbour the illusion that something like an objective review exists.

By: Bret

Bret — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:45:19 +0000

I can see it now.

Jack Bauer kills a terrorist…

and then tortures his ghost for information.

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:51:26 +0000

I’d probably start watching 24 again if Jack Bauer did develop psychic powers.. or if he started getting beaten up by a ghost kid.

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 14:19:05 +0000

Not at all. It’s a question of suspension of disbelief. As I said very clearly, the problem with the magic goggles isn’t the idea behind them, but that they don’t fit in the Heavy Rain world. They’re from some cyberpunk game, not a gritty modern day (near as damn it) psychodrama, especially with what happens in one of Norman’s endings. It’s as jarring to me as if Jack Bauer suddenly developed psychic powers or Philip Marlowe decided to summon Satan to get the skinny on a crimescene. Ironically, it’s jarring specifically because there aren’t enough of them. If there was other evidence of these wacky units around, or other overt demonstrations of similar technology – like Madison having an AI on her phone or similar – it’d have been fine. Context is everything. As it was, I half expected the twist to be that they were just sunglasses and he was actually hallucinating the Matrix stuff due to too much tripto exposure or similar.

As for the rest: there are plenty of breaks from reality that are just fine, like the mood-detecting machine in Ethan’s shrink’s office or Ethan himself still being able to move around after the stuff in the Trials. I’d even go so far as to say that things like Shelby’s magic cameras, or the abandoned power station still actually working are okay because of the purpose they serve, even though they are clearly a bit silly if you think about them for a few seconds. If your boundaries are different, well, fair enough. It’s a subjective call. The most I can do is explain my reasoning so that people can decide for themselves if they agree.

By: Tero

Tero — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:53:58 +0000

Guess you are the type who goes to movies to complain about how unrealistic everything is and think that all tv should be documentary.

U lost me when u started dissing those VR goggles or whatever they are. That’s your personal preference, so it kinda waters the whole review.

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:25:03 +0000

Completely random thing I was going to call out: I really liked that Heavy Rain’s characters actually put on and take off clothes instead of just pinging between states. It’s not necessarily great animation (the cloth is clearly rigid) but at least they try, which is more than almost anyone else ever does.

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:19:51 +0000

The real-time decisions were the best, they we also done in much the same way back on the PSone in Resident Evil 3. Also if you failed the QTE or surrendered you are left wondering where Ethan got a taxi from.

The QTE action is the best I have seen yet. I saw the system’s potential in Fahrenheit as it lets the game surprise you without haveing to first give you a tutorial on how to survive the thing that isn’t going to be a surprise anymore. I thought the shotgun Vs pistol gunfight in the murder trial was particularly good.

Bottom line though: I am very pleased it has sold so well. Hopefully that will encourage publishers to be more receptive to less combat-oriented games.

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:48:50 +0000

Yes, I agree. With the exception of the occasional pathing, which I think it does pretty well, it’s gaming as Hollywood would love it to be – locked down, controllable, completely subject to easily manageable storyboards and emotional arcs. HERE you laugh. THEN you sigh. NOW you cry. I do give it credit for the bits where it changes that though, notably the Surrender/Jump scene. I really liked that both options were a real-time choice with you still pumped from the QTE, and neither was the ‘right’ option.

I wanted more stuff like that.

As for the rest, yeah, I really wanted more game stuff, like the fingerprint-cleaning puzzle, or rewards for remembering important details being a bit more involved than the game handing over a trophy. The combat QTEs are very effective though, and I never thought I’d say that about one of them.

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:40:54 +0000

I agree with all you criticisims and praise for the game but the biggest problem for me was that for an interactive drama an awful lot of the drama still happens in the cutscenes which bookend every scene. I just didn’t feel like I was actually in control.

For example, the cop doesn’t like Jayden so I decide to play it as professionally as possible and not give him anything to use against me. Next scene he kicks in a suspect’s door and Jayden says, “Is that legal?” Of course it isn’t you nonce! Might as well make Gordon Freeman accidentally shoot Barney in a cutscene.

Then there is Ethan, who buys his son a baloon after he wanders off in a mall instead of doing anything to stop it happening again. Then when it does immediately happen again I am forced to pay the clown delaying my attempts to look after my child.

Far too often you are the one turning the ignition and applying the gas but you don’t get to decide where you are going.