Heavy Rain - Page 2

I'm not sure anyone likes QTEs, but i'm pretty sure in this case they're the only way to get across the choices your character can make - especially since the developers on this have always been into making it a cinematic experience.

QTE allows your character to do something they wouldn't be able to do with a conventional control scheme - but it's definitely all about how they use it, and these guys have at least attempted to mix up the use of QTEs - the dialogue choice selection for example in Farenheit were certainly unique (and possibly frustrating).

I'm not defending it, I think it's lazy and leads to the same action every time - but I think the point here is that it won't lead to the same action every time because you have multiple choices.

Or maybe you're right, and it'll be one long QTE. These guys made a game where half of it was better than anything else done that generation for the genre, whilst the second half was merely cliche. They've got a good track record.

Worse than the QTE's though is this concept that (one of) your character(s) has both these ridiculous ARI glasses/glove and an addiction to some random made-up drug that if you don't correctly slyly take all the time will make trying to perform any kind of QTE even worse.

Huh? I can't think of any situation that fits this description. When are QTEs necessary?

Making a choice in a cutscene seems like the obvious one?

Cutscenes are necessary?

Something interesting from a TotalPlaystation article:

They present a lot of possibilities and it will be interesting to see how much branching there really is and how much earlier actions actually affect what happens later? It's easy to hypothesize greatness or fear Night Trap-style gameplay but I'm sure the actual result will be somewhere more in-between.

I'll concede that this will be a love it or hate it thing for a lot of people.

How did the graphics go from photo realistic (woman investigating the house) to what we are seeing here?

It's safe to say from the amount of shower scenes or shots of them in their underwear that the developers put more effort into the female characters - probably more render cycles and attention to detail.

Whilst I LOVE The Nomad Soul, and found Indigo Prophecy (Farenheit) to be a fascinating failure there's something about the way they're SELLING this game that infuriates me. I hate people who go on about restructuring paradigms and shit like that.

It usually sounds Poochie-ish and snake oily when people trumpet "paradigm shifts" and "game changers," but I typically agree with the laundry list of complaints they trot out. Too many clones, and not enough innovators. I'm afraid that QTEs aren't the answer to the problems they cite.

Considering the first two thirds of indigo prophecy worked pretty great with what seems like a fairly identical mechanic, I'm not sure how someone could be so work upped about the gameplay in this one. Indigo Prophecy, atrocious ending sections aside, was a pretty fresh, remarkable game.

Measured reply over, now for the emotional: WTF was that shit on the main page?

I thought this sounded horrible, but it seems the developer was expecting this reaction. Apparently you can choose not to take the drug and gradually reduce your addiction over the course of the game (which i'd assume eventually gives you higher clarity)

I think it's time people stop jumping to conclusions about this title and rethink just how these things could play out. QTEs have always been associated with awful, rapid-reflex events that mostly lead to failure and replay - which doesn't seem to be the case here, in fact the video itself says they're not big fans of the "game over" sequence because it's frustrating.

Regarding the ARI glasses

(Eurogamer)

That doesn't sound ridiculous at all.

Turns out what people having been playing is in the Alpha phase - it's not had remotely any real finishing touches applied yet, it's about letting people play it early doors for promotional reasons.

EDIT:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/he...ands-on?page=1

You should all probably read this in case you haven't. It's a really, really solid hands-on.

I don't think it's jumping to conclusions to think that the inclusion of a ridiculous high-tech clue detection system seems to break a lot of the realism (emotional or otherwise) that they're going for.

There are plenty of ways to explain some sort of 'clue view' that don't involve having to make the character wear a ridiculous glove and glasses. Seriously, the guy has POLLEN VIEW.

I wonder if it's possible to wipe your ass with messageboard outrage.

From what we've seen so far, from the meatpupetty characters, to the quasi-retarded dialogue, to the insufferable QTEs, I can't believe how anyone could be anything but turned off by this. Dumb, interactive cinematics are apparently a mainstay of games now, but this looks like a perfect storm of plague feces.

There are visual sensors for pollen in existance right now - does that break the realism?

It's the oddest thing to lay criticism at, since it's visualising the senses you lack whilst playing the game.

It's also an excuse to include a high-tech fancy-looking GUI - something that'd look great in screenshots, promotional material and make in-game detective work a little interesting to look at (i'd prefer it to a scratch n' sniff card).

You people are all kinds of weird, they're not exactly a flawless dev team but they've definitely earned benefit of the doubt here.

If you're having burrito shits and don't have any toilet paper handy, I recommend you print out a few dozen copies of your Heavy Rain article.

OH YEAH, I WENT THERE

There are a couple issues of concerns raised:

• QTEs (or as they were referred to in olden times: Minsky's Bane)
• The graphics don't look as good as they have in any other demos of the game
• The dialog for the game is cringeworthy
• And my concern about introduction of high-tech sci-fi CSI mode to what has generally presented as a noir/serial killer story.

Seems pretty reasonable ... well except for Trevor's hatred of all QTE's.

I did ask you to read the article, but here you go.

This game hasn't been presented in any real form yet, in fact most of the footage we've seen we have been told won't even be in the game. Stop making assumptions about the style or plot - that's like complaining about YE OLDEN DAYS appearing in The Longest Journey.

The visuals are down to it being an Alpha build - this has been stated, but ignored, since we're an aesthetic society apparently. The visuals that were shown earlier in the development cycle are ones that have been processed purely for showing off the visual capabilities.

The QTEs will not be conventional. They will be branching and there will be no "game over sequences", therefore there's nothing to technically get frustrated over. It's not lazy programming - it requires more work if anything.

The dialogue is a valid complaint, but there's plenty of possibilities to explain it (perhaps a quick placeholder just for that sequence when it goes public?)

Farenheit's dialogue was delivered more than adequately and was actually pretty engaging.

Oh, you.

I've been a defender of QTEs in the past. The unique way they're used here doesn't bother me at all. It's the stilted, awful dialogue, the cliched flawed-white-cop-and-bad-black-guy caricatures, the jerky framerate, etc.. This is an Alpha build? When is this game due, 2013?

Who knows how impressive the final game may be, but that video hardly inspires.

For reading the article, I've read four articles about it today and none of them seem to be consistent. But almost all of them talk up what a great showman the guy creating the game is. Most of the impressions I've read cover things that were described to them but not what they actually shown to them.

What we can do is identify what people have actually been able to do from what has been demonstrated. And that's a short look around an environment with crazy CSI glasses and then interactive cut scenes. Again, I've said repeatedly IF there is actually a huge, huge variety of ways these scenes can play out, it could still be quite interesting. But I haven't heard anyone say 'I played through it once and this happened and once and this happened.'

Parse this quote from Eurogamer:

They never say this DID happen, they just said it COULD happen. Every article is like that. Until you see this stuff, I'm not going to assume that the game is going to meet whatever scenarios the my or the author of the article's imagination is conjuring up.

As for the character, I understand that the FBI guy is only 1 of 4 people you're involved playing as, I'm just worried that the CSI glasses will end up sticking out a lot.

And while we can defend the 'alpha' nature of the game, I think it is fair to look at the graphics critically when the developers have shown a number of other videos of it (supposedly in-engine) that all looked amazing and then to show 'actual gameplay' and it all looks significantly less impressive.

Again, it's not that I'm not excited for the game. I located this thread and posted a video early on because I still think it could be a great game. It's just that when the creator's ability to sell the game and its potential is compared to that of Peter Molyneux I start to wait for concrete demonstration before giving the benefit of the doubt. But hey, Fable II turned out pretty great so maybe this will too.

I'll look at the graphics criticially when they've finished working on it, as anyone else should, just as you shouldn't pass criticism on a film's CGI before it was properly completed. This was here to show us the first actual scenario to make it into the game and how you'll interact with the environment.

You can't pass judgement, yet again, on features that haven't yet been demonstrated - so wait until we see this branching system either working, or fail horribly, before dismissing it.

I'm still stumped at how you think these glasses are a gameplay-ruining mechanic. It's the most minor of things to get hung up on.

So with the little we've seen, it comes down to this - you either hate it already because of what it doesn't show us, doesn't look attractive enough yet in this early stage or contains QTEs - or you're willing to give the studio the benefit of the doubt based on their excellent track record of creating unique experiences.

I've learnt more about people's desire to prejudge and look for the silliest little flaws in something, whilst missing the bigger picture - than I have about the game itself today.

Ok, then - The way they're marketing it, especially in that video, makes it look like a shitty noir Dragon's Lair. Maybe they're not showing us the fun stuff?

I've got to agree with Trevor here. They're essentially marketing this game as a cinematic adventure and the gameplay mechanics do seem to revolve around QTE interactions within a free flowing level.

Oh c'mon. Not everybody is pointing fingers and shouting j'accuse!. Some of us just aren't particularly inspired by the demonstration. Who the hell knows what the ultimate "bigger picture" will be? Do you have some insight you'd care to share with us poor plebes?

I have high hopes for the game. In fact, I quite love games like this. Doesn't mean I can't say that the video left me underwhelmed.

Based on this latest video, this looks like complete and utter toss. Given that and Cage's previous record, I see no reason to be excited about it at all.

Ouch. I'll freely admit my hangup with the glasses is my own. I just wasn't expecting some weird 'futuristic' clue detection system and it's thrown me a bit.

It's completely fair to identify the graphics as being sub-earlier footage, and to consequently mark them as an 'area for concern' seems reasonable. Same with the QTE's. Saying that something is a potential trouble spot doesn't mean I hate it, it just means it's something that it's an area that I'm going to keep an eye out on.

I've noticed that in your comments about what we have seen though seem to touch the questions about dialog though, are you considering that 'alpha' as well?

ETA: Kind of what Singer said.

I've already conceded that the dialogue's got me concerned too - but as the visual state of this is hardly polished it seems a fair point to accept the audio's only as temporary.

Being disappointed by the wholely incomplete technical aspects - i'm not really sure what else there is to go on? You've said yourself the QTE use isn't offensive, which is exactly what this demo was created for. It wasn't meant to promote the storytelling or the visual style.

It's why it was stupid laying out all these glorified tech demos initially - people have come to expect it to look stunning and mysterious at every stage of development.

I've no idea how their development process works, but I suspect that if their audio work is as incomplete as the visual style - it's a placeholder or it's something to be concerned with.

I'm more than happy to admit i'm wrong if this game's as ugly as it's portrayed here, and the vocal acting's as bad as this shows - but given that it's not up to the level of Farenheit i'm making an educated guess that it's far from a finished product. People are missing the purpose of this demo.

In the game's favor, I love the fact that you'll actually have to look around in the environment to discover potential QTEs, that they aren't just spelled out for you, and also the idea that 'failing' a QTE doesn't mean instant death or mission failure. Like I said, I have high hopes. I loved Farenheit, supernatural warts and all.

Still not sure how Quantic is still in business. Two released games in like ten million years, neither of which I think was any kind of big hit. I do think they make unique games, though, and hope they keep with it. Someday I WILL finish Omikron, which has one of the greatest game soundtracks ever.

Well, I think there's a fair amount of goodwill being given to Quantic because of Indigo Prophecy. Third act be damned, there was a lot to really like about that game. What's they've shown of Heavy Rain so far seems to be a refinement of a lot of the thing mechanics Quantic used in IP.

I can see how a game like this will be the bane of the existence of anyone who hates QTEs but come on. It's not going to be all QTE, all the time.

As for CSI-vision, the only problem I can see with it from the brief glimpse we get is that it's picking up stuff all over the place. I hope there's going to be some differentiation between what you've examined and what you haven't.

Anyone tried the demo?

I've got it downloaded. Haven't really gotten around to it. Some folks in the Penny Arcade forums have been comparing it to The Room. Sadly, this hasn't brought me around to playing it yet.

Some kind soul over on cheapassgamer's forums made a Heavy Rain demo account. Name is cagheavyrain@gmail.com and pass is cagrain42

Just make a new account and sign in. Go to the store and then the download history. Start downloading the Heavy Rain demo. Once it's queued up, you can then sign out and sign back into your normal name and it will continue to download.

Is it not publicly available yet or something? Sorry, I'm new to PS3 gaming.

From what I've seen of this, the big problem isn't that it's basically nothing more than a series of QTEs, it's that if this is supposed to be an interactive movie, it's one with an awful script and terrible actors.

The demo was out for European customers.

It's...different.

The QTE (Which is the stuff I was most worried about) is the least of the game's problems I think. I thought it was implimented really well, you're basically hitting buttons/sticks to do everything (Motion the stick a certain way to pull out your wallet etc). The acting is bad, and yes so is the script. It could just be a translation issue (This wasn't written by someone who has English as their first language right?).

What I was impressed by though was the variety on show. Playing through the demo a few times I approached things a different way. There's a suprising amount of leeway to how you approach things. For example see the scene where you question the hooker about her son. You can put money on the table like she asked and pick it up when you leave. You can attempt to comfort her which will prompt her to tell a story about her son. As far as I'm aware that's the only time she'll tell you that piece of information. If they approach every scenario in the game that way then it's really quite impressive.

Oh, cool. I'll have to see if I can try that out today. Thanks for the info, everyone.

The videos on gametrailers point to this. They range from boring (fix your kid a snack!) to cheap voyeurism (shake the controller to dry off your avatar's glistening boobs!) to unintentional hilarity (buy your child a balloons and oh no what did I did!).

I'm wondering if Quantic Dream is a weird alien collective and that Heavy Rain is their homeworld master's thesis, or if the game is really some clever indictment of bad American thrillers.

It's probably just bad, though.

I really think they just don't know how to write, and hired people that don't know how to act. Because I don't care how many different options they give you, if they're all presented this terribly, who gives a shit? I'd walk out of a movie this bad.

Well, there's a reason Sony shunted it into February between MAG and God of War 3/Final Fantasy 13.

Yeah, but what if each scene, area is just a small sandbox and no matter how you approach them they don't matter to the overall story progression.

The videos I saw, look good, but it was like watching a really bad murder mystery.


I'll probably wait for a lengthy review before I think about playing this one.

Or they're just French. This entire game is going to play like the first 20 minutes of TAKEN.
Who knows, maybe some good will come out of Heavy Rain. Perhaps developers will look at it and begin to step up the execution of cutscenes in games, which are almost always laughably bad.

Someone above asked, but the demo is available via European accounts if you do the murder mystery thingee on the Heavy Rain site

I played the demo, and felt the script and characters were well written. Granted, demo doesnt do much more than give you a feel for the controls and the atmosphere of what the final game will deliver.

It sounds like some have already made their mind up on this one; too bad. I think it will end up being a pretty darn good story.

Sounds like you've already made up your mind as well.

In my experience, most French people don't behave like confused alien perverts. More specifically, David Cage is not a French everyman.

Whilst Trevor's opinion of the French is way off-base, this game looks about as exciting as a dead cat.

Still, it'll go on the LoveFilm queue just because games always seem better when you dont have to pay for them. Unless you pay for it with your soul.