Heavy Rain Won't Get Any Heavier

[John Funk]

Heavy Rain Won't Get Any Heavier

Quantic Dream's David Cage says that a sequel to Heavy Rain just isn't in the cards.

Heavy Rain was a cleaned up at last night's BAFTA awards [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/7266-Review-Heavy-Rain] as a result. With that in mind, surely Quantic Dream would be working on a sequel in this hit-driven industry, right?

Not really, no.

"We created the genre," Quantic Dream's David Cage told Spong [http://spong.com/article/24024/David-Cage-We-Own-The-Interactive-Story-Telling-Genre] at the BAFTA awards. "We own the genre, and we want to show that Heavy Rain was not a coincidence or a lucky shot - that it was really something that makes sense and that we can build on."

"But at the same time," said Cage, "I didn't want to make a sequel. I made that very clear before knowing whether the game would be a success or a failure, because I want to show that it's really a genre. Which means that you can use a similar drama to tell any type of story in any genre and in any style."

In other words, while Quantic Dream's two new games [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102048-Heavy-Rain-Dev-Has-Two-New-Games-in-the-Works] may be thematically similar to Heavy Rain and in the same genre, they won't have anything to do with the case of the Origami Killer.

"[We] are going to explore different directions. Still very dark, still for adults, but completely different from Heavy Rain. We want to satisfy our fans, but we want to surprise them too. That's our challenge."

I vote that Quantic Dream goes back to the "Dragon Ball Z hobos" idea that they had in Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit. That was certainly surprising.

(Eurogamer [http://spong.com/article/24024/David-Cage-We-Own-The-Interactive-Story-Telling-Genre])

Permalink

 

[erbkaiser]

I guess the remaining 'Chronicles' are definitely cancelled now as well. Too bad... while the Move patch was interesting, I'd rather have had the promised extra episodes.

 

[AvsJoe]

That's a good thing for me right now. I'm waiting on a couple more price drops before I buy that game and I really wouldn't want to fall further behind in the case of a sequel.

 

[Dorkmaster Flek]

No, we need less Indigo Prophecy Syndrome, not more! No more characters pulling magical Dragon Ball Z powers out their ass in the final act! God I hate that...

 

[Camarilla]

I was going to say "Good, it's nice to see a company that can stick by their intentions without succumbing to the pressure to make a sequel", but now I can only think "Wow, what a pretentious jackass".

Claiming to have invented the 'interactive story telling' genre is like George Lucas claiming he invented moving-picture-o-vision.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

No, we need less Indigo Prophecy Syndrome, not more! No more characters pulling magical Dragon Ball Z powers out their ass in the final act! God I hate that...

Um... that didn't happen in Heavy Rain. And Indigo Prophecy was more like a failed experiment in my mind.

But I really do think these guys know how to run a company. I mean, they were taking a big risk with Heavy Rain and they waited to see what would happen to give themselves credibility. That was a smart move on their part.

 

[RabbiiFrystofsk]

I'm glad they're not making a sequel as it's one of those games that doesn't need a follow up to its story or even a prequel.
Another game with a different story, but similar theme, would be awesome though.
I'm looking forward to LA Noire however, and i hope it will be exactly what i need to settle my story driven gaming famine.

 

[Zhukov]

What? Really? A developer who isn't seeking to capitalize on success by pumping out sequels? But rather to apply the lessons learnt to a new IP?

I must be dreaming. Somebody slap me. Oh, and check to make sure the moon hasn't turned red.

 

[MaxRaine]

How could they make a sequel? You pretty much solved everything in the first game...
The only character I feel they could keep for a sequel is that hypertech FBI/CIA/whatever guy.
That said, it's not even sure any of the characters lived through the first part.

I'm looking forward to more games like it though =)

 

[honkyjesus]

I just wish you could do a background DL of the Heavy Rain Move update. At 1GB the update I tried only got to like 70% in four or five hours. I also wish PSPlus would help out with an auto-download of it, I think they set up an update for a PSN game I got.

Some of the slow speed may be my ISP, but the PS servers are known for being really slow.

 

[Dora]

I'm so sick of getting sequel-ed to death by developers for games that honestly don't need it. I'm not talking about games like Mass Effect which are part of a continuing narrative, but Heavy Rain was a self-contained story with a beginning and an end. Pulling out HEAVY RAIN 2 OMGEE would smack of a cashgrab.

Less sequels, more new stories please devs.

 

[mega48man]

good, i hate it when good stand alone things get ruined by sequels, like star wars, and soon the hangover.

 

[InfiniteJacuzzi]

Sequels are mostly disappointments anyways. When a studio comes back to the same genre with a new IP? That's golden.

 

[Sindre1]

Good call.
This was what I was hoping they would do

 

[moose49408]

For the most part, I'm glad that they're not doing a sequel, in the strictest sense. I'm sure we'll get a spiritual sequel in their next title, but Heavy Rain just isn't the kind of story that really needs or a supports a continuation of the plot.

On the other hand though,, there are a few... "issues" (to use a nice term) with the story that I REALLY, REALLY would have liked to see ironed out through DLC or a sequel.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I don't think they created a genre... That's just being a bit pretentious.

Though it's nice to see a company not throwing endless sequels out the door.

Also this

Spoiler

 

[tigermilk]

Claiming to have invented the 'interactive story telling' genre is like George Lucas claiming he invented moving-picture-o-vision.

*Sighs* If only George Lucas had the same attitude towards sequels!

 

[Jumplion]

I was going to say "Good, it's nice to see a company that can stick by their intentions without succumbing to the pressure to make a sequel", but now I can only think "Wow, what a pretentious jackass".

Claiming to have invented the 'interactive story telling' genre is like George Lucas claiming he invented moving-picture-o-vision.

Eh, sometimes you need to be a bit pretentious to move forward,but I do admit that is a bit haughty of him. What are we going to do with that Cage?

Regardless, I am really interested in what Quantic Dream is going to put out. They got my attention with Heavy Rain and it great that a unique game like it was as successful as it was. Whether or not Heavy Rain "did" it for you or not I don't think really matters as few developers have the balls to go with something like this.

I'm just sitting back and waiting for the "Political Drama/Thriller" genre to come out sometime, I'd love to see how that would be done.