E3 2010: Heavy Rain Gets a Move Makeover

[Susan Arendt]

E3 2010: Heavy Rain Gets a Move Makeover

One of the reasons Heavy Rain [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/7266-Review-Heavy-Rain] before, now may be the perfect time.

The Move and Nav controllers are shaped very much like the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, but aren't linked together by a wire, which helps you forget that they're controllers and not extensions of your hands. You walk by moving the Nav nub, but just about everything else is done by manipulating the Move in 3d space. Occasionally you'll have to hit the great big Move button in the middle of the controller, but for the most part, you're simply waving the wand around in ways that make sense given the context of your actions. To knock on a door, for example, you gesture forward, towards your tv. To grab something out of your pocket, you gesture down.

I played a tutorial level that was added specifically to help players learn how to work with the new controls, and then played one of the early fight scenes. There was definitely a learning curve involved in matching the on-screen icons to motions, but I eventually got the hang of it. The original version of Heavy Rain had three difficulty settings, the new version has only two: one designed for hardcore players, and one designed for the more casual crowd. The Move and Nav are certainly more accessible than a PS3 controller, but will that be enough to woo nongamers to give Heavy Rain a try? That I'm not so sure about.

At times, using the Move felt artificial, but at others, like during the fight, it felt completely natural and intuitive. I have many gamer friends who struggled with Heavy Rain due to their unfamiliarity with the PS3 controller, so I'm happy that the Move control option is available to them. The one regret I have is that Sony's 3D glasses weren't also integrated into the new control scheme. How amazing would it be to actually put on a pair of sunglasses and use ARI's interface - or an approximation, anyway? Ah, well. Perhaps in the next revision.

If you've already finished Heavy Rain, then the new control scheme is little more than an intriguing curiosity, but if you never quite got around to it when it first came out, this should rekindle your interest.


Permalink

 

[Dr. wonderful]

Awesome Article bro.

I wonder if I have to buy the game that includes it...or just a copy of the original game and a Move.

 

[Woodsey]

This is where Natal then faulters; how am I supposed to actually walk and move in-game? For actions Natal would actually be better I think, but it's no good if I can't move anywhere.

And yeah, I refuse to call it Kinect.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Awesome Article bro.

I wonder if I have to buy the game that includes it...or just a copy of the original game and a Move.

Bro? How about Sis?

 

[soapyshooter]

Been waiting for this all day. Thanks for finally posting..and I'm glad to see a positive view on the Move. And also this is where Kinect confuses. How do you walk?! Do you move your arms in space front and back to simulate walking? You would look like an idiot. Sony seems to be right with that whole button business. Some articles on the Kinect would be appreciated.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Been waiting for this all day. Thanks for finally posting..and I'm glad to see a positive view on the Move. And also this is where Kinect confuses. How do you walk?! Do you move your arms in space front and back to simulate walking? You would look like an idiot. Sony seems to be right with that whole button business. Some articles on the Kinect would be appreciated.

Would post them if I had them. Sadly, our time with Microsoft was cut short due to the Lakers game. (The last day of E3 closed an hour early, and our appointment was cut very short.) Most unfortunate. I didn't get any time with Kinect at all, but some of the other editors did. They'll post their thoughts soon.

 

[Eri]

Did anyone else read the title as "Gets a movie makeover"?

 

[Dr. wonderful]

Awesome Article bro.

I wonder if I have to buy the game that includes it...or just a copy of the original game and a Move.

Bro? How about Sis?

....Well I done f+ck up greatly.

Sorry, ma'am.

 

[soapyshooter]

Been waiting for this all day. Thanks for finally posting..and I'm glad to see a positive view on the Move. And also this is where Kinect confuses. How do you walk?! Do you move your arms in space front and back to simulate walking? You would look like an idiot. Sony seems to be right with that whole button business. Some articles on the Kinect would be appreciated.

Would post them if I had them. Sadly, our time with Microsoft was cut short due to the Lakers game. (The last day of E3 closed an hour early, and our appointment was cut very short.) Most unfortunate. I didn't get any time with Kinect at all, but some of the other editors did. They'll post their thoughts soon.

Gotcha. Thanks for the heads up, I'll be on the lookout for those. I'm just really interested because there are tons of videos on youtube with the Kinect but non show how the player will move his character ingame, just tons of stuff being done standing still.

 

[RatRace123]

Did anyone else read the title as "Gets a movie makeover"?

I did, I think that's actually in the pipeline, the movie rights were auctioned off before the game even went gold, if I'm not mistaken.

I wonder if they can simply release a patch that would allow the original game to be Move compatible. I love the game, it may be my favorite PS3 game, but buying it again just to play it while standing up... is a little harder to justify. I guess I'd have to see if it would make the overall experience better.

Ooh, imagine doing "The Bear" with Move!

 

[Sovvolf]

Awesome Article Sis .

Anyways this sounds intriguing, I have to give it a try. I've not really paid that much attention to move... Well not the attention it deserves. While I do own a PS3, the 360 is my primary console so I only really get involved with the PS3 on exclusive games and such. So I haven't really looked all that much into it. However with the sounds of things the PS3 move may be far better than Natal... I'll give them both a try when I get the money.

My only problems with the move is that I don't know it's price and I need to buy a eyetoy to use it (I doubt you get one free with it) and I can't seem to find an eyetoy.

I watched Click other day (not the Adam Saddler movie, the BBC tech program) and the guy testing it for the BBC did say that the controls were a little unresponsive and suffered from a little lag. I hope they fix this before it's released... I liked the look of the wizard game.

Jeez I went off topic with the whole Move thing. We are talking about Heavy Rain here. Well I honestly think that this was the type of game Move was built for. The whole motion control would make the game more immersive at times. Heck, with a 3D T.V and glasses (also if the game supported it) you really would feel like you was in the game. I'd just get a little creeped out when playing the Sex mini game or the forced to strip one.

 

[mjc0961]

Actually, as I already played Heavy Rain with the regular controller, this seems like the perfect thing to try out Move on. If I end up hating it, I don't lose anything by not finishing the game.

Still probably have to actually buy Move stuff though >_>

 

[Jared]

Actually, I do feel heavy Rain could actually ebenfit from it...its certainly got that interaction feel and what not...I am somewhat intrested to see how it will turn out

 

[CakeDragon]

I keep meaning to buy Heavy Rain so this is something I'd like to try. Would be interesting to see how it works out.

 

[Trivun]

This is where Natal then faulters; how am I supposed to actually walk and move in-game? For actions Natal would actually be better I think, but it's no good if I can't move anywhere.

And yeah, I refuse to call it Kinect.

I think a good idea would be to have a system where to walk, you simply move your fingers in a walking motion in front of the camera. Although it could get a bit tough during fast-paced action, especially if they intend to make Natal compatable with more 'hardcore' titles. Either way, Microsoft wouldn't be releasing it if such basic things like that hadn't been considered and solved, so I have no worries. Only thing I'm worried about is the price, since if I can afford it I'll be getting it regardless of what other people think. I've been looking forward to Natal since the day it was announced...

And I agree, there's no way I'm calling it Kinect. That's a stupid name. Natal is good enough for me, though I think Wave would have been an even better (and more apt) name. Kinect just sounds stupid.

 

[Baneat]

I think controls and gimmicky technologies don't add anything whatsoever to the quality of an artistic medium. It's to express ideas, doesn't really matter whether you're pushing a button to get there or waving a dildo round like a tit.

 

[Jumplion]

The Move is actually impressing me with a few of it's games, that one game "Sorcery" actually looked damn fun to play and according to previews the implementation of it in games like Killzone 3, Heavy Rain, and SOCOM 4 is actually well done.

I'm still probably not going to get it, but it does look relatively interesting. Then again, I felt the same thing with the Wii >_<

 

[Thunderhorse31]

Wow, while I normally view motion controls with complete disdain, putting on 3D glasses and navigating ARI with my hands sounds pretty kickass.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

I still am quite dissapointed in this.
After all, it's really is nothing more then a gimmick (feature, whatever you want) and it probably won't improve for me the game that I completed something like six times.
Ehh, and the fact that they're putting Heavy Rain Chronicles (or maybe even Omikron 2) on hold because of this is pretty sad.