Heavy Rain Gameplay Demo is Really Depressing

[John Funk]

I'm not going to deny that Heavy Rain is a spectacular (and spectacular-looking) piece of storytelling tech, but there's still one question in my mind: Will it be any fun to play? The investigation and fight scenes that we've seen thus far seem like they could be interesting and engaging, but it strikes me that a scene like this - very depressing, very emotionally charged, where you're essentially playing a guy going through the trials and tribulations of life - might not go over so well with the vast majority of gamers. Everybody has real-life problems of their own: Why do they want to have to deal with the problems of a fictional character in a game?

That's where I'm getting hung up on Heavy Rain thus far. Maybe I'll be wrong, but it would be a shame for a title with so much work going into it to ultimately end up as something that appeals only to a very small niche.

I don't think this game will be fun in the sense that you're suggesting. Was No Country For Old Men any fun to watch? No.

I understand the concern about popularity equating to great sales and more developers follow suit with adult drama games, but I think it's a catch 22. Either you make a dramatic game for adults or you don't. As soon as you make it appealing to the youth, it loses it's appeal with adults.

I really enjoyed Cursed Mountain, but the sales are dismal. I would love to play more games like it, but that may never happen (because of the sales). However, what would it have needed to sacrifice in order to have those great sales? Would I still have enjoyed it? Probably not.

Sooner or later, developers are going to have to start making video games for adults. Why not now? Now is a perfect time. ;-)

------

You don't have to replay

BULLCRAP! I WANT ALL THE ENDINGS!

Hear Hear.

He meant you don't have to keep replaying the same event after you die or fail because the story will simply continue. If you want to try the same event over and over again, I'm sure you can just reload.

Here's my problem with that idea: It costs a lot of money to make a game. You need to make that money back. A game that doesn't sell enough to recoup its cost will rarely get a sequel.

I'm all for Quantic pushing the envelope, but if they push it too far, fail, and don't get to try again, then we've just taken a step back.

 

[khaimera]

Emotional impact is important in games.

I have been looking forward to this kind of character depth for a long time. It looks like it will be fun for me to play.

To bad most gamers are emotionally fragile retards who can't go 2 seconds without something blowing up.

Are you serious about this stereotype? On a gaming website nonetheless. How does superiority feel? I wouldn't know.

 

[Supreme Unleaded]

Emotional impact is important in games.

I have been looking forward to this kind of character depth for a long time. It looks like it will be fun for me to play.

To bad most gamers are emotionally fragile retards who can't go 2 seconds without something blowing up.

don't forget nayplam, death, crashes, action scenes, sex, and the sounds of guns firing.

O.T. I'm really looking foward to this game, I think im going to like it alot.

 

[DeadAccountMoveAlong]

For all the work they've put into this, I really hope it turns out to be successful.

Everybody has real-life problems of their own: Why do they want to have to deal with the problems of a fictional character in a game?

That's where I'm getting hung up on Heavy Rain thus far. Maybe I'll be wrong, but it would be a shame for a title with so much work going into it to ultimately end up as something that appeals only to a very small niche.

Honestly, I think people would want to deal with someone else's problems because many find comfort in the fact that suffering is universal. By vicariously living through such a heavy handed game, you can get some sort of closure over your own problems. Besides, unlike in the myriad of depressing films, you're given a choice to turn things around, or make them worse, depending on your mood/preference. It seems pretty appealing, even with all the dark material. I just hope I'm not the only one with that opinion.

 

[Nurb]

sounds good just so long as it doesn't get nuts like in Indigo prophecy/Fahrenheit

"I've been framed in a murder case... OMG now I'm flying while fighting aliens and aztecs despite the fact I'm dead!"

 

[ChaosReaver]

This game Looks like a more mature version of the sims. Except with less cartoonish graphics, the characters speak an actual language, the player might actually give a damn about the characters, and the choices you make actually mean something. I personally won't buy the game (although I might rent it), but I have to give a round of applause to the studio. It's different, and that isn't always a bad thing.

I do have a criticism, but I won't voice it until I actually try this game out and see the story line.

 

[Georgeman]

Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy to you Americans) sold crap and it was available on PC, PS2 and XBOX. Heavy Rain will be available only on PS3 and it really doesn't look too much of a different game from Fahrenheit so I doubt it will sell much. A real niche of a game. I liked Fahrenheit but since I don't own a PS3, I'll pass on this one.

Looks cool, but it looks like something that would make Yahtzee jump off a bridge.

I'm not to sure about that. I forget which review it was but I think that he mentioned in one of his reviews that if you were going to use a feature such as quick-time events to make a a major game element in the game rather then being a speraticly placed feature in a game.

Oh Yahtzee would kill this game. He didn't like Fahrenheit and thus he won't like this either. For more info check his Condemned 2 and House of the Dead Overkill reviews for the Fahrenheit references. And the review you are talking about is Uncharted.

Though we don't want another incident like Mass Effect got when they talked about their game and got put all over the news.

Actually, this could raise the awareness of the game. Who knows, perhaps it could make it sell. I mean, it supposedly made more sales for Mass Effect...

 

[Iron Mal]

I'm not suprised that a game titled Heavy Rain is very depressing (I believe that this is also refered to as 'pathetic falacy' in certain areas).

Some of the details described in the video did set off a couple of cynisism alarm bells in my head (outside of the fact that this looked like a rehash of Farenheit, the music even sounded simmilar).

Firstly, 'there are no game overs, if your character dies the story continues'. This sounds interesting in theory but this could lead to an awkard storyline should all the major characters get killed (imagine if the game continued after the Master Chief dying in Halo).

They tried putting a simmilar system into a game called 'Obscure' but it still had the potential for the game to end if every character died (which, in my experience, happened often), saying you've gotten rid of 'game overs' sounds impressive but not only leaves you with a narrative nightmare but also with a semi-pointless game (they might as well have made a movie while they're at it).

Secondly, 'the game will be different every time you play it, a scene will start and you won't know what's going to happen'. I'm pretty certain that Valve tried to promise the same thing with Left 4 Dead? (in my opinion, after playing it for a while you could begin to notice a pattern and have an educated guess of what would appear, the same will in theory apply to Heavy Rain)

Also, 'you don't have to do this'. Many of the choices of what you can do in a scene seemed a bit...arbitrary? Trivial? Mundane? I'm aware that this is only a small segment of the game but if the demo is showing us a game that allows us to come home after a bad day, argue with our kid about doing their homework before going off to be depressed about how great your life used to be then I've got to argue why should we buy a game that costs anywhere in excess of £40 when many people do that in reality?

Outside of some of the previous concerns (and others I haven't written in the name of not wanting to produce an essay) I'm sure this game could be interesting but I can't see it being one of the better games to come out over the next few years.

 

[Eldarion]

Emotional impact is important in games.

I have been looking forward to this kind of character depth for a long time. It looks like it will be fun for me to play.

To bad most gamers are emotionally fragile retards who can't go 2 seconds without something blowing up.

Are you serious about this stereotype? On a gaming website nonetheless. How does superiority feel? I wouldn't know.

You know it applies to the majority, most games for the majority have little thought behind them.

Oh, very clever claiming i'm elitist all of a sudden. counter one stereotype with another one. Very original.

 

[fulano]

The japanese are gonna dig this game. No doubt about that.

It seems like the next iteration of the visual novels they love so much...with less lolis, I hope.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Now while I do think this game looks pretty interesting, I just can't help but shake the feeling that it's just Indigo Prophecy 2. I certainly hope not. I mean I.P. was all right until the plot went from murder with a twist to "Muuhaaahhhaaahahahahahahaha!!!! I'm an evil bastard!!". And as long as they keep the quicktime events in contexts that actually make sense (like say, fighting, running, or anything as long as it is a physical action) and steer clear of using quicktime events for things that don't make sense to use them with (thinking, whether or not you get to see the future, dialogue) it should do all right.

 

[Trivun]

I'll say it looks depressing, I want to play it really badly and they decide to stick it on the PS3 as an exclusive. If it gets released for PC I'm so getting this game, whether it has a depressing storyline or not. I know a good game when I see it, and this is definitely looking like a good game.

 

[DazZ.]

I really, really like the look of this.

I don't think I would be playing it from a game perspective, more of an interactive film. As long as the story is awesome and it flows well enough I think I will enjoy this.

But it is PS3 exclusive, so I doubt I'll ever get the chance anyway.

 

[khaimera]

Emotional impact is important in games.

I have been looking forward to this kind of character depth for a long time. It looks like it will be fun for me to play.

To bad most gamers are emotionally fragile retards who can't go 2 seconds without something blowing up.

Are you serious about this stereotype? On a gaming website nonetheless. How does superiority feel? I wouldn't know.

You know it applies to the majority, most games for the majority have little thought behind them.

Oh, very clever claiming i'm elitist all of a sudden. counter one stereotype with another one. Very original.

How is it not elitist to claim being a gamer and then putting down the majority of gamers by calling them retarded and emotionally fragile. Isn't the definition of elitist thinking you are better than most?

It seems like the whole point of your original post was to say I'm more mature than others and thats why I will enjoy this game. As if hardly anyone else will get what Heavy Rain is trying to do in the medium.

 

[BaronJuJu]

Wow, this is the first I've heard of this game and I have to say I'm intrigued. The idea of creating a dramatic interactive story game for mostly adults is something I thought I really wouldn't see anytime soon. I love the idea that there are no "Game Overs" and that your decisions will have consequences that carry throughout the game. I hope this begins a trend for these types of interactive games and we start seeing games like this in different genre's (comedy, romance, horror, etc).

 

[SMOKEMNHALO2001]

This is why I bought A PS3 in the first place! I can't wait to get my hands on this game it looks fresh and rewarding, a lot of gamers ***** about the industry pushing out the same games every year and now we get something different and interesting.
Think of this game like old school point and click games but with graphics that are awesome and choices that changes the story completely, I love the idea of no restarts and spawn points, kudos to the team.
I'm getting this on day 1

 

[Sephiwind]

Oh Yahtzee would kill this game. He didn't like Fahrenheit and thus he won't like this either. For more info check his Condemned 2 and House of the Dead Overkill reviews for the Fahrenheit references. And the review you are talking about is Uncharted.

You never really know with Yahtzee. I mean seriously who would have thought he would have liked Saint's Row 2 as much as he did. You are probably right that he probably won't like it because its entirely a quick-time game, but at least he will probably recognize that this game is trying to be creative and taking a chance with being a new type of game.

Looks cool, but it looks like something that would make Yahtzee jump off a bridge.

On a final note you have to give this company some respect since they are trying to be some what creative and innovative. I'm really glad to finally see a game that is made for adults that doesn't have the connotation of being porn. I am seriously getting sick of seeing all these games pandering to the tween, frat-boy, and death-match tea bagging demographics.

I can certainly respect them. They made Indigo Prophecy, right? Only problem i can see to that game is that it will eventually be mistaken of porn.

There's a scene where the female character in the game strips in front of one of the mob boss characters in the game. So yeah, I reckon some will buy that game just cause their mate said THERE BE BOOBS!

Sadly you are probably right about the last part. It's really sad because from what I have heard she doesn't fully strip, and besides there have been plenty of R rated movies with strip scenes in them, that didn't make them porn.

It's really sad that there is kind of a double standard between the video game industry and the movie industry. Have a strip scene in a movie and as long as they don't show anything other then breast then it will just be R rated. Make a game with one strip scene in it and suddenly it's porn.

 

[Georgeman]

Oh Yahtzee would kill this game. He didn't like Fahrenheit and thus he won't like this either. For more info check his Condemned 2 and House of the Dead Overkill reviews for the Fahrenheit references. And the review you are talking about is Uncharted.

You never really know with Yahtzee. I mean seriously who would have thought he would have liked Saint's Row 2 as much as he did. You are probably right that he probably won't like it because its entirely a quick-time game, but at least he will probably recognize that this game is trying to be creative and taking a chance with being a new type of game.

Ok, ok. If the story is well-told there is a chance he will like it. I mean, he did love Silent Hill 2 and it's not exactly a gameplay award winner. Assuming that they don't pull the same plot mess as Fahrenheit did with the second half, in which case he will murder it.

P.s. Too many uses of probably

 

[Chipperz]

I was very, very interested in Heavy Rain with the first trailer but... I get less and less enthusiastic with everything new I see about it. I wanted a film noir style mystery, and it's increasingly looking like a study into the banality of modern life, with a murder thrown in. Also, those "action cues" floating round the characters piss me off...

Also, for those of you who haven't seen it, this is the first trailer, back when it looked good;

 

[Jumplion]

I'm not going to deny that Heavy Rain is a spectacular (and spectacular-looking) piece of storytelling tech, but there's still one question in my mind: Will it be any fun to play? The investigation and fight scenes that we've seen thus far seem like they could be interesting and engaging, but it strikes me that a scene like this - very depressing, very emotionally charged, where you're essentially playing a guy going through the trials and tribulations of life - might not go over so well with the vast majority of gamers. Everybody has real-life problems of their own: Why do they want to have to deal with the problems of a fictional character in a game?

That's where I'm getting hung up on Heavy Rain thus far. Maybe I'll be wrong, but it would be a shame for a title with so much work going into it to ultimately end up as something that appeals only to a very small niche.

(I'm probably going to greatly exaggerate your position here, so apologies if I go overboard)

You know what? I'm getting sick of this sort of mentality. Not every game needs to have you be a badass where everything impossible is possible. While there's nothing wrong with that, damnit why shouldn't I be able to feel some emotion with my games?

We can't go anywhere if we keep this "If I want realism (or whatever similar word) in my games, I'd go outside!" mentality. What, do you think every movie is meant to be out of this world and just "fun"? There are horror movies, psychological thrillers (of which Heavy Rain is described as), political movies, ones that use your brain, blah de blah.

Why can't we go through a man's life, but instead of watching it passively, we engage into his life? We go through his troubles, we go through his successes and failures, so you can sympathize with him and want him to succeed, essentially becoming him. No other medium can ever come close to that sort of interaction, so it's immensely important that we find out how to tap that potential as soon as possible.

Obviously, I'm extremely excited for Heavy Rain. I will forgive most of it's "gameplay" for seemingly being nothing but QTEs as there is simply few like it, if any at all. Heavy Rain is just one step towards a larger goal for video games, and I wish for all the gaming gods that Quantic Dream will be successful.