Is the Heavy Rain Mall Scene Uncanny-Valley-Tastic?
- Thread starter John Funk
- Start date
A child running away from you in a public place is something every parent has or will have to deal with. I think the emotional pull of the moment is lost on younger gamers. That said, the lip-syncing/facial animation will take some getting used to. I was "weirded" out by The Polar Express the first couple of times (I have a kid -- I don't usually willingly inflict anguish upon myself), but now the movie is fine and I can enjoy it for what it was trying to do. Heavy Rain will probably require the same struggle to get over the "uncanny valley" hump. Was that an oxymoron? Anyway. I like the modern day setting with relatable adult scenarios... too bad I don't have a PS3.
It looks alright, but I can't say I'm sold on the idea. For some reason this made me think of The Sims and the The Sims bored the hell out of me. I applaud them for experimenting, but I don't think this experiment is going to succeed. Make a game that's too much like reality and it defeats the purpose of playing it.
I remember being so much more interested in this game the first time I heard about it. People look creepy, voice acting sounds painful.
Can I play as the clown? He looks like an interesting character.
Can I play as the clown? He looks like an interesting character.
Looked pretty kick ass to me, I have no problem with the faces or animations.
The voice acting, however, is actually not as good as I was hoping it would be. It doesn't feel completely natural to hear them speak, it seems more like they added in the voices after doing mo-cap in the pre-made scenes (the small scene with getting the balloon) and when he yelled "Jason!" it never seemed urgent enough.
Granted, it's not terrible, but it can be noticeable.
Other than that, I have no real qualms with this gameplay footage. It looks fantastic and the scene had just enough tension to get your heart racing to. I can't wait for Heavy Rain to come out and I completely agree with you that I really really do hope it works, but either way I'm going to play it and (hopefully) love it.
The voice acting, however, is actually not as good as I was hoping it would be. It doesn't feel completely natural to hear them speak, it seems more like they added in the voices after doing mo-cap in the pre-made scenes (the small scene with getting the balloon) and when he yelled "Jason!" it never seemed urgent enough.
Granted, it's not terrible, but it can be noticeable.
Other than that, I have no real qualms with this gameplay footage. It looks fantastic and the scene had just enough tension to get your heart racing to. I can't wait for Heavy Rain to come out and I completely agree with you that I really really do hope it works, but either way I'm going to play it and (hopefully) love it.
That was just kind of wrong, they didn't act human, more like pod people. The writing is ok but the voice actors just dont deliver.
Nah, it's not as far into the uncanny valley as some other projects. In fact, I believe that it's on the other side climbing towards the very little seen far peak. If this is what we have now, I'm interested in seeing what graphics are gonna look like 3 years from now...
I have never felt this sorry for a game... I really wanted this to work... I mean, the acting is bad, the graphics are creepy, and the way it's set up looks really boring. It is just... sad. Because I was really rooting for this game.
It's the odd way the mouths move that makes the scene seem so off to me. They just open too damn wide.
What happened to the uber-realistic graphics from previous publicity material? This looks a bit last gen. Heck, Resi 5 had more realistic faces.
These characters don't really look any realer than those in Dead Rising or Prototype, and I personally don't think they're realistic enough to invoke Uncanny Valley. Usually Uncanny Valley happens for me when the characters are motion captured, because then they move realistically. These characters don't really seem to do that.
My favorite part of the trailer is the first time Jason goes missing, and as the Dad-guy is running around, he pushes into the mall crowd. A woman walks into him and stops, but the walking animation keeps going, and then she levitates up a bit and bounces around him. I never even saw this in Prototype - this is more of a Fallout 3 blunder, and as we all know, that game had many, many strengths, but the character animations and collision physics were not amongst them.
My favorite part of the trailer is the first time Jason goes missing, and as the Dad-guy is running around, he pushes into the mall crowd. A woman walks into him and stops, but the walking animation keeps going, and then she levitates up a bit and bounces around him. I never even saw this in Prototype - this is more of a Fallout 3 blunder, and as we all know, that game had many, many strengths, but the character animations and collision physics were not amongst them.
It looks great. I mean games can of course be more then just intractive linear stories like in books and movies, but that doesn't mean they have to be, just to be good. I hope this title eventually makes it to PC.
the scene works well in my opinion. i didnt get a case of the uncanny valley although i keep wondering WTF the kid decides to run OUTSIDE of the mall and leave his dad behind. and then decides to run back to to him without checking the busy road.
P.S. the kids voice acting is AWFUL!
P.S. the kids voice acting is AWFUL!