Poll: Heavy Rain, a gaming masterpiece?

[maddawg IAJI]

I don't own a PS3, so I can't really play it. I did however watch a Walkthrough for it (As I do for all games I am interested in, but cannot play, hell, I did it for God of War 3 a couple days ago)

I thought it was a fantastic story and I loved it. Granted when I got my friends to start watching it, we treated it as a joke, pointing out flaws in the story, making fun of the characters reactions, and just overall mocking everything from Norman's way of pronouncing his own name to when they arrived at the Blue Lagoon.

Overall, it was a blast and I didn't even play it myself. The story was top-notched and for a few minutes, I forgot it was even a video game and I was enjoying the cinematic experience.

 

[Kurokami]

After playing through Heavy Rain my first time I realised that it is arguably my favorite game of all time.It's the first game ever to make me feel so many emotions. I felt everything from pity and anxiety to sadness and shame. These are normally negative emotions but Heavy Rain pulled them off so perfectly not to mention all those emotions take place in the controlled enviroment of a video game. I really, sincerely felt all these emotions for the characters throughout the whole game. On several occasions it even made me question my morals and even myself. Yes, it hit me that deeply.

In conclusion, Heavy Rain, while not perfect, is truly a gaming masterpiece IMO. They took everything that made Indigo Prophecy good and refined it all into something nearly perfect. Heavy Rain nearly redefines "video game". So if you have a PS3 and a spare $60, got get Heavy Rain now, you must save ingenuity in gaming such as this before it goes extinct. Before it all gets lost amongst the monotony of the mindless FPS genre

I've played it and felt it to be a very round and about way of telling a story, so far I haven't seen anything amazing, it doesn't look like any choices I've made have made ANY significant change to anything at all, and the whole quicktime sequence idea is so incredibly naggy that it feels like someone constantly trying to get your attention while you're watching a movie that tries hard to be intense.

This having been one of the few games I've actually spent money on, not to mention traded in a few loved games for, I would love for you to tell me when it actually drew that step for you into amazing.

So my take on the game so far: Predictable and shallow characters, lack of real choices and... I don't know, the game doesn't really have that much going for it for me to criticize. I'll say that from a visual perspective however, its often (note: not always) very beautiful.

Oh the loading times seem somewhat unjustified to me.

In any case, please tell me, in a spoiler perhaps, when the game really started getting intense in the way of choices.

I'll get right on that as soon as you tell me how to make a spoiler box (seriously). BTW where are you in the game right now?

Put in [ spoiler]message [/spoiler] takeaway the space, possibly spoil instead of spoiler.

As far as I remember... (haven't touched the PS3 in like a week)

Spoiler

I just had that rich guy confess to being the origami killer (I assume falsely for whatever reason, otherwise that's the one point of finishing the game I had maintained gone) and then getting his arse kicked by the chubby private detective, also did the test with the glass and electrical wires with the main character and... yeah I think that's about it.

If you still have problems with spoilers you can just quote me and it'll show you exactly how to do it.

I figured out since you're not there yet that I don't even need a spoiler box but thanks for telling me how to make one anyway.

Although I felt that the game was pretty intense from the start, I felt it really picked up at the 3rd of Ethan's trials (the one you just described is the 2nd). That's when I felt that many of the choices became more extreme.

Also, I don't know if you're a parent or not, but having those paternal instincts gets you much more involved into the game as well. I'm not a parent myself but I did take care of a younger sibling like their parent for many years so I like to feel I have those paternal instincts. That makes it much more possible to relate to Ethan and make the game much more personal and immersive.

(sorry, my comp tarded out when I tried to quote you the first time)

I see, I'll try and power through, thanks for the heads up.

No, I'm not a parent and the closest to parent hood I've come to is probably dealing with my little sister or some of my friends, but hopefully it will suck me in too.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

I wouldn't say it's a gaming masterpiece, mostly because it just barely fits under the category of "game". It may be a neat semi-interactive movie I suppose.

 

[Dr.Susse]

I loved it and had the 'best game ever thought'. But now that's settled down I wish the killer was different, I mean dam great twist but still comme si comme sa. Maybe the chance the killer could change in the game would make it a masterpiece for me. Though still two thumbs up.

 

[SnipErlite]

I felt everything from pity and anxiety to sadness and shame.

I agree, it was very well done.

Although if there was one thing I'd change, it'd be

Spoiler: Ending spoilers

When I got the "happy" ending. Well reasonably happy. But I mean, there was Ethan crying over Shaun and I was thinking 'omfg, is his son going to die?! Then he's gonna die! Oh fuck this is the most powerful game ending ever' - And then both survived. I had been half expecting Shaun would live, but I was kinda hoping the poison was real.

Just imagine how much more powerful the ending would be if his son dies, and crying.....Ethan slips away........

But I digress. It's a great game, although I doubt I'll play through it again for a while.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

The answer to your question.

 

[JaymesFogarty]

Well, I certainly can't understand why anyone not liking the QTE's in this game can like the ones in GOW3. Heavy Rain utilizes them much better, and they are much more immersive. This game had serious problems with its' story, but the fact that it's still sitting on my favorites shelf is simply testament to how great a game it is.

 

[Sephychu]

I loved the whole damn game. Absolutely wonderful if you ask me.

 

[Dorian6]

As a game, it sucks. It's just a sequence of quicktime events and pre-animated action sequences.

It's not so much a game, more like a film, that's 10 hours long and you have slight control over the characters' actions.

It's also really slow getting in. I played for literally 2 hours before anything interesting happened.

That being said, the story is good, the voice acting is, for the most part, pretty solid, and the characters are developed enough to make me care about them.

I'd give it a C

 

[jackanderson]

God I love Heavy Rain so damn much.

I am one of those gamers who believes that a great story is the most important part of the game. Not just for a bit of motivation ("bad guys over there, they ate your mum, now blast em all!!"), but for being able to engross me in the world and make me care. Games are a medium now on the same level as TV or Film, and they should be able to create an experience equal to or even greater than the aformentioned media. With the added ability of immersion.

Heavy Rain satisfied me on all of these aspects and more. Oh yeah, some of the acting is atrocious (the "Jason"'s are the ones that stick out to me most) and the movement is a touch wonky at times. But I enjoyed this game more than I have any other in such a long time. And it has one of the best stories I have ever played and a reveal that had me in tears (but I was stabbing something with a knife in real life when it happened, so it's ok to cry) and begging for it not to be true.

I'm waiting until the majority of the plot has disappeared from my memory before I play it again. I want it to be fresh each time. I love the game too much for the reveal to mean nothing to me.

Spoiler

Minor/Major Spoiler (Depending on how you look at it)

When you are in Manfred's shop there is a very short time frame where you lose control of your character and the camera focuses on Lauren. That's how I explain that. But at least it's the only real plot hole people seem to have picked up on.

Well, there's my two cents. Sorry for the mini essay.

Press X to Jason.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Although if there was one thing I'd change, it'd be

Spoiler: Ending spoilers

When I got the "happy" ending. Well reasonably happy. But I mean, there was Ethan crying over Shaun and I was thinking 'omfg, is his son going to die?! Then he's gonna die! Oh fuck this is the most powerful game ending ever' - And then both survived. I had been half expecting Shaun would live, but I was kinda hoping the poison was real.

Just imagine how much more powerful the ending would be if his son dies, and crying.....Ethan slips away........

I'll assume that you haven't seen the other endings.
I have.

Spoiler: Heavy Rain

Some of the endings are absolutely fucking brutal. I'd say they were actually better than the happy endings but the fact was that I really felt bad for unlocking them.
Just today I got the Platinum trophy in the game but that had me doing lots of stuff that I didn't want to do.

Also, this is one of the reasons I believe Heavy Rain succeeds at telling a story. I literally couldn't force myself to make a bad playthrough where bad things happen to these characters.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

It doesn't change the formula...but its a pretty amazing game.

 

[SnipErlite]

Although if there was one thing I'd change, it'd be

Spoiler: Ending spoilers

When I got the "happy" ending. Well reasonably happy. But I mean, there was Ethan crying over Shaun and I was thinking 'omfg, is his son going to die?! Then he's gonna die! Oh fuck this is the most powerful game ending ever' - And then both survived. I had been half expecting Shaun would live, but I was kinda hoping the poison was real.

Just imagine how much more powerful the ending would be if his son dies, and crying.....Ethan slips away........

I'll assume that you haven't seen the other endings.
I have.

Spoiler: Heavy Rain

Some of the endings are absolutely fucking brutal. I'd say they were actually better than the happy endings but the fact was that I really felt bad for unlocking them.
Just today I got the Platinum trophy in the game but that had me doing lots of stuff that I didn't want to do.

Also, this is one of the reasons I believe Heavy Rain succeeds at telling a story. I literally couldn't force myself to make a bad playthrough where bad things happen to these characters.

This is true, I don't want to fail the tasks. Although that might just be me refusing to deliberately fail a video game. But I do actually care about the characters.

And even if the story is a little implausible at times it's still a really great game.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

Although if there was one thing I'd change, it'd be

Spoiler: Ending spoilers

When I got the "happy" ending. Well reasonably happy. But I mean, there was Ethan crying over Shaun and I was thinking 'omfg, is his son going to die?! Then he's gonna die! Oh fuck this is the most powerful game ending ever' - And then both survived. I had been half expecting Shaun would live, but I was kinda hoping the poison was real.

Just imagine how much more powerful the ending would be if his son dies, and crying.....Ethan slips away........

I'll assume that you haven't seen the other endings.
I have.

Spoiler: Heavy Rain

Some of the endings are absolutely fucking brutal. I'd say they were actually better than the happy endings but the fact was that I really felt bad for unlocking them.
Just today I got the Platinum trophy in the game but that had me doing lots of stuff that I didn't want to do.

Also, this is one of the reasons I believe Heavy Rain succeeds at telling a story. I literally couldn't force myself to make a bad playthrough where bad things happen to these characters.

This is true, I don't want to fail the tasks. Although that might just be me refusing to deliberately fail a video game. But I do actually care about the characters.

And even if the story is a little implausible at times it's still a really great game.

Still, I believe you should go check them out on Youtube or stuff.
They are really really good and powerful if painful to watch.

 

[SnipErlite]

Still, I believe you should go check them out on Youtube or stuff.
They are really really good and powerful if painful to watch.

I shall indeed - or play through them myself.

Hm. Maybe after exams. I'd rather play them myself I think, for the true feeling.