Loved The Good The Bad and The Ugly moment. Looks interesting something I'd wait until the price dropped to pick up. Quantic dream the amazing and mind bending Omikron: The Nomad Soul another flawed and beautiful game
Review: Heavy Rain
- Thread starter Susan Arendt
- Start date
I don't think he has any real justifications there, Susan. I mean, really - DVD remote? To me, it simply sounds like he made up his minds without the facts and doesn't have any good reasons behind it.Susan Arendt said:
Now me, I played the demo and, man, I loved it! The fight scene was possibly the most balls-out action I remember in a game for a long time! It was so visceral and in your face, and more than once I found myself ducking and weaving, kicking up my legs defensively and moving my controller around as if it might help!
If only a truck full of PS3s would conveniently crash in front of my house... I've been waiting for this game since the 2006 demo and now I can't even play it. *goes off to cry in corner*
Enjoyable read though, nice to see that this place always writes non-spoilerific reviews (well, as much as it can be).
Enjoyable read though, nice to see that this place always writes non-spoilerific reviews (well, as much as it can be).
How the story was told is a point of view thing, so I'm not going to dwell on that, but too little action? IMO it had plenty of it. Every Scott chapter except maybe two had some real good action. Ethan chapters after first few ones?Warachia said:
Driving the wrong way of the Highway? Crawling through the broken glass and avoiding electrical shocks? Cutting your own finger? Running away from Shotgun wielding guy? 2 Police raids?
Nathaniel anyone? That's probably my favorite chapter in entire game, even if it wasn't really important for the story. It also helped establishing Jayden as my favorite character in this game
Anyway, the game is great. It finally kicked out KotOR II from the first place on my 'top 10 games ever' list. It sucked me in emotionally, mangled, chewed and finally spit leaving me with one of the most depressing endings possible (yeah, I screwed up during my first walkthrough). Amazing. No game ever managed to do that before. Currently I beat the game in (almost) every way possible. I'm hunting for platinum trophy and I have only one gold trophy to go (not the 'all endings' one. I have it since ages, I'm talking about second one :]). I beat it 12 times and still counting. If you have PS3 and you still didn't play it - shame on you, and fix that mistake.
I am the opposite. A bad story can wreck a game whether the controls and game play are amazing or terrible, where as I'll play a game through if it has a good story going for it.Warachia said:
On Topic I'm excited to rent this as soon as possible, if my game rental place would hurry up and get more copies of it in.
Yet another video about heavy rain I cant watch yet 
I keep wanting to watch reviews of the game but I have yet to play anymore than the demo. Damn this game/movie making it impossible to read or watch anything about it without spoilers. So someone tell me is it worth selling a few games to gamestop for heavy rain or should I just wait?
I keep wanting to watch reviews of the game but I have yet to play anymore than the demo. Damn this game/movie making it impossible to read or watch anything about it without spoilers. So someone tell me is it worth selling a few games to gamestop for heavy rain or should I just wait?
If you want to get an amazing story and unleash emotions (various. From extreme adrenaline on some more neck-breaking chapters, through shock and sadness from depressing parts, to happiness if you'll manage to get to the happy ending) you never felt during any game ever (and even if you felt something like that to THAT extent from other game, then you should already know how awesome is that), then go for it. HR is IMO worth every single penny you'll spend on it.sunpop said:Yet another video about heavy rain I cant watch yet
Wonderful review of a fantastic game. The control scheme seemed tedious at first, especially since we were using it to perform such mundane actions (Brushing teeth? Really?). But it dawned on me that this was a clever way to create empathy with the player- the tasks are all familiar day to day actions we perform. Its easy to slip into the role of the character when we're performing their daily routine along with them. At the same time, its a simple way to educate the player on the control scheme without breaking the mood with a complete training level. There enough chracterization and action going on to keep the chapter interesting while keeping us in a completely safe environment in which to practice the various puzzles and challenges the game will throw our way. It serves to build the theme and mood as well, since this bright and happy introduction to our characters is clearly meant to draw a parallel to the desperate and dark feel to the rest of the chapters. In short, it was a great way to show us how to play and establish that Ethan's life and dreams are going pretty well, if all too mundane and suburban, before the events that define the rest of the game.
One thing that doesn't get mentioned here is the expert way the game handles pacing and mood. The scenes in the large crowds, where the characters are trying to push through to get to an objective, with that thrilling score in back...wow. Good stuff. Likewise, the ARI environments are appropriately majestic and awe inspiring, both thrilling to watch and well juxtaposed with the rest of the gritty setting- its easy to see why one would want to escape into it as much as possible. There are plenty of examples, little touches that make the game just surreal enough to be eerie without damaging the realism (super advanced virtual reality tech notwithstanding). I think my favorite moment in the game involved our bedraggled protagonist limping down a long hallway bathed in a blood red light, with a completely white room at the far end. It was just the right combination of cinematic and interactive to be awesome and scary all at once.
I think the 'movie' comparison is inevitable. Its not that it just covers itself in cut scenes to sit through. Indeed, while its not heavily interactive in the sense that you can attack anyone you want or leave a discussion immediately, the conversation pieces tend to be quick and give you several options to respond, and each choice really does shape how your story goes. No, the 'movie' comparison is appropriate because this game really was inspired by the suspenseful movie genre, with heavy doses of Noir and a dash of sci fi thrown in. This makes parts of the game cliche (if you've seen many classic detective stories, Scott Shelby will be familiar territory, Ethan would fit in well with any 'save the missing relative/play the killer's game' story, and Norman still reminds me of Mulder). But its in as much how you execute a cliche as how you defy it, and the game execute them very well.
All that said, I had a few issues. I don't care one wit about the plot holes. The story still fits together just fine to me. What bugs me is what amounts to a cheap shot in perspective...something occurs 'off camera' that would solve the entire mystery, and it occurs in a way that will make the player feel as if they should very well have been aware of how, why, and when the event occured. This isn't a deal breaker, but since the entire premise of the game is to solve the mystery, having this essentially 'covered up' until the big reveal was....annoying. Then too, some of the options were given are hard to see or just rather vague as to what the player would actually be doing. In a game built on choices, that can be very, very bad. For example, in a hostage situation I was attempting to talk down the gunman while training a weapon on him. The game gave me the option to press R1, which looked to be the start of a puzzle. In fact, it was the 'shoot the gunman' option, something I didn't want to do for a number of reasons.
All in all, however, it was fantastic. Easily the best game I've played in a couple years, based largely on the incredible story. Highly recommended.
And yeah, the whole 'Origamee' killer thing buged me too. I decided early on that Blake had just screwed up the way its pronounced when the killings began, and the press and everyone else just starting using the mistake as a way of mocking him. Man, I hated that guy.
One thing that doesn't get mentioned here is the expert way the game handles pacing and mood. The scenes in the large crowds, where the characters are trying to push through to get to an objective, with that thrilling score in back...wow. Good stuff. Likewise, the ARI environments are appropriately majestic and awe inspiring, both thrilling to watch and well juxtaposed with the rest of the gritty setting- its easy to see why one would want to escape into it as much as possible. There are plenty of examples, little touches that make the game just surreal enough to be eerie without damaging the realism (super advanced virtual reality tech notwithstanding). I think my favorite moment in the game involved our bedraggled protagonist limping down a long hallway bathed in a blood red light, with a completely white room at the far end. It was just the right combination of cinematic and interactive to be awesome and scary all at once.
I think the 'movie' comparison is inevitable. Its not that it just covers itself in cut scenes to sit through. Indeed, while its not heavily interactive in the sense that you can attack anyone you want or leave a discussion immediately, the conversation pieces tend to be quick and give you several options to respond, and each choice really does shape how your story goes. No, the 'movie' comparison is appropriate because this game really was inspired by the suspenseful movie genre, with heavy doses of Noir and a dash of sci fi thrown in. This makes parts of the game cliche (if you've seen many classic detective stories, Scott Shelby will be familiar territory, Ethan would fit in well with any 'save the missing relative/play the killer's game' story, and Norman still reminds me of Mulder). But its in as much how you execute a cliche as how you defy it, and the game execute them very well.
All that said, I had a few issues. I don't care one wit about the plot holes. The story still fits together just fine to me. What bugs me is what amounts to a cheap shot in perspective...something occurs 'off camera' that would solve the entire mystery, and it occurs in a way that will make the player feel as if they should very well have been aware of how, why, and when the event occured. This isn't a deal breaker, but since the entire premise of the game is to solve the mystery, having this essentially 'covered up' until the big reveal was....annoying. Then too, some of the options were given are hard to see or just rather vague as to what the player would actually be doing. In a game built on choices, that can be very, very bad. For example, in a hostage situation I was attempting to talk down the gunman while training a weapon on him. The game gave me the option to press R1, which looked to be the start of a puzzle. In fact, it was the 'shoot the gunman' option, something I didn't want to do for a number of reasons.
All in all, however, it was fantastic. Easily the best game I've played in a couple years, based largely on the incredible story. Highly recommended.
And yeah, the whole 'Origamee' killer thing buged me too. I decided early on that Blake had just screwed up the way its pronounced when the killings began, and the press and everyone else just starting using the mistake as a way of mocking him. Man, I hated that guy.
So the gameplay style for Dragon's Lair has finally matured a bit, eh?
I kind of wish I had a PS3 to try this game as I do like trying the newer or oddball stuff. *sigh*
I kind of wish I had a PS3 to try this game as I do like trying the newer or oddball stuff. *sigh*
Well I think that does it for me I will be selling some games to get heavy rain then, thanks for that.Yossarian1507 said:If you want to get an amazing story and unleash emotions (various. From extreme adrenaline on some more neck-breaking chapters, through shock and sadness from depressing parts, to happiness if you'll manage to get to the happy ending) you never felt during any game ever (and even if you felt something like that to THAT extent from other game, then you should already know how awesome is that), then go for it. HR is IMO worth every single penny you'll spend on it.sunpop said:Yet another video about heavy rain I cant watch yet
I bought and love heavy rain, but the similarities to Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy (developed by the same studio) are immense. So even if you feel like you've seen and done everything gaming has to offer - you have if you played Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain doesn't really innovate except fixing some of the annoying things with Fahrenheit... such as the story. Oddly enough Heavy Rain made walking around fucking impossible wherein Fahrenheit it was your standard kind of walking.
I guess I'm just really sick of everyone hailing heavy rain for having new and innovative gameplay when it DOESN'T. It's all been done before, and just because it's a game most people didn't play doesn't mean it's contribution should be ignored.
Susan, I hate you. I was seriously considering buying a PS3 for this game and there you go giving away the biggest piece of the puzzle, just to complain about bad voice acting?
Fair enough, you did say there would be spoilers, but this seems like the biggest spoiler ever!
On the bright side, you did save my money since I don't have to buy a PS3 now.
PS I don't really hate you, but you deserve a smacking!
Fair enough, you did say there would be spoilers, but this seems like the biggest spoiler ever!
On the bright side, you did save my money since I don't have to buy a PS3 now.
PS I don't really hate you, but you deserve a smacking!
If you've seen the trailers for the game, that scene was already spoiled for you.
But more to the point, I think your severely overestimating the level to which this will spoil the game. Like, huge, mega, ultra gigga amounts of overestimating going on as to what impact that spoiler has on your ability to enjoy the game.
For example, my path through the game involved me questioning no less than five different suspects linked to the crime, and at least three of them are directly accused of being the killer before the end of the game. Its very much your job as the player to parce out the false leads and see the right path through the mystery.
But more to the point, I think your severely overestimating the level to which this will spoil the game. Like, huge, mega, ultra gigga amounts of overestimating going on as to what impact that spoiler has on your ability to enjoy the game.
For example, my path through the game involved me questioning no less than five different suspects linked to the crime, and at least three of them are directly accused of being the killer before the end of the game. Its very much your job as the player to parce out the false leads and see the right path through the mystery.
Since you're incredibly quick to judge, I'm going to tell you that it isn't as bad as you think.NicolasMarinus said:
That right there was twist 7 out of something like 45. She didn't give away enough.
Get over it.
Buy the fucking game.
Yossarian1507 said:
When I say that there was too little action, I am not saying that there was no action at all, nor that the action was bad, it was great when things finally started to happen, driving the wrong way? Awesome, avoiding electrical currents? Great, when I figured what direction to go in, the scott chaper action scenes were great, the broken glass thing though, SUCKED and it sucked because the controls sucked, I had to repeat that section over and over, because Ethan could not make a ninety degree turn. Sadly, I also saw through how most of the events were scripted, and all of the action scenes, except the ending, were less than five minutes long. Whenever I watched scenes, most of the time, I wasn't there, I was some outside gguy deliberatly pushing/not pushing certain buttons so I could see what idiot A would do next. As a final point, maybe the root of the problem lies with the fact that graphics do absolutely nothing for me, and have never made a game, although they certainly help.
By the way, the burning scene sucked too.
By the way, the burning scene sucked too.
I was really thinking about buying this game and using the PS3 motion controls.. But then i realized how gimmicky this game was and didn't buy it.. I am kind of regretting it now.. It looks interesting but again not enough for me to go shell out nearly a 100$ to get the proper equipment to play it the way it was intended to play.. Its kind of like how i always loved old school PinBall machines but i never wanted to pay nearly 1000$ for one..
