Zero Punctuation: Heavy Rain

[A1]

So it would seem that Yahtzee ultimately has mixed feelings about Heavy Rain.

I can't really say I'm surprised by his complaints with regard to the first 1-3 hours of the game. He has openly admitted that he doesn't have much patience and that he's one of those instant gratification guys. Or in other words exactly the kind of person who shouldn't be playing a game like this. But of course this does make the positive things he has to say about the game all the more pleasantly surprising.

Nevertheless I still have one complaint about this review and it's pretty much the same one I have with regard to his Bayonetta review. He never actually addresses the question of whether the game is good or not.


And the replay value of the game doesn't exist with the mystery obviously. It's there if you want to try and make different choices and see how said choices affect the story.

And the quick time action sequences do constitute choices. One could choose to deliberately screw them up just to see what happens. So they are in fact choices, just not conventional ones. Which is just as well because there's very little about this game that IS conventional.

 

[Frank_Sinatra_]

I can't tell if these are spoilers or not.
Guess I'll have to play it to find out!

Yes some of them are, and one or two of them are some he should have left his mouth shut for.

OT: I can't help but feel that this will be an open invitation for; People who haven't played the game to act like morons and not play it, and people who have played the game to stupidly hate it.

Yes I know YZ is a critic, and it's his job to hate the game, but some people are just so phenomenally stupid that they'll take his reviews seriously.
The game is flawed, but it has a Prince of Persia effect it you will. Although it's not a "game" per say, it still gets so close to perfection that all of it's flaws get more, and more glaring.

Oh! For people who will ***** that it's not a "game," if you think about it neither is Rock Band.

 

[Yossarian1507]

Heh, quite good review.

I loved the game through and through. I love the concept of multiple Heroes discovering the plot on their own, so when I heard about it, I knew I will like it. If the first few chapters have to be slow to let us get a connection with the Heroes, then so be it. I have no problems with that.

Oh, and I think that argument about pointlessness of replaying the game if the killer is the same is flawed, especially considering WHO turned out to be the killer.

yeah theres only 28 endings to see.....

Well... 17 epilogues to be specific. They differ based on other epilogues (who died, who survived, etc.), but I wouldn't count it as definitive 'new' epilogue. Still, that's a lot, and the I had a lot of fun getting all of them.

 

[SammiYin]

Thankyou so very much, exactly what I was thinking. I'm going to buy a ps3, hide my eyes for the first half and then open them when it gets good, thank God I don't have to make this opinion for myself.

 

[Distorted Stu]

Wooo Hartlepool! I dont live there, but i live damn close!
Anyway, great episode, i lol'd all the way through, but the Apple tree gag made me cry for soem reason..

 

[Biek]

The identity of the killer has already been spoiled to me so I agree with Yahtzee that theres basically no point for me in playing.

 

[VanityGirl]

So Yahtzee cries for his immersion in video games, then finds something else to cry about once he gets it?

I think he was trying to say that the game tried TOO hard. Making your character even do the most mundane things can get boring. It's hard to be immersed in a game if you're bored.

 

[A1]

WAnk!
wank !
Wank!
Wank!

I'm glad that someone saw it was just a big quicktime event

Excuse me? At what point did Yahtzee actually describe the game as such?

I believe it's the part where he says the QTE's are the core, skin, seed and whole fucking apple tree of the game.

But that's because I payed attention.

I payed attention to that too. He never uses the words "a big quicktime event".

And sorry if I come off as rude but it seems that you're just using your own preconceived idea as an interpretation of Yahtzee's words. One could just as easily say that Yahtzee means that QTEs are a very essential part of the game. This would seem to be an especially valid interpretation in light of the fact that he also indicates that QTE's are not the only part of the game.

 

[drummond13]

Considering the fact that Yahtzee hates QTE's, and the game is arguably one long QTE, this is actually a GLOWING review for the game from him.

 

[Trifixion]

Pretty much exactly the review I was expecting, except no mention of the voice acting problems or the WTF-inducing loading screens. Thoroughly enjoyed the game anyway.

 

[Blanks]

Huh... really? the ending is the same no matter what? geez even Ripper had multiple endings... granted they were technically the same too but with different names

I still think it's worth a wank-i mean look, i haven't played an FMV game before so i think it'd be interesting...kinda

 

[Jax765]

What is it with all the sheep on this site who use Yahtzee's opinion to decided whether to get a game? Seriously.

Also, the reason things start off so mundane is to ease players into the control scheme and let them get accustomed to it. Thought tbh, I liked Fahrenheit's intro more, as it was more tense and exciting.

 

[Spooge2Luvs]

7 different actual endings, 4 different epilogues that makes 28

 

[Wislong]

Upon second thought;I shaln't buy this game

 

[clank1013]

i loved 0:55-1:25, "and then u stab ur kids with a knive!!!" lol

 

[A1]

I'm surprised he went through the review without touching all the plot holes. Easily a prime opportunity for Yahtzee to do what he does best, and it was one of Heavy Rain's most damning flaws.

It seems to me that all the plot hole accusations that have been directed at Heavy Rain are largely misguided and overblown. I've argued this before but Heavy Rain is a game that frequently pushes against the boundaries of plausibility but never actually crosses the line in the way that some other games have such as Indigo Prophecy or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Most, if not all, of the alleged plot holes (or oddities or inconsistencies within the plot of the game) can be easily explained away. And Yahtzee has strongly indicated that he has no problem with explaining things away. This is evident with his review of Condemned 2 and with his latest extra punctuation piece on Audio logs.

 

[Psychophante]

Silly me, thought he may actually like this game. Having said that, he wasn't as scathing as he has been in the past.
Even though I agree with most of the things he said, I bloody love Heavy Rain.

 

[Radu889]

The same killer? Wow. That's a major flaw. I mean even Chaos Rising had different traitors each time.

 

[Silent Biohazard Solid]

While Heavy Rain is my third favorite game on the PS3... And while I do agree with the fact that there should've been different killers in it...
The biggest issue I have with this review is.... JERKING OFF A CASTRATED DOG??? Wow! Wow! Why did that shock me more than anything he's ever said?

 

[historybuff]

Thank you! I was beginning to feel like I was the only one who wasn't overly impressed.