Heavy Rain [PS3]

[patsu]

Heavy Rain patch released:
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/03/19/heavy_rain_patch/

The patch, labeled "Version 1.02," fixes freezing issues that have plauged the game since its release earlier this month.

I didn't experience any freeze, but the patch is out now.

 

[patsu]

Scott Shelby appeared in a TV show:
http://www.destructoid.com/heavy-rain-s-scott-shelby-had-a-cameo-in-a-real-film-168612.phtml

five years before the release of Heavy Rain. It's a particularly strange coincidence since the detective in the film is wearing the same outfit that Shelby sports through all of Heavy Rain, and, uh, he's playing a detective in the film. Yeah. Crazy, huh?

I think he said similar lines in the game too.

 

[nightshade]

Well he's the same guy who did the voice work & mo cap for shelby in Heavy Rain, Cage probably saw it & hired him immediately while writing his story & based shelby on the character Douglas played in that movie.

P.S.[Now we can see how accurate the ingame animations are ]

 

[patsu]

P.S.[Now we can see how accurate the ingame animations are ]

Yap ! I can still remember that expression and lips movement in the game.

 

[Billy Idol]

If you play games for the experience, then by all means, try Heavy Rain. The game is pretty emotional for me. The demo shows the gameplay mechanics rather well. The full game throws different scenarios at you, but for the most part the mechanics works the same way.

If you are not in a rush, you can wait and see if David Cage releases a PS Move version. He's said to be very interested.

I like HR a lot because the experience is unique and intense. The graphics quality varies from scene to scene, character to character. Some are awesome, some are ok. You should play it on a good TV.

Thanks Patsu!
Finished the game yesterday. I really liked the story...did not know who the killer was until the end!
Graphics were ok-ish, environment often looked good and very realistic!
Animations were great if you ask me...except the facial animation: some of the mouth movement is probably the worst I have ever witnessed in a game (even the game Conan featured better mouth animation )...this is a great dissapointment, as the characters often don't transport there emotions due to the ridiculous mouth...which should have been the first priority in such a game??!

My greatest concern is the gameplay: un-spectacular at best.
I am not sure if I would count this game even as a ...game?! Not sure...the only reason I kept playing is the great and dense story, not the gameplay itself.

To demonstrate you my simple mind, the scene where

Spoiler

you fight with the PI Scott in the mansion of this rich guy, where you have a QTE shoot out: this was the only great gameplay stuff for me...I know, weired!!

If I count this game just as entertainment...it was really great and thus a great and funny experience with a lot of unexpected scenes, settings and stuff - I recomend it!!

If I would count it as a game...I am not sure due to the gameplay stuff...

 

[nightshade]

Well the point & click adventure games counted as games...so I see no reason why Heavy Rain shouldn't be counted as a game.

 

[patsu]

Spoiler

you fight with the PI Scott in the mansion of this rich guy, where you have a QTE shoot out: this was the only great gameplay stuff for me...I know, weired!!

Ha ha, I totally failed that part and the story made me retreat right away. I didn't get to meet any characters there at all.

I liked the ARI and trials gameplay. I also liked choosing my future when the stake was high.

 

[deathindustrial]

Strangely enough I found that section in the mansion totally jarring with the rest of the game.

Spoiler

The entire rest of the game is about building tension through narrative and atmosphere old school adventure game style then all of a sudden you are dropped into a ridiculous, out of context arcade style shoot-em up. You kill something like 10 people during that battle, all Hong Kong action like and it damages the suspension of disbelief that you need to buy into the story.

The impression I was left with was that some test audience complained about there not being enough action so management demanded they cram that section in.

Cheers

 

[patsu]

I think Cage needs the mansion part to close off a thread.

 

[nightshade]

Spoiler

Indeed Cage mentioned in the interview that he wanted to make the gamer feel when they kill somebody, cause killing someone in a video game is very easy, so he wanted to make the gamers think about killing someone in a video game & that's why he put the 4th Trial. The worst part is he even succeeded in making the gamers feel exactly as he wanted, but then after a few chapter you have Scott playing Rambo & killing like what ? 10 guys all under a minute ?

 

[Cornsnake]

I thought the patch was supposed keep this game from freezing. Happend twice during a loading screen, forcing me to replay to last part. Which isn't too bad of itself, but then the game does something it didn't do before, changing events, and saving the game the moment after.

The controls still aren't very good. And completely break the immersion every time you have to do the same over and over again because the game asks you to hold down a silly amout of buttons, or decides you didn't quite move slow enough.

 

[nightshade]

Yea the controls are a bit sluggish & I found that the game now loads much faster compared to how it was after Patch 1. [Streaming was bugged in patch 1.. I think cause there were audio pauses & exceptionally long loading sometimes]

Anyways the game has like a bazzillion flaws both technically & in the plot but I try to forget everything & remember only my first time experience...which I know for a fact that it was awesome.

 

[patsu]

Spoiler

Indeed Cage mentioned in the interview that he wanted to make the gamer feel when they kill somebody, cause killing someone in a video game is very easy, so he wanted to make the gamers think about killing someone in a video game & that's why he put the 4th Trial. The worst part is he even succeeded in making the gamers feel exactly as he wanted, but then after a few chapter you have Scott playing Rambo & killing like what ? 10 guys all under a minute ?

Spoiler

but Shelby already killed so many innocent people...

 

[nightshade]

Spoiler

but Shelby already killed so many innocent people...

Spoiler

But the game never mentions until the end
My point being, since you are the one who controls him & you were the one who controlled Ethan as well, if you want to make the player feel about killing someone from one person then they should make it feel the same for other person too.

Infact I hated the whole idea of Shelby being the origami killer, first of all the "L2 for thoughts" already has contradictions when Shelby was the playing character.Secondly the whole Manfred's shop scenario was a laughing stock. And lastly he was such a likeable character because of his cheerful nature & near the end his character dramatically changes, he's now this mean killer who is always sad kinda like Jigsaw but the difference being he still wants to kill Ethan eventhough he did every of his damn trial...why ?


Imo Cage needs to be much more efficient in his writing, he writes good stories but there are just too many giant plot holes & inaccuracies in his writing.

 

[patsu]

Spoiler

But the game never mentions until the end
My point being, since you are the one who controls him & you were the one who controlled Ethan as well, if you want to make the player feel about killing someone from one person then they should make it feel the same for other person too.

Infact I hated the whole idea of Shelby being the origami killer, first of all the "L2 for thoughts" already has contradictions when Shelby was the playing character.Secondly the whole Manfred's shop scenario was a laughing stock. And lastly he was such a likeable character because of his cheerful nature & near the end his character dramatically changes, he's now this mean killer who is always sad kinda like Jigsaw but the difference being he still wants to kill Ethan eventhough he did every of his damn trial...why ?


Imo Cage needs to be much more efficient in his writing, he writes good stories but there are just too many giant plot holes & inaccuracies in his writing.

Spoiler

Near the end, all my main characters were so f*cked up that I was trying to save all of them. I saw it more as Shelby's true character showing rather than him changing.

In my playthrough, Ethan hung himself.

 

[Freak'n Big Panda]

Really enjoyed this game.. I'm not sure if I am going to platy through it again as I have already experienced 'my story', i.e. I wouldn't want to make any different decisions. Its great to see the game selling well, I was afraid that it wouldn't because typically games of this nature don't do too well. Were the sales just thanks to good marketing?

And for people asking if it's a game, of course its a game. You still make decisions.

Some things I didn't get though..

Spoiler

like what was with Ethan's black outs? I suppose they were a product of the stress he was going through but what was the deal with the origami in his hand when he woke up? Did Shelby put it there?

 

[patsu]

I wouldn't want to make any different decisions.

Grr... that means your execution was perfect. I was snacking and working while playing Heavy Rain. Naturally I f*cked up some of the critical QTEs. I regreted many of my actions.

Spoiler

like what was with Ethan's black outs? I suppose they were a product of the stress he was going through but what was the deal with the origami in his hand when he woke up? Did Shelby put it there?

It was never explained properly. There was a David Cage interview that talked about the plot points, but I have't read it yet. Should be somewhere in this thread.

 

[Cornsnake]

Spoiler

By the end it I felt so disconnected from the game thanks to all the crappy controls making decisions for me, and all the other nonsense the game kept pulling on me, that I treated it like any other game. I have to shoot this guy, done, drink some poison, done. Do anything just to see if the game would let me do it. I didn't feel anything for the characters anymore. Another disappointing game if you ask me.

 

[Freak'n Big Panda]

Grr... that means your execution was perfect. I was snacking and working while playing Heavy Rain. Naturally I f*cked up some of the critical QTEs. I regreted many of my actions.

It doesn't mean my execution was perfect (it was close to perfect though lol). I screwed up a couple times but that's part of it right? Everyone makes mistakes in real life afterall

 

[Arwin]

Well, after hearing that Move support will be added to this game, I think that I'll be able to hold off playing it until then!