Heavy Rain

[wofford29]

Did not enjoy the demo at all. All I could think about the whole time is that there is absolutely no reason they couldn't have given you total control of the character instead of everything being a QT sequence. The walking controls are more awkward than a PS1 Resident Evil game only with less control. The QT sequences every two seconds completely take you out of the cinematical feel, and almost make it too hard to even concentrate on watching whats on screen, because you'll miss what button you'll have to press. The graphics were pretty good. Not the best I've seen. The music sounded great, and the atmosphere were top notch. Outside of that. I'll play this when I can find it for $10 or less in a bargin bin somewhere. Hopefully, and from what I see so far, Alan Wake will be the game I wanted this to be.

 

[plasmid303]

I tried the demo. The only thing I didn't like about it was the control scheme. Aside from that, I'm optimistic about the rest of the game.

Being used to old school adventure games and Indigo Prophecy, I expected the QT sequences in Heavy Rain to factor heavily on most of the actions you perform. I never expected Heavy Rain to be an action game, so in that sense, I wasn't disappointed.

 

[Matt S]

I downloaded this myself......will give my inital thoughts tomorrow

Update: ok, played it and feelings are all over the place. Still a day one purchase for me. Sound, music, Fx: did not sound mix right at all. Voice too loud, sound fx too loud....adjusted game to have voice @ 95, Sound Fx @ 65 and music @65...stilll sounded kinda loud, but anyways...

Graphics: the Detective character model looks fantastic at times. The prostitute model looked a lot like the character model they debuted the game engine 4 years ago, wonder if that was the same model or similar.

The FBI characters looks detailed, if a little unmemorable.....

Controls: I have to agree, no reason NOT to have a more standard control scheme......no need to be one giant QTE.....seemed a little more annoying than I remember it being in Indigo Prophecy, but i'll deal...this is clearly a character driven adventure and definitely not an action type

Bottom line: I see this doing fairly well in Europe, but not so much in North America. Hope I am wrong, but the control scheme will be the make/break factor to many gamers

 

[-jay-]

but the control scheme will be the make/break factor to many gamers

Well it will be for me. I've been looking forward to this so i'm just hoping i can deal with the control scheme.

 

[Matt S]

Well it will be for me. I've been looking forward to this so i'm just hoping i can deal with the control scheme.

Exactly. Weird little things: why do you have to push three buttons to have an overweight character squeeze past a garbage dump? Most game would have you push forward on the stick and the game would do the rest...having to push a qte for a character action does not make for a more rewarding experience

 

[SwedishHeat]

Exactly. Weird little things: why do you have to push three buttons to have an overweight character squeeze past a garbage dump? Most game would have you push forward on the stick and the game would do the rest...having to push a qte for a character action does not make for a more rewarding experience

I think they were trying to simulate a "squeezing in" feeling" kinda like how the command for reaching into your back pocket is a twisting motion on the stick.

Like if you imagine the fat guy's belly are the face buttons, you're going to have to push in all the buttons so he can suck in his gut to squeeze through the dumpster.

I think it makes for a more interactive experience, if all you have to do is walk up to the dumpster and press x, and he pushes it out of the way, or vaults over it. . . . he's not a Nathan Drake character here, so we've got to do things a bit differently. I think the inhaler sequence is pretty inventive, shake the controller and then press R1, like the controller is the inhaler, pressing down the top button like the top of the inhaler.

Though the last game I played that did something like that Zak & Wiki, ended up being super frustrating. That was probably because it was more of a puzzle game and you had to figure out what motions you were supposed to do.

 

[Matt S]

I think they were trying to simulate a "squeezing in" feeling" kinda like how the command for reaching into your back pocket is a twisting motion on the stick.

Like if you imagine the fat guy's belly are the face buttons, you're going to have to push in all the buttons so he can suck in his gut to squeeze through the dumpster.

Never thought of that, but you are probably correct. There is clearly a lot of thought into the control scheme. Just not in the way most of us will imagine. LOL..

That said, Ive played the demo twice, so it is very replayable.

 

[doctor_joker]

Going in colder than ice on this one, I personally can't wait. But I don't want to know anything from the demo going in. Unless it has nothing to do with the story whatsoever.

 

[DinoLast]

I did'nt like the control system at first, but once I got the hang of it, I really enjoyed the demo.
The fight section was awesome.
Also I the investigation section was good too.
I have a feeling that the game storyline might be set on the rails rather than Mass Effect 2, who's story seems to branch out to many different options.
I could be wrong, I'll have to wait and see

 

[Matt S]

reviewers are saying that replability is high.....hopefully that is the case, so the choices you make in the 2nd playthrough opens up a lot of different story elements

 

[darthviper107]

I did'nt like the control system at first, but once I got the hang of it, I really enjoyed the demo.
The fight section was awesome.
Also I the investigation section was good too.
I have a feeling that the game storyline might be set on the rails rather than Mass Effect 2, who's story seems to branch out to many different options.
I could be wrong, I'll have to wait and see

Actually, from what I understand it's story branches quite a bit, there's many options that lead to different events.

 

[plasmid303]

I gave the demo another go today and found that I enjoyed more the second time through. This time I wasn't thinking about the controls and everything just fell into place and felt natural, especially that fight scene. I like that the QTE display indicators usually flash where your eye is focused on anyway, so you can keep up with the action a fair bit easier than in similar sequences in games like Resident Evil 4, Shenmue, or even Indigo Prophecy.

I still dislike the movement controls though. Mapping it to a button (R2) feels cumbersome. However, I like being able to move my characters head around. It's really cool and cinematic to have the character observe his surroundings when the player does.

The graphics are really nice at times, but underwhelming at times. Sometimes the characters look eerily realistic, but then sometimes they just look eerie. The environment graphics and particle effects are the best I've ever seen. However, It's a shame that sometimes the framerate stutters so obviously.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Actually, from what I understand it's story branches quite a bit, there's many options that lead to different events.

One of the things that has me most intrigued about it, is that it's said that when one of the four playable characters die, you don't start over, you take control of another character, and the events of the game reflect the death of said character. So, quite obviously there will be branching paths. I believe there are different endings depending upon who lives or dies at the end, so theoretically there could be 16 different endings, or maybe just 12. I suck at math.

 

[darthviper107]

what happens if you let all your characters die really quickly?

 

[doctor_joker]

I would actually like to see what happens with that. However I'm so intrigued by this, it seems to look like it has the feeling of Edge of Darkness or Frantic even. This whole thing looks bloody brilliant.

 

[SwedishHeat]

what happens if you let all your characters die really quickly?

You probably get the "bad" ending.

 

[Fives]

reviews up at ign: 9.0

 

[IrishJedi]

Okay, I'm definitely picking this up on 2/23.

 

[Matt S]

Reviews have been very kind, which is great to see....will finish Mass Effect 2 just in time for this one..!

 

[SwedishHeat]

Definitely sounds like a winner. Kotaku loved everything except some spotty voice acting, janky controls (walking straight, then the camera angle changes and it makes you turn around) that the lead characters could've used a bit more fleshing out.

And those hates were given qualifiers that seemed like they barely mattered. If I had more time to dedicate to games, it'd be a Day 1 purchase.