Hey gang, DK here with today’s Member BattleCry. Now, we’re gonna take a break from this week’s topic for a day to discuss the soon-to-be-released Heavy Rain. While the game is surely innovative (at least it appears to be), EBA Member Dirtyrat wants to know why it hardly stands the chance of being ACCEPTED. Innovation is one of those things we as gamers continually crave, but will the masses deny what appears to be one of the most innovative interactive experiences to come along in years? Or, to take the other side, is Heavy Rain not that innovative at all? We’re gonna let today’s Member BattleCry kick off the discussion, but be sure to chime in with your thoughts below.
Dirtyrat says:
Sorry but my BattleCry is kinda off topic, it’s about HEAVY RAIN…A quick recap for anyone living under a rock Heavy Rain is the latest game by developer Quantic Dream; creators of the critically acclaimed Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy) and is being released exclusively on PS3 on February 11th.
I’m going to echo the concerns raised by analyst Michael Pachter on Gametrailers Bonus Round… He doesn’t think Heavy Rain is likely to be a commercial success and it saddens but I have to agree with him.
Gamers seem to be a habit driven bunch, we bemoan the lack of creativity and more than half of us probably think we could do better as game designers, but when it comes to what we spend our money on, in general it’s tried and tested brands with massive marketing behind them, and lets face it, most of them are aimed at the teenage, or “young adult” crowd…where are the games for older gamers with real stories, with real choices with real consequences? Games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect may contain mature elements in their narrative, but why can’t we have the same thing in a modern day setting? Why? Because nobody will buy it.
Heavy Rain is trying to push the boundaries of storytelling in video games. It’s trying to appeal to people that don’t have to kill something every 5 minutes to feel like they are progressing, it’s trying to take interactive entertainment seriously.
I would love to see an Eastenders style video game (yes truly lol), an interactive soap opera could be so much fun. I don’t think gamers these days need to feel like they are saving mankind against impossible odds in every single game…or am I the only one who thinks this way?
So please, do gaming a favour and support mature games like this. Give publishers a reason to make similar games for this demographic and BUY Heavy Rain.
END
Nicely put, but I’m not quite sure I want to tell everyone to blindly buy the game just because it may “represent” a particular studio’s attempt to be innovative. The game must deliver a compelling experience, and one that today’s gamers can relate to, if it is to be recommended to today’s consumers. That said, everyone has different tastes and some think about interactive entertainment in far different ways than others. Anyway, if nothing less, we’ve got a good topic to discuss here and one that I’m sure will reach a fevered pitch surrounding the game’s release. Now, be sure and chime in with your thoughts below and if you have a different game or topic you’d like to talk about, feel free to head on over to this week’s Member BattleCry page to SUBMIT A NEW TOPIC for a future Member BattleCry or just check out what everyone is talking about:
SUBMIT YOUR MEMBER BATTLECRY IN THE COMMENTS SECTION HERE.
K, party people…Thx for checkin out the Member BattleCries as always. I’m signing off and I’ll see ya soon!
Peace!
DK
In all honesty i think this game will be known by the general public as “QuickTimeEvent:The Game” in no time after it comes out. I hope the story is good, though, so at least it’s a good interactive multibranched movie.
Also, how long ’till it’s all up on the youtubes (and playable)?
we’ll see…
I’m not really sure whether to buy Heavy Rain or not. I don’t want to go spend the $65 to have a game that’s just some murder mystery that has drama and what not. That doesn’t seem enticing to me whatsoever.
From the first time I heard what the game was gonna be and who made it, I knew the game wouldn’t sell. I’m preorderd it because I loved Fahrenheit/Indogo Prohecy and I want to play games that atleast trys to do something diffrent. But I’ve never understood why Sony has been backing it because there is no way it’s gonna sell becasue te “public” will just think it is a “Quick-time-event”. Of course there is a chance that Heavy Rain will not click with me, it’s trying to make u feel something, and that doesn’t always work. But I want to try it.
Thanks DK for posting my views on this.
I know Heavy Rain won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s partly why I have such strong feelings on this game’s release. We are so used to the same types of experiences, any change has us a bit rattled. We need to support new ideas, otherwise we’ll still be having the same experiences in a decade. Look at the games of 10 years ago..little has changed except the GFX and Sound.
I really want to see games which are more realistic, not realistic in the “wow look at the physics on that explosion” kinda way…but the “wow those characters feel so real, I feel like I know them, and I have this really tough decision to make” kinda way…
Emotion is key.
I totally agree with Dirtyrat´s comment above.
The way Games are made today isn´t hardly innovative, except for some new gimmicks like better explosions, better physics etc. The least of the Gamedeveloper out there are willing to try something new and different today. They just throw the same bullshit@us because in most cases its a guaranteed profit.
I mean look @ Dante´s Inferno its clearly a 100% ripoff from God of War its almost exactly the same except the Story and why? Cause God of War was a hit. This is only my opinion and iam grateful that some Company´s out there that have the guts to risk something and are still trying to bring us something new between all the copied gameconcepts/-ideas and thats why i anticipate Heavy Rain so much between all this old and every Year renewed franchises.
I loved IndigoProphey/Fahrenheit(which also had a lot of quicktimevents) and NomadSoul and iam sure i´ll like Heavy Rain too but to be honest, i doubt that it will sell very well, which sucks.
Excuse me my English is not the best but i think u will understand what i mean. Btw Region Protection sucks! BBE – Biggest Bullshit ever.
Greeting
I’ll agree that the gaming industry really needs to bring in new ideas every now and then to test the waters. I don’t know if anyone remembers the game but on the 3DO there was a game called Strahl (I could have went with Dragon’s lair but I liked this one more.) that was made up entirely of anime sequences that you had to time button presses to win. It didn’t sell well but it left and impression on both myself and my brothers minds so much so that if they ever made a game like it we would most likely buy it.
I know this goes against the “It didn’t sell a million” mindset that everyone has but it did get me and my brother more interested in gaming since we are both rpger’s and before then the long stint between leveling was all we knew.
Another example is Okami which I think is one of the best games that came out that year even though it didn’t top the sales lists. Trying new things doesn’t harm the industry unless the game made is the one shot of a smaller company that could go away as fast as it was established. (Knock on wood.)
I have yet to go back and get a copy of Indigo Prophecy but I will someday because sometimes we don’t want to level or see the most blood but to be surrounded and enveloped by storytelling.
First of all I loved Fahrenheit even with all the problems the game had, but the story and the voice acting was great…..For Heavy Rain the story seems amazingly good and in-depth and could be a hollywood film if it wanted to be, but from the trailers ive seen the voice acting is terrible for some of the characters which is pointless, seing as you need a decent cast to project the emotions in the game but we’ll have to see when the finished project is released.
The problem here is not innovation it self, is more about what are you giving to the player as a whole experience. The main problem I see with Heavy Rain is that it seen to be HEAVILY slow. Most players are looking for fast paced experience. “Investigating a crime” is not as appealing as “taking revenge on the mother fuckers that committed the crime” or even “commit the damn crime”.
Innovation is great, is needed, we support it,we crave for it, but we are still talking about sells here, if you want to sell your “innovation” you have to do it throw a product that will be appealing for the most part of the customers.
I’m looking forward to see what this game will bring to the table but in the end, I can’t picture huge sells for this one.
Give the guy a fucking nuke handgun and let him Rain Heavy fire on the world! (just don’t let him fuck Liberty City).
Lets be honest the game play looks like to be exactly the same as in Fahrenheit. And that game was really bad. Its like a movie on rails where you have to constantly do like these quicktime events. In my opinion that experience isn’t fun at all.
Games should entertain yes, but it also has to stimulate certain skills like puzzle solving, reflexes and tactical thinking (in my opinion).
And please its not like there are only games that want you to kill things every 5 minutes. Look at recent battle cry’s where it was all about games like Grim fandango etc…
The thing is that we had plenty of games that where not centered around killing in the 90s. Games like Broken Sword, Grim Fandango, Gabirel Knight, Last Express…
So heavy rain isn’t really innovating in this respect. It also seems to draw a lot from Shenmue, although I haven’t played much of that game. Its really over the last 10 years that games, having become more mainstream, have turned into killing fests.
i also think Heavy Rain needs to be ported to the PC, It likely has more potential customers in the PC than in the PS3.
I really respect you and other similar views on this. I know Heavy Rain will be FAR from perfect, but it’s a symbol for the type of experience mature 30+ gamers will want…the Wii isn’t ever going to get their…it’s all far too “cute”…perhaps Natal will?.
A really interactive mature experience could revolutionise what we currently take for granted.
Correction. It will.
I agreed with you, but again, that wont make the game a good profit product. It can be the most revolutionary and innovating game ever but its target is not the majority. I’m not saying that it will do bad but I don’t believe it will be sale super well.
Take Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 for example. Great shooter, not a good history, is a improvement of the first but is not innovating, is just an upgrade from Modern Warfare 1 but look how good it sold, and its still been sell.
Like I said, I’m really looking forward to play Heavy Rain, I believe it will give us a new experience, but I don’t think it will become a huge popular success because it not the kind of game most gamers are looking to play.
I agree.
And if I had the money I buy like three copies of this game so I can give them to family members that I know have a PS3 in their home for their kids to have a reason to use the PS3 other than to play movies on them.
@DrunkenPisteloro.. a PC port would definitely help the game.
@Maarten.. From the demo, I can safely say Heavy Rain does involve puzzles, tactical thinking and reflexes. I played the first chapter three different ways already. It’s a very clever game. Like if you don’t leave your business card, you might not get a lead etc..
@The game as a whole: I don’t think it’s a bunch of quicktime events. It really is a thinking man’s game which may not appeal to the mass market but then again most RPGs aren’t about guns blazing. I think it will be a critical success and that’s what Sony are looking for here. If people haven’t noticed, they’re releasing Modnation and Heavy Rain on the same day (In the UK at least). I think that clearly shows the intent. Modnation (can’t wait for that as well) will be the LittleBigPlanet, everyone plays it. Heavy Rain will tug on the hardcore gamer and push them to delve deeper into the power of the PlayStation.
One thing I’m not too sure about is the incorporation of the new gadgets and stuff (like the thing the FBI agent uses to find evidence). To me it doesn’t “fit” with the classic film noir style of the game but we’ll see.
You know I still get that reviews will push this game to get more recognition.
I just got my Game Informer 203 issue (with LA Noire cover) and they review 9.5 the game. This thing it’s no joke, no gimmick. This game is for real. I had check Europe reviews other than official PS3 mags and the reviews are high. If all where in the Metacritic system the game could average in the 90′s. David Cage should be at least happy this game will get the recognition it deserves.
In fact so far on metacritic the UK PS3 official magazine has given it the worst score of 9/10!
I would expect that it might end up more around 85-90% once some of the come critical reviews come out though.
Let me just start off by saying that Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy) was and is a brilliant game. It wasnt perfect, but it stands out whereas most games dont.
Most games are like the seasons of the year, they dont leave any sort of mark, it rains, pours, snows, gets hot and thats it. You just know that soon there will be another year in the same pattern. Like the Sonic, Mario franchises (sadly) and almost ALL SPORTS games.
There is a new 1 or maybe 4 every year. Their only purpose is to milk you for the green. Each new release is said to be BIGGER, BETTER, BOLDER, FASTER, AWESOMER than the last one.
Its like the Ugly Betty Series (no offence to the dudes who dig it..but you guys NEED a hobby).
A game like Fahrenheit is UNIQUE,(to continue my seasons metaphor) is like hurricane Katrina, or more recently the Earthquake in Haiti.
I realize using natural disasters in metaphors makes me seem a little insensitive, but I cried at the end of Uncharted 2 when Drake decided to go with the FLAT chested, LAME humored, not to mention BORING and overall FUGLY Elena Fisher and not the FOXY, PERFECT PERKY PAIR, BUBBLY BOTTOM, SEXY ACCENT having Chloe Frazer….True Story…
Anyways a quick-time event would be a great way to keep you playing during a cut scene or something, rather than have you laying down on your constantly widening ass eating spicy cheetos (which are awesome btw).
Just imagine how awesome it would be if you had a quick-time-event when Robo-Raiden fights the Mooing Geckos (reference to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots).
I know…BRILLIANT!!!
RIGHT??
Heavy Rain seems to me like a great game, I’m really looking forward to it.
I really do hope that Heavy Rain will get at least a +90% rating because the truth is that the trend-following gamers will not consider it otherwise.
QUICK-TIME-EVENT-Peace