So I just got done playing a short section of the game, and I am now eagerly anticipating February 26th. I feel describing the game won't do it justice, and it's something that needs to be experienced, but I'll try my best. I played two sections; the first was as a private detective, looking for someone in an apartment to enquire about a murder. Let's be clear, this is not an action packed face paced madness from the likes of Modern Warfare 2. You'll walk around pretty slowly, perhaps too slowly, (as far as I'm aware there is no sprint or anything of the like) perform some quick time-esque events using the analogue sticks to use your asthma pump, and engage in drawn out conversations. That may not seem like much fun, but I never once found it tiresome, as I was so engaged. After all that though I did fight a dude, and the pace picked up significantly. The fight consisted on the same analogue stick motions and button presses, but this time I was required to perform them in succession at speed. Every action resulted in something, whether it be slamming the bitch through a table, grabbing his arm before he could stab me in the through with a bottle or just punching him.
The second section I played was much different. This time I was an FBI agent investigating a crime scene. There was a lot more to the gameplay, as this time you have ‘special detective glasses and a glove’ that allow you to see things the human eye normally can’t, such as blood, pollen. The glasses also have a database of...well pretty much everything. It was quite interesting, but again, slow paced and lacking action which may turn some people off. After examining the scene the gameplay came to an end.
(Trying to stay brief on plot details, don’t want to ruin it for anyone.)
The dialogue seemed good enough. During the more important conversations it’s multiple choice, but rather than choices of exactly what to say, you get a choice of actions such as pressure, trick etc. Fortunately, the voice acting wasn’t awful.
The controls seemed a little awkward, but perhaps I’ll get used to them. Both of the analogue sticks are used to perform actions. That means that whenever you want to walk, which unsurprisingly is fairly often, you’ll need to hold down R2. Certain sections of the game require a button press, followed by another press whilst still holding down the previous button. This is where the controls got awkward for me, often finding my hands in impossible positions In order to progress, but I suspect this will become easier with time.
I really like the look of the game too. I’m not going to say it’s the best looking game ever, but it’s certainly not bad. One part in particular that comes to memory is the flashing ambulance lights in the dark of night during a torrential downpour; it looked great.
I really can’t speak highly enough of what I played, reading what I just wrote seems like nothing special, but in practice when experiencing it the game is something else. I suspect opinions of the game will be divided, similar to how opinions of MGS4 varied, with some describing it as bland, boring, and nothing special but if you give the game a chance and have some patience you could a completely unique video game experience. I for one can not wait, Heavy Rain has gone from an exclusive PS3 game that is apparently decent to a must buy for me.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading, I realise I wrote a fair bit.
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