Hot off the press! Activision Blizzard just underwent some silent restructuring of management and apparently Mike Morhaime, the head hancho of Blizzard, now reports "directly to newly appointed chief operating officer Thomas Tippl, who in turn reports to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick." Bobby Kotick says:
"This is an important change as it will allow me, with Thomas, to become more deeply involved in areas of the business where I believe we can capture great potential and opportunity."
So what do you guys think? You think Blizzard is gonna be able to keep Kotick out of its business or will he destroy them like the leech he is? Blizzard is still "an independent unit," it's just Kotick seems to have more of a say in their management than before.
Everything you said about the designers wanting you to experience it once, just makes this a less worthwhile experience for me. For example I have recently played through Mass Effect 2 twice, once as a full on Paragon and then again as full on Renegade to get the different slants on the story and at the harcore difficulty. I enjoyed every minute of that game, the story and the gameplay fit perfectly. Heavy Rain didn't feel like I was choosing a path, just pushing the buttons to move it along. It feels more like I am along for the ride rather than choosing where the story goes and that isn't what I wanted from the experience that was promoted as me choosing that path. I quote from the box, "Your decisions affect how the plot unfolds" but there were instances where the game chose those actions for me because I couldn't read the spinning text fast enough or because I had to press the camera angle button to be able to and then it just selected something for me. One of my characters actually died because I pressed the wrong button in a sequence of literally about 100 QTE events. How is any of that my choice? I watch a lot of films and if this intends to be an interactive film that I press buttons in, I would much rather just watch a film rather than spend £40 with an interactive movie I am only supposed to experience once. I play a lot of RPGs these days like Fallout 3, Mass Effect 2 and even Borderlands which have amounted to 100s of hours of gameplay. I don't feel this has been value for money as a game and as a film would be subject to the same plot hole analysis I and many others have directed towards it. If you enjoyed it that is absolutely fine by me, I am glad you did. From my perspective it doesn't advance in any way from Fahrenheit and is a massive disappointment. Still, I have God of War III to look forward to now. "
Totally understandable. I agree £40 (or $60) is a little too steep for a game the developers only want you to play once. That's why so many people are waiting for a price drop.
As for the choice thing, I don't think you can argue against the fact that the plot can unfold in several directions. Now, the specific direction it takes can certainly be influenced by those mess ups or by small, hard to read text, but isn't that the point of those QTEs? To throw so much at you, especially in a very tense situation, to see if you can keep up with the actions? I don't think the QTEs are in there to act as the "video game portion" of the game where you're supposed to hit every button to progress. It's there to simulate the real things going on, and hey, if you get into a fight with a guy it's not like you'll always win. One slip and you could be on the floor or shot in the head. That's what Heavy Rain tries to replicate. If you can pick every single outcome of a fight or a really tense situation with just a little press of the button you lose the whole connection to the characters. It's like you're playing god in a story that wouldn't be anywhere near as engaging if you didn't feel responsible for keeping the character alive. Mass Effect 2 can get away with this because it doesn't base it's gameplay off of this interactivity. It's an RPG/TPS first and foremost.
As for the text, yes it can be a bitch to read. I had the same thing happen to me several times and only in one spot that actually mattered. Sometimes I felt like my TV screen was probably a little too small but I agree they should have made the choices a little more distinct. However, that really didn't effect my story and I was quite satisfied with how it played out. It wasn't perfect but I felt like everything that happened was my doing. I feel that's one of the key places where we differ. You maybe had a little bad luck with the game that caused you to really draw out your hate while things went fine for me. (Believe it or not the six axis was really kind to me, I just needed a lot of space for it.)
I played over 35 hours of Mass Effect 2. Was it worth 60 bucks? Absolutely. I played Heavy Rain for about 8-10 hours. Was it worth 60 bucks? No, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it.
" Without spoiling it for people, I thought the twist in the plot was pathetic. I saw it a mile off and it just DID not make sense."
Dude... what? It didn't make sense? So how on earth did you see it "a mile off" if there was nothing in the story that could help you come to that conclusion? MAKE SENSE!
And your arguments against the plot are ridiculous. Sure things always go to hell but that's what happens in any sort of narrative; movie, book, or video game. It's what makes a story a story. Same applies with the plot holes within a narrative. The difference with a video game, especially one that has multiple paths for the story, is that it's harder to hide the illusion of a seamless plot because of all the variation that must be taken into account. Do movies or novels tell you every little detail of a story? No, they expect you to piece things together and put some thought into it, not hold your hand. I recall one of the giant bomb guys (I think either Brad or Ryan?) saying how the creator of Heavy Rain wanted people to only play through the game once, not because he felt people would be bored with the second playthrough, but because it would break the illusion they created. To purposely go back a second time to find holes within a video game is stupid. It's a video game so why expect so much out of it?
Yes the controls were awful and there was one part in particular that go me so aggravated I turned my PS3 off, but that's not what the game is about. It's there to give the feeling of connectivity; to make it feel like you're responsible for the character. As for the claim that the game promoted choice, I wouldn't know. I saw the Quick Looks and the throwback to Indigo Prophecy and I was sold.
UPDATE 11:20 PM: It turns out Activision may have showed their hand in this matter earlier today.
In an SEC filing made earlier today, Activision cited a human resources investigation into "into breaches of contract and insubordination by two senior employees at Infinity Ward."
Based on the information we currently have, at least one of those employees may have included Infinity Ward CTO Jason West. It's possible Vince Zampella is the other unmentioned employee.
"This matter is expected to involve the departure of key personnel and litigation," read the Activision's filing. "At present, the Company does not expect this matter to have a material impact on the Company."
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