Hold L2 to read my Heavy Rain thoughts

By Xantiriad March 3, 2010 1 Comments

1. "Wow! Heavy Rain looks fantastic". So much so that part of the immersion is how "real" the world looks: from the grimy to the sublime. However, the stunning visuals also set expectations on how the virtual work behaves. The more realistic it looks the more we expect it the conform to our reality.
2. "Wow! Heavy Rain REALLY looks fantastic". However, it has been proven many times before that the seduction of amazing graphics only lasts a brief time. You have to include more substance than just looking good.
3. "Why am I making the stupid gestures all the time?". Sony are due to launch a revolutionary motion control device later in 2010. Here is a game in which nearly all the interaction is based on the idea of metaphorical motions. Why on earth didn't Quantic Dreams and Sony not join up the dots? Why am I making bizarre stick movements to open doors and close drawers, when I could be swiping, pushing or lifting? To be quite frank: the gestures are a pain in the arse and pull you from the story/world. Why do I hold R2 to walk?I don't clench my fist in order to move? Many o f the action scenes are great to watch, but as a player I don't see them. I'm too busy looking for the next gesture icon!
4. "Why is this world so inconsistent?" I have to make gestures to open a fridge or a cupboard, but in another room everything is either nailed shut or not working? I get in one car and have to manually perform all the actions. Then I get in another and do nothing? I can hold L2 to see my thoughts...until the last 3rd of the game when I suddenly forget myself?
5. "Wait! That's not what I wanted to do" In places you are only given a few seconds to choose a dialogue option or act on something. Often the game will default an action if you don't select it in time (so that the scene can play out in real time). I actually managed to just watch entire scenes with the game choosing the options for me. It beggars the question just why do i bother? On other occasions choosing a passive response keyword like "X - Calm" results in the opposite effect, or the choices are obscured by "wobble" so that you pick something incorrectly. I can't see how these qualify as "interactive storytelling" if I'm not able to effectively interact!
6. "Bah! That was a really underhand and nasty plot device". Only cheap soap operas and pulp novels would establish a mentally disturbed character by killing his son in such a contrived way. Not only did it illustrate lazy character development (dead son = emotional problems), but it starts the game with a low and it never mixes things up from there.
7. "What a completely inaccurate diagnosis of schizophrenia!". The doctor, shrink, or whatever he is, clearly never went to medical school or studied psychology. The tabloid perception of schizophrenia is actually pretty offensive. Remember, if you are punting for gritty realism you have to be consistent.
8. "Was Se7en really that good that we have a homage to it?" I actually really disliked Se7en. Visually stunning, it was however nasty rather than dark, and gruesome rather than sinister. Some of the most moving and disturbing films have very little violence, trauma or sadism. Gruesome torture or mutilation are cheap side-show tricks to illicit an immediate response, rather than an unsettling or thought provoking one. As a parent with a young child I actually found some of the content a bit sick, rather than emotional or unsettling.
9. "Hey? Who? What? How? That can't be right?" I don't know whether the plot was re-written or it is just a mess, but there are holes as big as lunar crater in the story. Character development is virtually non-existent: player character motivations are never explored: How did the GPS get in the car when it hadn't been touched for 2 years? How do the data cards get the video on them when they are stashed in things (like the gun)? (I assumed streamed?). Why does Ethan not just push the glass out of the way? Why does Shelby never "think" killer's thoughts? Why is Shelby sympathetic to the shop-keeper and Lauren? Why did Shelby have a long police career and then start murdering? Who is Madison beside a hack? How come she's fallen for Ethan so easily? I could go on and on...
10. "Wow! The sound design is brilliant, so why does everyone sound like they are on the phone?" Heavy Rain has superb sound effects and music, yet the cast all sound like they are in a phonebox?

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