Heavy Rain - new screenshots

[cool breeze]

The hacking mini game in Enter the Matrix was awesome.  I had more fun with that than I ever did with the actual 'game'.

[trippingmartian]

The Indigo Prophecy PC demo was incredible.

[duckman2000]

Isn't that the game that everyone says is amazing, for about 1/2 or 1/3 of it? Developers can improve, and grow wiser from mistakes made. Of course, they may also never acknowledge the mistakes, and just create another flawed game. We'll see. Never played that one myself, but I like what the creator claims to be interested in doing with this game; moving away from the large scale, save the world stuff, and making a  game with a more, er, personal theme. I'm at the very least interested in seeing how this will present itself in a game setting.

Keeping in mind of course, that the last time I bet blindly on an unproven developer because of an attractive concept and direction, we got Haze. 

[Crushed]

http://vimeo.com/652673

hahahahhahahhahahahhhahahahahha

[JustinP]

Keeping in mind of course, that the last time I bet blindly on an unproven developer because of an attractive concept and direction, we got Haze. 

that was a proven developer with a shitty concept that ended up being a super shitty game. 

[demi]

Crushed seems really entertained by this. Owned? Seems so.

Demi +1

[Crushed]

oh my god the mayan god "orange clan" is fighting against the internet a.i. "purple clan" for control of the "indigo child" of humanity's greatest prophecy, and all this is being explained by a group of magic hobos

wait

orange clan, purple clan, meso-american magic


this is legends of the hidden temple

[demi]

Easily top 5 game, you wont see anything like it for a long while

[Jansen]

holy shit i just watched the giant bugs scene

it's like qte overdrive

http://vimeo.com/403626

wow that is just godawful. heavy rain is going to be like this?

i have zero interest in playing simon sez pasted on top of a movie.

[y2kev]

uh kev

this wouldn't happen to be the jump the shark moment would it

I think it jumps before that even, but this is definitely the height. The JTS moment is a scene you have to replay from Lucas' childhood where the game becomes a (bad) Metal Gear Solid for two minutes.

I still believe the first 1/3rd is unparalleled in what it does. The impressiveness of the presentation, the voice acting, the dialog system being Mass Effectian but with actual good writing and consequences for each dialog choice, the atmosphere, the investigative gameplay, the way it builds your sympathy with characters, the moral choices you have to make that actually affect gameplay beyond "harvest" or "save," etc.

It's 10 dollars to buy or 15 to get off XBLM. It's totally worth it just to see what they are capable of doing.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

I don't know if I'd go so far as calling the first 1/2 or even 1/3 of the game great.  It basically goes downhill from the moment you leave the diner at the beginning and like Kev says, the wheels completely fall of the wagon as soon as the Little Rascals flashback sequences begin, which are even more annoying than the QTEs that you have in just about every single conversation or action in the game for no apparent reason.  And speaking of those flashbacks, the game is set in modern times, correct?  Then why the hell is the main character having childhood flashbacks to a military base that looks like it was ripped straight out of the 1940's?  How fucking old is this guy anyway?

[y2kev]

I'm considering up to the military flashback 1/3rd of the game. That's my JTS moment. I beat the game in about 8 hours ...so the two hours or so of exploring the diner and Lucas' apartment was my favorite.

The scene with the cop at the door and Lucas frantically trying to hide stuff was something I had never done in a game before.

[patrickula]

Wow IP/Fahrenheit looks hilariously awful 
Do we know if Heavy Rain gameplay is like this?

[Tauntaun]

There Will Be Rain



DRAINAGE! Drainage, Eli, you boy. Drained dry. I'm so sorry. Here, if you have some rain, and I have some rain, and I have a straw. There it is, that's a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your rain... I... drink... your... rain!

I DRINK IT UP!

[Crushed]

There Will Be Rain



DRAINAGE! Drainage, Eli, you boy. Drained dry. I'm so sorry. Here, if you have some rain, and I have some rain, and I have a straw. There it is, that's a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your rain... I... drink... your... rain!

I DRINK IT UP!

Don't talk about "Eli" and "being drained dry through a straw."


It reminds me of HL2E2's ending. 

[dark1x]

holy shit i just watched the giant bugs scene

it's like qte overdrive

http://vimeo.com/403626

wow that is just godawful. heavy rain is going to be like this?

i have zero interest in playing simon sez pasted on top of a movie.

Whoa now, don't assume that Heavy Rain will be more of the same.  David Cage has aknowledged the flaws of IP many times and, while it's still best to approach this new game with caution, I don't think anyone should assume that these problems will be repeated.

[Jansen]

i didn't assume anything. i asked if heavy rain was going to be like that, hence the question mark.

is the majority of the gameplay still going to be based around qte's or are they going for a different approach?

[demi]

i hope it's all QTEs. who cares about this game otherwise?

[dark1x]

i didn't assume anything. i asked if heavy rain was going to be like that, hence the question mark.

is the majority of the gameplay still going to be based around qte's or are they going for a different approach?

From what we can tell, the game is not based around QTEs this time.  Don't forget the gushing praise lavished upon this game from those lucky enough to see it behind closed doors at E3.  If it were more of the same (Simon Says QTEs) I don't think people would have been so excited.  David Cage also basically admitted that things fell apart in the game (IP).

I believe Heavy Rain will be a much better game as a result of their previous project.

[cool breeze]

http://gamersyde.com/leech_8318_en.html

Video

[Tabasco]

looks like demi gets his wish.  it's a movie except you occasionally have to press buttons to make it continue

[cool breeze]

To be fair, QTE seem a lot better integrated here than in older games. 

[duckman2000]

Well, it certainly looks remarkable.

[duckman2000]

How is it not a "real" game?

[Eel O'Brian]

how can you call an interactive movie actual gameplay footage

it's a point and click adventure without the pointing, just the clicking

it looks great, but so did beowulf, and you didn't have to time button presses to watch that

[Crushed]

i can't wait for this game's two 15 minute thrilling scenes of branching choices, which then disappear never to be seen again, replaced by two 20-30 minute baby gear solid segments

[Brehvolution]

Looks great. I'm going to have to go against the whole "the trailer showed qte's so the WHOLE game is going to be like this" crap.

[demi]

Looks like I'm buying a PS3... just wow

[fistfulofmetal]

Looks good. As long as they don't go all wacky supernatural with the ending I'll be happy.

[Brehvolution]

1. Mojo
2. Zero Hero
3. Himu (just because)
4. AA

[cool breeze]

Looks good. As long as they don't go all wacky supernatural with the ending I'll be happy.

they already said none of that shit.

[Crushed]

Looks good. As long as they don't go all wacky supernatural with the ending I'll be happy.

they already said none of that shit.

Sweet, no Mayans, just plain ol' natural robots.

[Jansen]

hahaha. the battles look like ass.

fucking qte's.

[demi]

Why the hate? It looks incredible and has QTEs. Guaranteed million seller. System seller, too.

[demi]

No

[demi]

Shenmue was like "Here's some QTEs, but first you have to do slow ass mundane tasks like picking your asshole"

I'm like how about no *shut off, delete ISO, throw away CD-Rs*

[Great Rumbler]

Wow, I thought people were just exaggerating at first, but there was a ton of QTE in that segment!

Don't know if want.

[demi]

Damn I just watched the footage... my god, that looks amazing

I'm in, buying a PS3 when this is out

DAMN, I'm hyped now

[Jansen]

if you want, i can videotape my play through of the game and you could press buttons on a ds2. it'll be pretty much the same thing.

[demi]

Nah, I bet it will look gorgeous on my HD

[Raban]

Fuck QTEs, and fuck everything past the diner in Indigo Prophecy. Fucking Matrix wannabe.

[cool breeze]

The game isn't only QTE based.  Preview from 1up:  http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3169463

Some quotes:

Movement in Heavy Rain doesn't come from the analog stick; it comes from holding down the right trigger (R2), "like in a racing game," says Cage. "Simple. You never get lost. Pressing the button always makes you move forward." The newly freed left analog stick, then, controls your character's head -- and serves as the steering wheel, essentially.

The rest of the controls have changed a decent bit as well. You still interact with the world around you using the right analog stick (to knock on a door, for instance), but now you make many choices with the Sixaxis' tilt sensor. Walk up to a door and the game will give you three dialogue choices, which you select by physically moving your controller toward them.

(wtf?)

Using a similar interface, you can pull up a short list of your character's thoughts at any time by holding down L1 and moving the controller to select between them, the idea being that you can ask your character what they are thinking as a way to gain clues or extra information about what's occurring around them.

It is an adventure game.

[Great Rumbler]

The rest of the controls have changed a decent bit as well. You still interact with the world around you using the right analog stick (to knock on a door, for instance), but now you make many choices with the Sixaxis' tilt sensor. Walk up to a door and the game will give you three dialogue choices, which you select by physically moving your controller toward them.

Innovation

[WrikaWrek]

I kinda  when i saw the QTes, and the animation, at least when she spoke at the phone was horrible.

Don't see anything so far that looks particularly amazing, but it certainly looks like a different game than most on the market so that's a reason to be excited.

[dark1x]

It basically sounds like an evolved Indigo Prophecy.  So, if you hated that game, you probably won't much like this one either.

I think it sounds great, though.  IP was an adventure game at heart with QTE elements thrown in.  The QTEs appear to be vastly improved this time while the adventure stuff sounds just as good.  I suppose it's difficult to show off puzzles or typical adventure gameplay in a trailer, however, so I'm sure that's why the trailer focused on QTEs.  Of course, the QTE elements were the weakest part of the original (due to the Simon-like interface) so I'm sure they wanted to demonstrate the new QTE system as well.

So, like IP, this is a graphic adventure with QTE elements thrown in for action sequences.  I don't see how anyone could write it off so quickly unless they hate graphic adventures (which a lot of people seem to, unfortunately).  What made IP unique was all of the small interactions that the player could perform that added to the experience (and in many cases, suspense).  This is what made the game somewhat more interactive than your typical adventure game.  Your typical graphic adventure requires you to fumble around with an inventory and talk to people.  That's it.  Yet, they can still be very enjoyable.  I thought Dreamfall was a good experience despite the fact that it involved very little serious interaction of any sort (I wish they could have found a middleground between that and The Longest Journey, however, as TLJ was just too convoluted when it came to puzzles).

I still miss all of the old Lucas Arts games...

[WrikaWrek]

5. WrikaWrek

I said i don't like QTEs.

[Snuflupagulus]

Movement in Heavy Rain doesn't come from the analog stick; it comes from holding down the right trigger (R2), "like in a racing game," says Cage. "Simple. You never get lost. Pressing the button always makes you move forward." The newly freed left analog stick, then, controls your character's head -- and serves as the steering wheel, essentially.

so it's a dvd on fast forward .  wait.

sorry, so it's a blu-ray on fast forward .

[WrikaWrek]

Movement in Heavy Rain doesn't come from the analog stick; it comes from holding down the right trigger (R2), "like in a racing game," says Cage. "Simple. You never get lost. Pressing the button always makes you move forward." The newly freed left analog stick, then, controls your character's head -- and serves as the steering wheel, essentially.

Well that sounds shitty.

The rest of the controls have changed a decent bit as well. You still interact with the world around you using the right analog stick (to knock on a door, for instance), but now you make many choices with the Sixaxis' tilt sensor. Walk up to a door and the game will give you three dialogue choices, which you select by physically moving your controller toward them.

Sounds like Fahrenheit, but worse.

Using a similar interface, you can pull up a short list of your character's thoughts at any time by holding down L1 and moving the controller to select between them, the idea being that you can ask your character what they are thinking as a way to gain clues or extra information about what's occurring around them.

That's cool.

Overall, wow, the game keeps going down on my list.

[dark1x]

Well that sounds shitty.

There have been a couple of games that have used that method (Shenmue included).  It works really well, actually, as it allows precise movement through the world.  It's not as if you're stuck on rails or something.

[WrikaWrek]

Well that sounds shitty.

There have been a couple of games that have used that method (Shenmue included).  It works really well, actually, as it allows precise movement through the world.  It's not as if you're stuck on rails or something.

It was the worst part of shenmue. Walking around.

How is it any more precise than using both analogs?

[Kestastrophe]

Looks good, plus there was almost rape at the end of the trailer...count me in.

[Mupepe]

Hey, that sounds fucking awesome!  I usually hate QTE's but i liked that.  I'm going to jack off and fuck it and then be like wowowowowowowowo and then YEAH DEMI FUCK MY ASS

[demi]

And then I'm going to fuck Mupepe's ass

[MCD]

creepy eyes still creepy.

[Ninja]

This looks awesome. I really enjoyed the first 2/3s of fahrenheit until the Matrix shit got out of hand. This being a more normal stoy should be better and I really like how they've integrated the QTE inputs into the game. It's a lot more subtle than fahrenheit.

[demi]

Cohen is going to cry when this sells... Someone photoshop his face in the crying photo

[Crushed]

Cage also clearly noted that the demo we were going to watch was not going to be part of the proper plot of Heavy Rain. It was a special bonus scene created specifically for the demo and would not play a part in the actual storyline.

ruh-roh, diner scene hype from fahrenheit all over again, that's our david

[Eel O'Brian]

can you play this with the blu ray remote

like those games that come on disney movies

[Greatness Gone]

I'll take anything even slightly interesting for my PS3, since the only game I've played on it was that horrendous trash (well, story-wise, at least) MGS4.

The QTE stuff looks really intense, the environments looks great, and the character models look great from far away (they look like regular Xbox 360 esque models up close). Hopefully the story is good.

[dark1x]

Well that sounds shitty.

There have been a couple of games that have used that method (Shenmue included).  It works really well, actually, as it allows precise movement through the world.  It's not as if you're stuck on rails or something.

It was the worst part of shenmue. Walking around.

How is it any more precise than using both analogs?

Actually, ignore the Shenmue example.  A better example would be the Fatal Frame games.  You simply hold a button to run forward and turn with the analog stick.  I believe this is done to allow for cinematic camera angles without screwing with your viewpoint.  Unlike Shenmue, both Fatal Frame and Heavy Rain use cinematic angles at various points.  If you use a traditional movement scheme, you'll end up running into issues when the camera changes.  Devil May Cry likes to throw in angles like this at times and it can be annoying when the camera does a major switch.

It's perfect for an adventure game.