Coming out on February 23, 2010. The demo is up on PSN.

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2007/07/heavy_rain_poster.jpg

Right now 37 of the 50 reviews posted at Metacritic for this game are at 9/10 or above, with almost all the rest being an 8+ rating. Overall, it looks to be a enjoyable experience for such a niche, unique title. Here are snippets from the overwhelming majority of them:

100 - Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)

We're enjoying it immensely... It is a game like none other. [Mar 2010, p.66]

100 - Boomtown (http://ps2.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=19202)

I have never played anything so momentous or revolutionary as Heavy Rain. In the coming years I expect the game's influence to be felt throughout the industry in terms of gameplay, storytelling and interactivity. This is a game that deserves all the plaudits it can get. So please go out and buy Heavy Rain and reward those that have made such a groundbreaking videogame event.

100 - GamePro (http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/213908/heavy-rain/)

An emotionally engaging thrill-ride from start to finish, Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain is a superbly crafted interactive experience, told expertly through it's stunning visuals and believable characters.

100 - Total Video Games (http://www.totalvideogames.com/Heavy-Rain/review-14979.html)

Heavy Rain is a rare experience that can be enjoyed by a watching audience and not just the person with the control pad. It's also one that you'll certainly want to play through at least one more time just to see what you missed and perhaps reach a better outcome.

100 - Gamervision (http://gamervision.com/users/00_19/articles/heavy_rain_playstation_3)

Quantic Dream puts forth some truly incredible ideas and concepts as to what a game can be, but they’ll stay ideas and concepts until gamers are willing to accept that they deserve more than another GTA or Call of Duty clone. Heavy Rain is without a doubt one of the most impressive games of the last five years, and it shouldn’t be missed by anyone

100 - Gaming Nexus (http://www.gamingnexus.com/Article/Heavy-Rain/Item2545.aspx)

Everybody can breathe a sigh of relief, because Heavy Rain was definitely worth the long wait. This is an intriguing murder mystery that will have you guessing all the way to the end. Best of all, the narrative is one of the strongest I've seen in years.

100 - Planet XBox 360 (http://www.planetxbox360.com/article_9714/360_Fanboy_Heavy_Rain_is_the_Reason_to_Buy_a_PS3/2)

Every now and then a game comes along that creates an emotional experience in me that forces me to let people know about it; this experience happened multiple times as I played the near-perfect Heavy Rain.

97 -Everyeye.it (http://www.everyeye.it/ps3/articoli/heavy-rain_recensione_10982)

Heavy Rain is not a perfect game, maybe it's not a videogame at all. It's an involving experience that no one has created before and that will remain in videogamers' hearts forever.

95 -PSX Extreme (http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-reviews/341.html)

Heavy Rain isn’t just a masterpiece; it’s an ingenious step in the right direction...This may very well be the most “human” game ever made, and an absolute triumph for the industry. Take from that what you will.

95 - Game Informer (http://gameinformer.com/games/heavy_rain/b/ps3/archive/2010/02/10/review.aspx)

It's barely a game in the popular sense of the word, but Quantic Dream's masterpiece makes groundbreaking strides in storytelling and character development, demonstrating that interactive entertainment still has a deep well of untapped potential. [Issue#203, p.91]

95 - WonderwallWeb (http://www.wonderwallweb.com/article/967/heavy-rain/)

Heavy Rain is a beautiful, wonderfully presented title and while there will be those who decide to pass it by, those who don't are in for a real treat.

94 - Multiplayer.it (http://multiplayer.it/recensioni/74516-heavy-rain-come-lacrime-nella-pioggia.html)

It's really difficult to judge Heavy Rain. The new David Cage masterpiece is something to love or to hate without any compromise. But this duality is something typical for the excellence: Heavy Rain is strongly emotional and represents a new way to think about videogames. A way where the plot and the quality of narrative become more influential than the gameplay.

93 - Vandal Online (http://www.vandal.net/analisis/ps3/heavy-rain/5719)

Regardless if you like it, it's a must try experience for every videogame fan.

92 - Cheat Code Central (http://www.cheatcc.com/ps3/rev/heavyrainreview.html)

Believe me; you will care enough about these characters to want to see just how things play out differently each time. Heavy Rain potentially marks the beginning of something new in the industry and I hope the rain continues to fall.

92 - GamingXP (http://gamingxp.com/bericht-3379-ps3-heavy_rain.htm)

For many people Heavy Rain won’t be more than a progression of quick-time-events, but for me this game has everything a great game needs. The thrilling story, the beautiful graphics and the innovative controls will let you play on and on, till you just can’t look any longer into your TV.

91 - 1UP (http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3177883&p=37)

One of the most emotional experiences I've ever had playing a videogame.

91 - Games Master UK

An incredibly original and compelling thriller that's unlike anything else out there. [Mar 2010, p.64]

91 - 9Lives (http://ps3.9lives.be/games/heavy-rain/reviews)

Heavy Rain isn’t just a game. It’s the next step in commitment, a wonderful experience for whoever is open to it. Some moves are a bit heavy and there are some technical errors, but the perfect marriage of story, gameplay, sound and a proper use of quick time events make this a unique, unforgettable adventure that will make lots of games pale in comparison, considering its involvement. Heavy Rain makes you choose between some heart-breaking options, but to the question "should I buy this game?" the answer is simple: Yes.

91 - GamingTrend (http://www.gamingtrend.com/Reviews/review/review.php?ReviewID=1377)

It’s film noir, it’s drama, but most accurately it is unique. I’ve played literally thousands of games on every platform under the sun, but Heavy Rain really connected with me.

90 - TotalPlayStation (http://totalplaystation.com/ps3/heavy-rain/reviews/8716)

Flawed, yes, but far closer to perfection than I ever would have thought given earlier peeks at the game, Heavy Rain is a monumental accomplishment. It takes familiar situations, bits of gameplay and tones, and melds them into something... unique.

90 - GameSpy (http://ps3.gamespy.com/playstation-3/quantic-dream-project/1068858p1.html)

If you can buy into the idea that the ending you get is your ending, and that your characters are really your characters, then you just might find yourself feeling moved by a videogame.

90 - Eurogamer Spain (http://www.eurogamer.es/articles/heavy-rain-analisis)

Heavy Rain is disturbing, immersive, has a great script and can be played by everyone, regardless of his experience with videogames. You really should be buying it right now.

90 - 3DJuegos (http://www.3djuegos.com/index.php?zona=juegos-analisis&id_juego=1440&juego=heavy-rain)

Quantic Dream again brings its unique vision of videogames with Heavy Rain, its latest gem. Maybe it’s not a perfect game, but if you want a deep and engaging history and believable and touching characters this is your game. It’s an incredibly original videogame.


90 - AceGamez (http://acegamez.com/022010/reviews/ps3-reviews/heavy-rain-ps3-review.html)

Enter Heavy Rain with an open mind and no expectations and it will grab your attention from start to finish. Although its sentiment will fail to hit home with everyone, this is a game that should be experienced by anyone with a love for gaming.

90 - GameZone (http://ps3.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r29963.htm)

There are some flaws, but taken as a package Heavy Rain is a remarkable achievement in gaming that creates an interactive experience that goes beyond the pages of a good novel or film noir. This is a game that needs to be experienced.

90 - Cynamite (http://www.cynamite.de/ps3/reviews/aktuelle/heavy_rain_im_test_deutschlands_erste_online_review_von_heav y_rain/84115/heavy_rain_im_test_deutschlands_erste_online_review_von_heav y_rain.html)

Heavy Rain is thoroughly unusual. Rarely before, a game has been as emotionally haunting as this one. Furthermore, the replay value is very high, because of the different endings.

90 - SpazioGames (http://www.spaziogames.it/recensioni_videogiochi/console_playstation_ps3/10087/heavy-rain.aspx)

Everyone who calls himself a videogamer should try the Heavy Rain experience. Such a fresh and innovative point of view on home entertainment could give birth to an entire new genre. Technically superb, provided with a good story and an interesting control system, Quantic Dream's new title is really a twist in the videogaming culture. Still, some minor issues and a limited interactivity do not allow to praise it with full marks.

90 - Eurogamer Italy (http://www.eurogamer.it/articles/heavy-rain-recensione_2)

Beyond its unconventional and somewhat unconvincing gameplay, Heavy Rain is one of those few products able to assure a real videogame experience, taking gamers though a journey they’ll hardly forget. Quantic Dream has definitely pushed forth the standards of the whole adventure games genre.


90 - Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/heavy-rain-review)

It may also be the only game you play this year where pulling the trigger makes you really feel something, and I can think of no greater compliment.

90 - Play.tm (http://play.tm/review/28936/heavy-rain/)

Those of you willing to concede a degree of control, and embrace the game world, its characters, its ambience, will find that Heavy Rain is a slice of entertainment that stays with you between plays and compels you forward. It isn't perfect, but there's no questioning the gripping endeavour here. Meanwhile outside, in the night, the rain keeps falling, and time is of the essence get to it.

90 - IGN (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/106/1067755p1.html)

A hell of an experience. Its controversial control scheme actually works really well in allowing the fantastic story to dictate how events play out, and many of the game's scenes will keep you on the edge of your seat. It starts slow and the presentation isn't perfect, but the character development, dialog and story twists will hook you like few games can.

90 - Eurogamer Portugal (http://www.eurogamer.pt/articles/heavy-rain-analise)

Heavy Rain is not the revolution that the videogame industry is waiting for, but it will probably be part of videogame history, as an important step in the growth of the industry, as a piece of entertainment.

90 - Playstation Official Magazine UK

Put gaming conventions aside, go in with no expectations other than this is something new and massively good-looking, and you'll be rewarded with a unique experience that lurches between genius and madness, manages to be genuinely emotional, and that you'll be bursting to talk about with your friends. [Feb 2010]

90 - Kikizo (http://videogamesdaily.com/reviews/201002/heavy-rain-review/)

Heavy Rain isn’t a film, or even a game trying to be a film. It’s proof of just how compellingly a game can use film, of how gripping a warmed-over scenario or humdrum script can become in the hands of a skilled design team. It filches ideas from cinema, doubtless – what big budget character-driven release doesn’t? – but it’s because it’s a game, in the final analysis, that it’s marvelous.

90 - VideoGamer (http://www.videogamer.com/ps3/heavy_rain/review.html)

For those of you who can open your minds to the possibility of something genuinely new, this is mana from heaven. Heavy Rain is one of the most exciting things to happen to video games for a long, long time. It's not a threat to the old way of doing things, but it does hint at the possiblity of a whole new genre.

90 - NZGamer (http://nzgamer.com/ps3/reviews/1043/heavy-rain.html)

Watching a robbery go down with detached movie-convention-predictability and suddenly realising you have to intervene can freeze you up like Paul Henry spotting a mustache on a lady. It adds the third dimension that makes this game a game. In any case, it's an entertaining variation on screaming, "Don't go in there!" at a flickering screen in the dark.

90 - PS3bloggen.se (http://www.ps3bloggen.se/spel/recension-heavy-rain)

Heavy Rain manages to create an atmosphere unlike any other, and many of its scenes are more thrilling and engaging than anything else I've ever played. Despite the slightly clunky controls and some parts of the story not meshing properly, Quantic Dream have created a game that breaks the norm. By being normal.

90 - IGN UK (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/106/1068165p1.html)

Heavy Rain’s undoubtedly a sophisticated, fearless and often remarkable piece of entertainment. As a game it's not always successful but, as an experience, it's absolutely unforgettable.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Heavy Rain first garnered attention at E3 2006 for this tech demo (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/10758.html?type=) that impressed and intrigued people eager to see unique stuff on the PS3.

Since the tech demo, the developer Quantic Dream has said they've cleaned up the voice synch to make it appear a lot more life like. Also, here is the latest demo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Owhjni_-Hw) of their technology working in real-time on the PS3.

Details about the final design of Heavy Rain has been scarce so far, but we are starting to learn more about this game from the makers of the acclaimed PS2 title, Indigo Prophecy.

Here's a recent writeup on Heavy Rain that appeared in the Dutch magazine Chief, as reported by Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/366150/new-heavy-rain-details-spilled-lapped-up):

On Locations:
"I don't want to do a big free-roaming city like GTA, because the flow of the story will then be hard to control. Nevertheless, I do want to incorporate big sets, with a crowd, heavy populated areas like a mall and a subway are going to be in there. Of course, the gameplay has got to make use of that aspect too."

On Graphics:
"People will be surprised. Internal (Sony's) feedback on graphics has been great. This is going to be a truly next-gen game. But still, we want to do something unique with the graphics, going beyond just making the most photorealistic world we can."

On Gameplay:
"With the release of Fahrenheit, we gave the adventure genre a new grammar. We brought new ways into the genre, new words if you want to see it like that, a new vocabulaire. With Heavy Rain, where going to expand on that same grammar."

On Story:
"Heavy Rain is about normal people that have landed in extraordinary situations. I wanted a much more personal story. The first thing that came to my mind, as a father of two little boys, was that the main theme should simply be a father's love for his son. This is not a game about saving the princess or the world. Its purely about a father's love."

"The main story will revolve around 4 different characters, and we're putting the spotlight on their perceptions. The question 'what is good and what is evil' is the key here, that will be just a matter of viewpoint...I believe heavily in moral choices, I'm going to use them A LOT. They're not about being good or bad, but about finding the right balance."

If anything it could be a one-of-a-kind PS3 gaming experience based on what we know so far. I expect a lot more to be revealed in the coming months.


*** LIEPZIG EDIT ***

A new video (http://www.gamersyde.com/stream_8318_en.html)shows off the incredible game engine!

Pictures:

http://blog.wired.com/games/images/2008/08/20/hr_screen20_low_0004.jpg
http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/20/hr_screen23_low_0004.jpg

Details:

PLAYSTATION 3 exclusive from Quantic Dream unveiled – a dark, emotional thriller where decisions can have dramatic consequences

Leipzig Games Convention, 20th August 2008: One of the highlights in David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), introductory speech, Heavy Rain was unveiled at Games Convention 2008, taking brave new steps in the games industry in both content – an adult thriller with a complex plot – and gameplay – where you play and shape the storyline rather than be a mere spectator. Step into a world of mystery and suspense, betrayal and redemption, in Heavy Rain™, a PLAYSTATION®3 exclusive from Quantic Dream scheduled for release by SCEE in late 2009.

Heavy Rain is a dark, immersive and emotionally-engaging experience; one that expands upon the innovative ideas of 2005’s acclaimed Fahrenheit to create a noir-thriller where decisions are charged with importance and actions can have drastic and unforseen consequences. Breaking with traditional game conventions where necessary, the gameplay will be based around story, emotional involvement and the player’s decisions and interactions, rather than high-scores, combat and competition. Intuitive gameplay and controls are also fundamental to the experience – ensuring that the game is mature but accessible, and avoiding alienating players with obscure stats and complex interfaces.

In Heavy Rain you don’t watch the story – you play it. The dynamic narrative unfolds through the players actions - not cut scenes - and every action has a consequence. The choices you make and the way you interact with other characters have repercussions throughout the storyline. With unprecedented responsibility over the fates of the game’s characters, players will find Heavy Rain an emotional experience unlike any other. It dares to tackle subject matter and themes rarely touched upon in video games, making it a genuinely mature game for a new world of adult gamers.

Heavy Rain has been unveiled at Games Convention 2008 in Leipzig with a teaser trailer consisting of actual gameplay footage, demonstrating Quantic Dream’s use of stunning animation and motion-capture technology to create an atmospheric and thrilling experience.

Founded in 1997 by David Cage, French developer Quantic Dream has achieved international renown for its innovation within the games industry, particularly in the areas of interactive narration and emotional content. The studio’s record speaks for itself: in particular Quantic Dream was responsible for 2005’s award winning Fahrenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in the US and Canada), a paranormal, interactive blend of film and gaming that was widely praised for re-imagining the adventure game genre.

Heavy Rain is the place where action gaming meets film-noir head-on, in an adventure unlike any other. A game where your mind, emotions and human nature will be put to the test like never before, Heavy Rain takes interactive entertainment down a dark, compelling path rarely ventured in the gaming world.


*** DEC '08 EDIT ***

Here's a summary of the project:

The Script

2,000 pages long
60 scenes, each about 15-20 minutes long, most, but not all of which you see on any play-through
40,000 words of non-linear dialogue
Based on 6,000 pages of notes and references
15 months in development


The Art Design

Two weeks scouting for locations on the East Coast of the USA
15 months of design by ten people
Photos, topographical gameplay maps, sketches of every item, paintings of every scene


Outsourcing to Asia

Over 100 people involved outside Quantic Dream
480 man-months of work
Based on an "outsourcing bible" and "level architect blueprints"


The Motion Capture

All done on-site at Quantic Dream in Paris
170 days of shooting across nine months
Over 70 actors and stuntmen involved
Casting sessions in Paris and London
30,000 unique animations recorded
Largest mo-cap project in the history of videogames


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

E3 2009 detailed walkthrough video (http://e3.g4tv.com/videos/38847/Heavy-Rain-Developer-Walkthrough-Preview/?quality=hd)

E3 2008 Update:

Apparently Heavy Rain was shown behind closed doors. The respected Newsweek gaming editor N'Gai Croal had this to say on a Twitter message board (http://twitter.com/ncroal) about what was shown in private:

ncroal: Heavy Rain demo next. Alas, it is under NDA, so no identifying details will be tweeted. about 2 hours ago

ncroal: Heavy Rain wowed the crowd. Hate to be a tease, but we can't say more other than if you liked Indigo Prophecy, you'll *love* this. about 1 hour ago


Liepzig Games Show is where the game will be unveiled to the public apparently.

Indigo Prophecy was okay. It was a cool concept marred by a number of flaws and a story the devolved as it forgot what it was trying to be.

Maybe it's just me, but that Heavy Rain video doesn't impress. I know it's old, but good lord, can you say Uncanny Valley? Great animation, but that face model......yeeeesh.

Indigo Prophecy was okay. It was a cool concept marred by a number of flaws and a story the devolved as it forgot what it was trying to be.

Maybe it's just me, but that Heavy Rain video doesn't impress. I know it's old, but good lord, can you say Uncanny Valley? Great animation, but that face model......yeeeesh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley

Uncanny valley means it's so close to the real thing you're brain gets confused. If the model doesn't look right to you, there would be no uncanny valley in this instance.

Maybe it's just me, but that Heavy Rain video doesn't impress. I know it's old, but good lord, can you say Uncanny Valley? Great animation, but that face model......yeeeesh.

The latest video I first posted was removed. It was a LOT better as far as 'uncanny valley' issues go. The developer say solved that. The first vid is over three years old and was done in a few weeks.

It's not "getting confused." To quote the wiki link you gave, it's "causes a response of revulsion among human observers." That's what I'm getting from that video. Looks very realistic, but I'm very turned off by it.

The latest video I first posted was removed. It was a LOT better as far as 'uncanny valley' issues go. The developer say solved that. The first vid is over three years old and was done in a few weeks.

Yeah, like I said, I know it's old and has probably been improved upon.

It's not "getting confused." To quote the wiki link you gave, it's "causes a response of revulsion among human observers." That's what I'm getting from that video. Looks very realistic, but I'm very turned off by it.

You're repulsed because your brain is confused. That's the whole essence. You KNOW it's not real but the way it behaves still makes you think it is, hence the natural instinct of repulsion coupled with curiosity.

I thought, though, you were saying that the face model looked poor - which is why I was confused about your mention of the Uncanny Valley and hence posted the wiki link.

It's not "getting confused." To quote the wiki link you gave, it's "causes a response of revulsion among human observers." That's what I'm getting from that video. Looks very realistic, but I'm very turned off by it.

Yeah I feel the same way about alot of recent Hollywood movies

nah, there's something wrong with the model and face animations. Thats all, fix it and it's back to believable.

For instance, her checks and upper lip never move while talking. My brain interprets that as a stroke victim.

video is down. stupid youtube.

Heavy Rain is confirmed to show up at the Liepzig Game Conference next month. In the meantime, enjoy this interesting discussion (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3744/dreaming_of_a_new_day_heavy_.php) with the developer on topics of maturity in games today:

David Cage, founder of French studio Quantic Dream, feels strongly about the evolution of games as a medium. Starting out in 1997, the company debuted the David Bowie co-starring Omikron: The Nomad Soul for PC and Dreamcast in 1999.

But Cage is probably best known for his company's 2005 game Xbox, PS2 and PC title Indigo Prophecy, known as Fahrenheit in Europe, which was critically acclaimed for its inventive storytelling and immersive techniques - and is now available on the 'Xbox Originals' program for the Xbox 360 for those wanting to investigate it in more detail.

Going even further is the company's PlayStation 3 exclusive Heavy Rain, described at one point by Cage as "a very dark film noir thriller with mature themes", and which was shown behind closed doors to select members of the press last week at E3. It intends to take the narrative and emotion-oriented elements of Cage's previous title much further.

In this in-depth Gamasutra interview, Cage discusses here issues as diverse as capturing true emotion in games, what it really means to make a "mature" game, the true diversification of the gaming audience, and the controversy that surrounds games in the mass media.

The first and most obvious thing that I want to talk about is emotion in games. One thing that comes to mind for me is that you're going very far into realism, and quite often, the more realistic you get, the more difficult it can be for players to identify with the characters, given the Uncanny Valley situation. So why do you want to push toward realism?

DC: I agree and disagree with your statement. You don't have to be realistic to create emotion. Of course it's not required. There are many, many examples of that in the game industry. What I'm interested in with realism is that I want to learn, basically, what it means to perform for an actor, and what it requires to translate this performance from a technical and creative point of view. Basically, I want to learn, and we really learned a lot working on the casting demo, for example, not only from what worked but also from what didn't work.

I think the uncanny valley is something that people talk a lot about, but I think we'll start to see the end of it. We're not out of the Uncanny Valley yet, but we can start to see how to limit it. Once we have learned how to create really realistic characters, then they will be contrasted to nonrealistic characters, and we will apply what we've discovered to different types of rendering and characters.

So you don't feel that realism limits your audience?

DC: No, I'm the opposite. To tell you the truth, I think it's easier for a major part of users to relate to something that looks real, as opposed to something that's totally out there. I wouldn't say this is my personal opinion, because as an educated gamer, I can relate to basically anything based in talent. But I think a lot of games explore realism, and I think it's easier for players to relate to something that's close to what they know, rather than something totally strange.

http://www.gamasutra.com/db_area/images/feature/3744/cage_heavyrain3.jpg
Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain

In my opinion, multiple decades of cartoons and animation and advertisements that are recognizable but not realistic, now seem quite mass-market. The Incredibles, for example, is a great example. That sort of technique gives you the ability to exaggerate, and reality can constrain you.

DC: That's absolutely true. That's one way of doing it. I think cinema would be limited if it were only The Incredibles or Beowulf... you see what I mean. I think exactly the same of games. There's room for different styles and different stories to be told. I think rendering is not an end in itself. When you're a developer or creator, you don't wake up in the morning and say, "I'm a creator for non-realistic roles!" or for realistic roles.

A trait relies on the story, most of the time. What is my vision? What do I have to tell to the world? Then you think, "What is the best way of telling the story? Is it realistic? Is it non-realistic?" I'm quite agnostic about that. I'm not saying everything should be realistic or non-realistic. It really depends on what you want to say.

With graphics that are realistic, do you find that it's more difficult to take those characters outside of reality or the game universe? Like with Indigo Prophecy, when the story begins to go sci-fi.

DC: It doesn't matter, honestly. In cinema, as demonstrated, you can tell any story, even the most absurd or non-realistic ones, with realistic rendering. Think about David Lynch movies. Think about Brazil. It's an insane story, but it's realistic. It's live action. So no, I don't think there are stories that can't be told with cinema rendering. You can do whatever you want.

But it's really interesting to work with real actors. When you think about Pixar and The Incredibles, for example, how do they work? They film real actors to see how they move, and then they have animators trying to recreate and exaggerate and add, et cetera. But basically, it's based on real actors. We are not at this stage yet. I still want to discover what it takes to create an actor and where emotion comes from.

For example, we discovered the importance of the work we're doing with facial animation, after [developing] the casting. We discovered how to capture that. I think we gained a lot by capturing the eyes of the actors, because suddenly, it was not keyframed. However good you are, it's always keyframed. You can see it's keyframed.

But here, it's captured, so you have all the micro movements, and it's incredible. We knew that from the start, but it was even more than we thought, how much goes through the eyes. It's really insane. The micro movements... the things you do when you talk, just moving your head a little bit... a lot goes through that. So we learned.

Have you seen what Naughty Dog did with Uncharted? They tried to use that kind of tactic, using real actors and having them deliver their lines. Is that sort of a similar direction to where you're going?

DC: There's a big difference. Honestly, I loved the game. I thought Uncharted was very interesting. There was some very, very interesting aspects to it. The big difference between Uncharted and what we're doing here is that Uncharted was still structured like a video game. It gives you a bit of story, then action, then a bit of story, then action - like porn movies, when you think about it.

Porn movies are structured in exactly the same way, except that the action is not the same (laughter), but it's the same structure. Most video games are done like that. It's one thing to do a great cutscene, even if it's real time. It's another thing to try to tell the story as you play, so the story's not told through cutscenes -- it's told through gameplay. So you don't need acting performance in cutscenes. You need interactive performance.

With a universe that has a turn toward realism, how can you keep a player involved in that, when they have all of the tools available to them to completely undermine the narrative by running around in circles in the bathroom or something?

DC: That's a good question. I think it's the main challenge. We don't want the player to destroy the experience, so there are two things. First, you need to trust the player, because maybe he will turn around in circles once and then realize, "Okay, how does it support the experience? It doesn't. I've done it. Okay, fine," and then maybe play by the rules. Not by forcing them but by encouraging them to play according to what is the best way to enjoy the experience, simply.

That's one way, and I think there are things you can do in how you structure the game and how you deal with the interface. There are different things you can do to do it without limiting players' freedom. The goal is not to give you a cutscene and say, "Look, you've done exactly what I wanted." It's really to give freedom, but make the player understand it's in his interest to play by the rules.

Do you feel that sandbox-style gameplay supports that or undermines it?

DC: Sandbox gameplay... yeah, it's true that in this industry, we have a real position between people talking about sandbox, and people doing rollercoasters. A rollercoaster is an experience that is entirely defined by some to be optimal. From the time you're in the line, you go in the back of the rollercoaster and through the tunnel and everything is defined. We knew while you were waiting how to make the stress grow, how to make you feel something, get you scared, make you feel better, et cetera. This rollercoaster is being conceived by someone to optimize the experience.

Sandbox is not that. It's saying, "Look, there are tools. There are things. Maybe there will be friends. Maybe not. Do what you want." There's one possibility that these sandbox experiences are so fantastic because you've been extremely lucky. You know how to use the tool. You met people that were truly great, and you had something incredible to do. But you know what? It's also possible that it happens that you get bored and don't cope with the people in the sandbox. You don't like the tools, or you don't know what to do with them, and you end up with a very poor experience.

So in my mind, some of the very few kind of real sandboxes I know are with massively multiplayer games. When I say "kind of," I don't believe there are absolutely real sandboxes out there. It's only a list of scripted things, but there are so many of them and you can play them in any order, you get the feeling that you're in a sandbox. In fact, it's really rare that you're really in a sandbox. Most of the time, you're in a scripted experience but it's really heated.

I've played many MMOs these days, and most of the time, the experience is really poor, because you end up doing not very exciting things. I think the value of the experience is not on that. It's really about building yourself - the vision of yourself, like, "Oh, I want to be a hero, because I've spent so much time at level 16. I'm so strong. Look at my weapons and my helmet." These are the core mechanics these games are based on.

I think that's fine for people when they need to build self esteem, and it's a very important core complementing experience, but if you're not into that, what's the real narrative or emotional value? Sometimes it's really interesting when you're in the guild in a massively multiplayer game and you attack the fortress or whatever. Some great things can be told, but it's not guaranteed. The value is not always there.

Personally, I enjoy single-player experiences because have thoughtful narrative qualities, or at least the potential for it. But it's obviously personal, because for some people, interaction is quite important. To me, obviously, interaction is important, but it's not important for making a great game.

DC: What is weird is that you can tell people, "Tell your own story," and most people would tell you, "Come on, I'm not a storyteller. Telling a good story is really a job that requires talent and vision. I just want to enjoy a story. I don't want to tell my own story out of the blue." It's part of the pleasure, too, when you go to the cinema, to discover the vision of someone else, and to have a story to be told.

I think what games can really bring to the table is the fact that there is a vision, there's someone to tell it, but you can participate in the story. You can change it, and you can make it yours, but at the same time, it remains a good story with a good story arc and a real journey. Someone plotted the journey for you, so you're guaranteed to live something unique.

In terms of the sandbox situation, if you give the player the ability to pick up a cup and put it down anywhere, if they can stack up a pyramid of cups or something like that, is that emergent, immersive gameplay, because they can do that in the real world, or is that a game-breaking thing? Where is the line?

DC: Working on Fahrenheit, my guideline was that I allowed the player to do anything that made sense in the context. Some people came to me and said, "I'm in the diner in the opening scene. I would like to kill the cop at the bar, and I can't." Well, you know, Lucas Kane is not a killer. He's not someone who's vicious. He's just a normal guy. So why would a normal guy kill a cop? It doesn't make sense. Some people say, "I want to jump on the tables in the diner. I can't." Why would Lucas Kane do that? It doesn't make sense.

http://www.gamasutra.com/db_area/images/feature/3744/cage_indigo1.jpg
Atari/Quantic Dream's Indigo Prophecy

I think that's basically true. As long as you're consistent with this rule, and as long as it's established early on in the experience and that you always maintain it all the way through, people are fine with that. Once they understand that they can't buy one hundred cups of coffee and make a pyramid with them, it's established at the beginning, "You know what? You can't do that, because it wouldn't make sense." If it was a movie, the character would never do that in the context, so you can't.

Maybe it's a frustration the first time, and then you forget about it, because you're carried by the journey. The journey takes you somewhere else. This is not the purpose of this thing. No, there's not a great physics engine in Fahrenheit. You can't take a chair and throw it away. Why would you? It doesn't make sense.

So how much do you have to determine your characters before the game is made and build the game around those characters? And how much are they created through what you are actually accomplishing with the development process? How much is the character established in the beginning, or does it evolve?

DC: I establish pretty much everything before I start, so I know who the characters are. I try to have a real understanding of where they're coming from and what their narrative arc would be. There are many theories about narrative, but one of them is to say, "Story is what is going to change a character." So he'll be in a certain state starting before the story, and he should have changed or evolved or something through the story. He's different.

I try to establish my characters as much as possible before I start, and make sure I know who they are before I write the story, because it would help me to know how they would react to different situations. If you know who they are, you see that if that happens, they would do this. It helps.

But it's not that separated. You have to build the characters, but at the same time, you think about the story, even if you don't have a clear idea of what you want to tell and what the themes you want to talk about are. It's good to work on both together.

You have a strong link, it seems, with the idea of games as a cinematic experience. You reference movies a lot in explaining your ideas.

DC: Yeah, I think this part is generally misunderstood, because some people maybe didn't really read my interviews and think that I'm promoting cutscenes and that cinema is the absolute model. I'm not someone who's frustrated at not being a director and ended up doing video games. I'm here because I decided to be here and because I'm excited about interactivity in video games. I'm not a frustrated movie director.

What I want to say is that no creative media has been created from scratch. When photography started, they didn't invent everything. They started copying painting. When cinema started, they started to copy from photography and theater. When television started, they started to copy cinema. But in this industry, I don't know why people seem to think that we are pure geniuses and we are going to invent something entirely new that no one has ever seen.

But that's not true. Every single game being made is inspired by something else. That's normal. That's fair. So what I'm saying is that one of the closest media to games is cinema. We shouldn't copy it. We shouldn't imitate it. We should get inspired. We should take what is good there, because it's going to save us time, and if something is effective and works in cinema, why wouldn't you copy it?

As long as we take what is good and add something new that is absolutely unique to our media... we don't want to make cinema, we want to make interactivity. Let's borrow some code from cinema, but let's not copy it. It's challenging, too. I don't want to make cinema, and I don't promote a vision of video games being only narrative-driven or whatever. I'm just saying, "Let's learn."

I remember that's not actually your aim, but there's a lot of that, and I believe it is because some of the most accomplished mass-market characters, experiences, and stories that can be told have been done through cinema. And indeed, it is much more similar than novels or stuff like that.

DC: It is.

So what then inspires you the most in what you're currently doing?

DC: I write something very dark with things, that as far as I know, are serious and have never been used in games. That's what made this project interesting and exciting. It's not a story about a king and a princess and a dragon. It's not something about the second World War. It's not, "You're a rookie and you need to go on this mission." It's a real story with some very personal things in it, and I hope all this will come through and people will feel that the story is pretty good.

What, for you, creates a compelling character? Quite often in games, there is the ability to create a character that is supposed to represent you, and I assume here you'll have a real established character type. So what to you makes a compelling character?

DC: I discovered something very interesting that people probably knew before me, but I personally discovered it. It doesn't matter if you control different characters. In Fahrenheit, you could control Lucas Kane, who is this handsome, typical hero. You're controlling Carla Valenti. She's a female cop - a different character - and Tyler Miles, this black cop, and a couple of others.

When I wrote that, people were telling me, "Players won't enjoy playing with these characters, because they will feel empathy with Lucas Kane, and they will only want to play with him, because he's the hero. He's cute, he's really at the core of the story, and we want to be him." And in fact, when the game was released, you know what? You can very easily come from one to another character without any problem.

And it made me realize that identification and how you project yourself into a character and how you feel empathy with the character is something very easy. It's a feeling that's very easy to create, and you can project yourself into pretty much anything. I read some very interesting stuff with someone who was talking about the first shooters that happened in the video game industry - with the spaceships that you need to shoot. People tended to say, "I died," when they lost. "I died?" It's not me! I mean, come on, it's four white pixels on screen being hurt by something.

In fact, the thing was, people can project themselves into pretty much anything. It doesn't have to be realistic. It can be just four pixels, as long as they decided it's them. So the same thing happens. You can see the same thing in cinema. In cinema, you don't always feel empathy only for the main character. There are many movies that have been made where there are different stories that are being told, and you realize that the audience can feel empathy for all the characters that are on-screen, and that works very well.

So back to your question (laughter), when I create characters, I try to start with an archetype. When I say "archetype," I don't mean "caricature". I mean archetype. An archetype is someone who very quickly you seem to know and you think you know him or her by the way he looks, talks, behaves, moves, and by his voice and whatever. What is interesting is to start with an archetype, because you create immediate empathy. And then you can add an extra layer of complexity to your character. So you seem to know him, but you discover there's extra depth. I think that's really interesting.

But what I don't do... I don't like caricatures in games, like the player always wants the hero to have big muscles, and to be a big guy voiced like that, or if I'm a woman, I want to be a female with big boobs. Games have done that again and again and continue to do that, and now they seem to say, "You're the rookie. The young guy who just arrives in the Army." You discover controls at the same time as your character, and it's been done. There are different stories and characters to create than hunky rookies or girls with big boobs.

I personally am extremely tired of that, and this is me and not everyone, obviously, because those games still sell. But for me, I'll turn on a game like that, and unless there's something really interesting to do or some interesting promise for the future in the game, I'll turn it off in five minutes, or not even turn it on in the first place. I look at everything like, "Oh, yep. There's that big guy with the gun."

DC: That's one problem with this industry, is that we continue to do games only for teenagers, or what we believe teenagers want. We believe that teenagers want to have big muscles and be very assertive and have pecs and blah blah blah. And if you're a girl, you want a very nice, sexy girl, because this is what teenagers want.

I don't know if it's true. I don't know if teenagers really want that, or if they're starting to be tired with that. Hopefully they are. But this is ridiculous. This medium is trying to be mature, and we need to have content for teenagers and kids, but it would be great to start to have some content for others. It still needs to be seen. This industry still seems to focus on teenagers. I don't know why, when there's a huge market out there's that female, older people, and adults.

http://www.gamasutra.com/db_area/images/feature/3744/cage_heavyrain1.jpg

I think a lot of it has to do with types of media or stories that inspire the developers of games, which quite often is simply other games. I do get the feeling sometimes that some people are making games without reading books or going outside and interacting with the world.

DC: My theory is that video games initially were made by teenagers, for teenagers.

Emotional teenagers, sometimes.

DC: Yeah, but also what is interesting with teenagers is that it's really the age where we try to test the limits. For these games, this is what they're doing. Look at GTA. It's really breaking the rules and doing everything that is forbidden. This is what you do when you're a teenager. You want to test the limits. You want to know what is allowed and what is forbidden, and that's fine.

I would be really happy with that if there were also content for adults, because when you get older, you ask for more experience. You want some depth, meaning, and not to be taken like an idiot. You want to be talked to like you would talk to an adult. So that's a big problem in this industry, I think.

In terms of reaching more people, you're releasing this game only on the PS3, and the audience for that is necessarily limited, because only a certain number of people have it. Do you feel that consoles are a limitation for you? I don't know how many adults who want this kind of experience have a PS3.

DC: Honestly, working on one platform is the best thing we could dream of, and it's a choice. When we signed this game, we had a choice between different publishers, some of them being only one platform and other being all. After the experience we had with Fahrenheit, where the multiplatform was kind of painful on all levels, it makes the development more complex, but you also end up with the feeling that you've taken the best of none. You had to do something on three platforms, and you couldn't really affect the time and efforts to one platform to make it the best game on this platform, because you've got three platforms to pick.

I think regarding especially the PC, the PC is generally a frustration for me, both as a developer and as a player. As a player, when I buy a game, it's quite expensive. I come back home, but the CD in, and you've got to install it. Fine - it starts to be the same with consoles these days. And then you realize that you're missing a driver. It doesn't work. It doesn't play the video, or it crashes, or it doesn't have the right version of DirectX, or it's not compatible with your video card or whatever. Whew! Well, I bought this thing, and it's supposed to work.

I don't want to fight with my computer just to make this bloody thing work. And then you need to go on the Internet, download the drivers, and you know what? The framerate is not what it's supposed to be, or you don't have the level of detail in the graphics because you don't have the right video card or you don't have the right controller because the developer wanted you to play this game with a certain controller, and you only have a keyboard and a mouse, or whatever. And in the end, the experience is not what the developer wanted, and it's not satisfying for you as a user.

And as a developer, I'm frustrated, because when I design an experience, I have framerates in mind, certain graphic rendering in mind, a certain controller in mind, and I'm frustrated if people can't play it. On Fahrenheit, the game was designed for the PlayStation 2 controller. It works okay on Xbox, but honestly, I don't think it works with a keyboard and a mouse on PC. It's really difficult and challenging to find a game that can work with any device.

On PlayStation 3 now, there's no problem. It's pretty clear. You know what the control is, you know the rendering, you know what framerates you get, and you know everything, because this is exactly what you designed. You say it's a limited audience - yeah, it's true at the moment, but by the end of the PlayStation 2, I think there are 120 million units in the world, so I don't call that a limited market. There's no reason why the PlayStation 3 can't reach these numbers.

But it's limited to the hardcore game player, really, because for any console except for maybe the Wii, it's a big, intimidating controller for people who haven't played video games before, and there is the expense, as well, for any platform.

DC: That was true, but it was true for any console. In the beginning with the PlayStation 2, it was only hardcore gamers, and now the PlayStation 2 is for kids. So you always see this illusion through the lifetime of consoles some are worried about now. And the good news now is that the PlayStation 3 is a Blu-ray player, and is probably the cheapest on the market. So yes, for hardcore gamers, it's a very expensive console, but when you think of it as a Blu-ray player, it's very cheap.

I was just thinking in terms of making a meaningful experience for adults, and any adult who has not bought video games for a long time would probably not be able to pick it up.

DC: They may buy a PlayStation 3. I think that's one of the reasons why we produce this game, is to encourage people... to show them, "Look what this console can do. If you want to enjoy it, just buy a console."

And people do have to be taught sometimes that games are something that they can enjoy, because some people think, "Games aren't for me."

DC: That's true.

It's a tough sell.

DC: It's a challenging sell, of course, to convince people who have not played, to buy a console to play this game. Maybe it's arrogant to say, but we hope to convince people that games change, and that yes, there are games where you shoot and drive and kill, but slowly, we see appearing a new generation of games where you do different things.

http://www.gamasutra.com/db_area/images/feature/3744/cage_heavyrain2.jpg

It seems to me the most compelling argument for that has been downloadable titles. Again, these games are interesting to me, personally, but the most accessible things that have taught people, "Yes, you can play games that aren't just shooting", are downloadable games on the PC or browser-type things. Those are getting hold of the large, older female market and the people who used to play games but think they've gotten too complicated.

DC: I agree and disagree, because these games are usually casual games. And that's fine, but these are games that are toys. It's just for when you've got that moment to kill and, "Okay, I can play this little thing on my computer. It's an easy no-brainer and doesn't require me to invest time or to think about it." That's fine.

But at the same time, I promote games that require attention and involvement that also have higher ambitions in creativity and experience, in general. And I don't think that they're exactly the same stuff, because you can choose to download games in your Internet browser, or you're going to invest time in a real interactive experience in a triple-A next-gen title. But I think we'll see more and more separation between toys...video games that are toys, and video games that have a higher view or ambition. Maybe "video game" is not the right word anymore for titles that have more ambition. There's no right word. Many people are trying to find another word.

"Video game," when you think about it, doesn't mean anything anymore. That was fine for arcade games in the old days, because they were games on video, but now what does it mean? It doesn't mean anything. And you've got in the same box all games and all their diversity. But there are so many different games and different ways.

That's also true of the words "cinema" and "film", because you don't necessarily watch it at a cinema shot on film. But that's still accepted as a wide breadth of meaning, so I think it may potentially just be a question of the term just being assigned too narrow, and there's perhaps semantics in it, too.

Like with the downloadable stuff, there's also on the other side things like Cave Story or even Facade that are downloadable and playable on PC, and have the potential to actually go in that direction of involvement. I think that some of the companies out there making really casual MMO-type experiences or are building things for social networks... that kind of stuff has the potential to really get people to understand, "Okay, games are a thing that I can play." This is kind of a gateway to bigger experiences.

DC: Whatever helps to educate people about video games is fine, but I think also there are two sides to this thing. The first thing is that our industry needs to stop making games that have no interest - that are just pure violence in the excess, all the time, with too much violence and too much this and that, because it promotes the vision outside our industry that games are not serious. They're just a bunch of kids having fun together and making these programs.

But you know, in the industry, we believe that everyone plays and everyone thinks that video games are cool, but that's not true. Outside of our industry and outside players, people think that games are about violence, pornography, and this is the image we have in the media in general. There are reasons for that. For sure, it's very convenient for television networks to promote this image because we are their competitor. We take time away from them, so of course they have interest in promoting this. But we shouldn't lend ourselves to that.

I was very pleased, to give you a concrete example, of what happened with Mass Effect. I'm incredibly pleased with what happened, because of course television tried to use a part of the game and make it controversial and say, "Look, this is video games. They're pornography! Look what they show to your kids!" This was the message to the parents not playing - "Look what we give to your kids. When you buy video games, potentially, you give them porn and violence."

And I was pleased by the reaction of EA, and for once, I thought that the reaction was good. Because usually, you hear the problem, but you never hear the response, and in fact there is nothing. Think about Rule of Rose in Europe. I don't know if you heard about that.

I interviewed the developers about that.

DC: It was a big thing in France. French deputies and Italians and whatever... in every country in Europe, someone came out and said, "It's a scandal! Look at this game! We should ban games! Blah blah blah." We heard that. It was in headlines and all the news in France and probably all through Europe.

But in fact, when people and journalists really played the game, it was like, "I don't understand where the problem is. There's nothing here." So the deputies had to make excuses, but this was not the top of the headlines. It was very small, two lines at the end of the newspaper. This is what we got.

So what remains in the mind of people who don't understand video games is always the bad thing. So we should really fight and promote a vision of video games that are not for teenagers, and we should stop the Hot Coffee thing. All of this is ridiculous.

In that particular case with Mass Effect, there was a combination of EA's response and also the Internet, because people...in that initial broadcast that was talking about it, they had this woman who had written this book -- she was some kind of psychologist, maybe. She was speaking against the game, and someone asked if she had played it, and she said, "Well, of course not."

Then people started voting her books on Amazon as one-star, and writing these scathing comments, and she realized this was actually a huge problem. As a result of that, she had someone play up to that point, and she actually came back to speak on TV again about it and said, "I've seen more scandalous things on television," because she was worried about her career at this point, so she actively had to come back and say, "No, actually, that was wrong, and I apologize."

DC: It was so ridiculous. And it's true. I don't fully understand why, but the constant things we have from rating and censorship are absolutely insane. I mean, in a game, you can't show tits. You can't show anything. It's okay to cut the head of someone and have a bucket of blood, but if you show tits, that's a scandal, and your game can be banned in the U.S.

It's because nobody has those.

DC: No! And you can be shocked if you...you work sometimes on games that are 18+, and you see what you can't show and say in a game that is 18+. It's like... oh my god. You turn on your television at any time of the day and you see these things.

Especially in France.

DC: Well, in France, and even in the U.S. It's just more hypocritical, I think, in the U.S., but I've seen some shows about the porn industry that pretended to be information about the porn industry and how they work and "We're going to tell you about the porn industry."

Basically, it was a way to show naked women. There was no information in this thing. It was not a documentary. It's just a sexy show. And you see that, and it's honestly ridiculous. I don't see why, for any reason, that video games should be treated differently than any other medium, like cinema or television.

Video games are still somewhat a more junior industry, and they don't have the perception of mass-market appeal, so they continue to be viewed like that. It always goes through the cycle, and then once it gets out of there...

DC: Sure. But I think the problem also is that laws are made by people who have never played a game in their life, so they believe that games are these magical, mysterious things that can totally turn the head of your kids around. So be careful! We need to be hyper-careful.

And often when I ask the questions to these people, I say, "Why are games different from television or cinema? Do you think that seeing tits in a game will make your kid rape someone? Look at what they can see on the internet just surfing, without looking for it. You have a good chance to end up on a porn site. What's the difference?" And they say, "Oh, because it's interactive. Because when you watch tits in a movie, that's one thing, but when you play in a game and can see tits, they totally make you crazy." Okay.

I had a conference with a French psychologist who has spent a lot of time working on image and how it influences people. He worked on movies and television and cartoons and comics and everything - and games. It was really interesting. In France, when the first comics became really popular, there were some very strict laws protecting childhood comics, because comics were dangerous, they were encouraging violence and pornography and et cetera.

These laws are from the '40s or the '50s, but it's insane, because when you look at them, this is exactly what we go through with games now. Retroactively, when you think about it, it's ridiculous. They're comics. What's the point?

We've done the same thing in the U.S., actually, and it will be the same with any new media that come up, because first of all, it gives politicians the ability to blame something for problems. "I can't fix these problems because of video games!" Every politician does that to shift focus and responsibility off of themselves.

The other thing is that it's not a mature industry. There is not a united front of people. If you point your fingers at video games, every single developer has to deal with it in their own way. You don't have a bunch of big video game creators coming together and saying, "We support each other!" That network doesn't exist.

DC: No. It's absolutely true, and that's the problem. Instead of saying, "Look, this isn't fair, and this is why." We can explain. Read our studies, talk to a psychologist... whatever it takes for them to demonstrate that we are not that different from movies and TV shows, and that the same rules should apply.

But instead of that, the industry tends to say, "Oh, okay. Don't hit me. Let me do my video games and I'll do whatever it takes." This is really frustrating. Let's explain what we're doing. Let's show that not all games are about Hot Coffee and having sex with prostitutes, and it's not about violence. It's just a medium, and it's only what you do with it.

You can't limit cinema to pornography and condemn all of the industry of cinema because there are porn movies. It's the same thing with games. Some people are going in excess in some directions, whether it's violence or sex, but this is not what the medium is about.

One of the really difficult things is that the understanding of games requires the playing of games. Since games aren't perceived as accessible by everyone, they don't play the games. They just see their kid shooting things, and they hear the sound from their room, "Bang bang bang."

DC: I agree. People just want to be reassured, because they don't want to watch their kids while they play. They want someone to tell them, "Look, it's safe. You can leave them alone." Okay, fine.

When I have kids, I know what they're playing, and I spend some time with them, and I spend some time with knowing what the games are, and I don't buy them everything. [The way people react now is] just a way not to pay attention to them, and to have something telling you, "Look, it's safe. You can let them play."

It's easier with movies, for example, because if the kid wants to see a movie, the parent will have to take them. Also, there is no barrier of entry for movies. It's like, "Do I have vision? Do I have ears?"

DC: But with games, you need to understand another technology and know how it works.

So I think it's a much more difficult battle to fight, and it will take a much more concerted effort, which does not exist.

DC: But I'm not saying I'm against rating. Rating is necessary. It works very well on television, and in cinema. We need ratings, but we just need to have rules that make sense to apply these ratings, and we don't want to fall into censorship, where we will be forbidden to say certain things or to show certain things. To serve the story and what we want to say, we should be free to tell the stories we want to tell.

As long as the story doesn't jump the shark like Indigo Prophecy's did, I'm in.

Good read.

Reposting the image I posted earlier:
http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/gallery/heavy-rain-image-gallery/heavyrain-three.jpg

Here were the other ones that were leaked, incase you missed them before they were removed from the original French site:
http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/gallery/heavy-rain-image-gallery/heavyrain-two.jpg
http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/gallery/heavy-rain-image-gallery/heavyrain-five.jpg
http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/gallery/heavy-rain-image-gallery/heavyrain-four.jpg
http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/gallery/heavy-rain-image-gallery/heavyrain-one.jpg
http://www.ripten.com/wp-content/gallery/heavy-rain-image-gallery/heavyrain-six.jpg

Here's some more info from ripten's site (has some demo and behind the scenes footage):
http://www.ripten.com/2008/08/06/new-heavy-rain-images-pour-in/
http://www.ripten.com/2008/08/09/new-heavy-rain-footage/

New interview (http://gamereactor.no/grtv/?id=2804)with the developer on the day before it is shown at Liepzig.

ok can someone explain what this game is?? what is the gameplay going to be like?? is it like resident evil gameplay, uncharted gameplay???? thanks

More info will be pouring in starting tomorrow. It's safe to say that it is a story driven adventure game.

If it's anything like Indigo Prophecy, it'll be a bunch of Simon Says minigames with the analog sticks.

New Liepzig video (http://www.gamekyo.com/video12722_heavy-rain-nouvelle-video.html)shows off the incredible game engine!

Youtube version. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP260in3ph4/)

If it's anything like Indigo Prophecy, it'll be a bunch of Simon Says minigames with the analog sticks.

which is what the trailer showed with button sequences. It looks good though.

Youtube version is not working. :(

Youtube version is not working. :(Search is your friend: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Heavy+Rain+video+game&search_sort=video_date_uploaded

Yeah I should've thought of that. I'm a big search-nazi too. thanks though!

Pictures:

http://blog.wired.com/games/images/2008/08/20/hr_screen20_low_0004.jpg
http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/20/hr_screen23_low_0004.jpg

Details:

PLAYSTATION 3 exclusive from Quantic Dream unveiled – a dark, emotional thriller where decisions can have dramatic consequences

Leipzig Games Convention, 20th August 2008: One of the highlights in David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), introductory speech, Heavy Rain was unveiled at Games Convention 2008, taking brave new steps in the games industry in both content – an adult thriller with a complex plot – and gameplay – where you play and shape the storyline rather than be a mere spectator. Step into a world of mystery and suspense, betrayal and redemption, in Heavy Rain™, a PLAYSTATION®3 exclusive from Quantic Dream scheduled for release by SCEE in late 2009.

Heavy Rain is a dark, immersive and emotionally-engaging experience; one that expands upon the innovative ideas of 2005’s acclaimed Fahrenheit to create a noir-thriller where decisions are charged with importance and actions can have drastic and unforseen consequences. Breaking with traditional game conventions where necessary, the gameplay will be based around story, emotional involvement and the player’s decisions and interactions, rather than high-scores, combat and competition. Intuitive gameplay and controls are also fundamental to the experience – ensuring that the game is mature but accessible, and avoiding alienating players with obscure stats and complex interfaces.

In Heavy Rain you don’t watch the story – you play it. The dynamic narrative unfolds through the players actions - not cut scenes - and every action has a consequence. The choices you make and the way you interact with other characters have repercussions throughout the storyline. With unprecedented responsibility over the fates of the game’s characters, players will find Heavy Rain an emotional experience unlike any other. It dares to tackle subject matter and themes rarely touched upon in video games, making it a genuinely mature game for a new world of adult gamers.

Heavy Rain has been unveiled at Games Convention 2008 in Leipzig with a teaser trailer consisting of actual gameplay footage, demonstrating Quantic Dream’s use of stunning animation and motion-capture technology to create an atmospheric and thrilling experience.

Founded in 1997 by David Cage, French developer Quantic Dream has achieved international renown for its innovation within the games industry, particularly in the areas of interactive narration and emotional content. The studio’s record speaks for itself: in particular Quantic Dream was responsible for 2005’s award winning Fahrenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in the US and Canada), a paranormal, interactive blend of film and gaming that was widely praised for re-imagining the adventure game genre.

Heavy Rain is the place where action gaming meets film-noir head-on, in an adventure unlike any other. A game where your mind, emotions and human nature will be put to the test like never before, Heavy Rain takes interactive entertainment down a dark, compelling path rarely ventured in the gaming world.

I haven't played Shadow of the Colossus, but it looks like it'll be played the same way?

Would like to see a direct feed of that footage.

I haven't played Shadow of the Colossus, but it looks like it'll be played the same way?


I don't think so. Didn't look like it from the video I saw :p

ok can someone explain what this game is?? what is the gameplay going to be like?? is it like resident evil gameplay, uncharted gameplay???? thanks

None of the above. Read: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/898/898580p1.html

Looks simply incredible.

Here's a better video link. (http://www.gamersyde.com/stream_8318_en.html)

Here's an extremely positive preview from Gamepro: (http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps3/games/previews/206760.shtml)
PS3-exclusive thriller Heavy Rain has the best graphics we've ever seen, and promises to innovate stale adventure game conventions.

When describing a game like Heavy Rain, you've got to start with your most immediate impressions: the graphics. Heavy Rain's visuals look so phenomenal, so realistic, so lavish, that they probably qualify as the most impressive graphics ever produced for a video game. And the game hasn't been released yet! Even the title screen looks sensationally realistic. Upon loading the game, you're greeted with a close-up shot of a terrified (and unnamed) woman who glances nervously around the screen. You can see the detail in every pore on her face, every gleam and twitch of her eyes, and every bead of sweat that trickles down her forehead. It looks truly magnificent, and it's all in real-time - no pre-rendered visual fakery here! Part of this magic lies in the details: the developers actually motion-capture eye movements for their virtual actors, lending an air of unnerving realism.

But as good as the title screen looks, the in-game visuals are vastly better. During a top-secret E3 session, the developers showed off a short scenario from Heavy Rain, cautioning the journalists in attendance not to "draw too many conclusions" about the actual plot and characters in the final game. Consider this an interactive example of the gameplay style and tone of Heavy Rain, but not an actual scene from the finished game - the developers are intent on keeping the storyline firmly under lock and key.

Heavy Rain is an adventure thriller from the developers of Indigo Prophecy, an influential murder thriller released for the PC, PS2, and Xbox. Like Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain has an extremely cinematic presentation. As in a traditional film, the camera angles and movements help relate subtle information, from unease to outright terror. But Heavy Rain makes some key advances to Indigo Prophecy's uneven gameplay style.

All we know is what we saw. We watched as an unnamed female journalist sped through a "heavy" rainstorm on a motorbike, zipping between cars on the freeway and chatting on the phone about a potential serial killer in the area. Upon arriving in a nearby neighborhood, players assume control of the journalist as she walks to a suspicious house that (may) hide a rumored killer. In Heavy Rain, developer Quantic Dream is throwing away everything you thought you knew about "controls." When you need to walk forward, you hold R2; this reduces confusion when the camera direction changes and, like a racing game, should keep you on-track. The left analog stick controls your character's head and influences your walking direction. When you want to interact with the environment - knocking on a door, for example - you move the right analog stick. And when you need to choose between several interactive options -- knocking on a door versus ringing the doorbell, for example - you physically tilt the DualShock 3 controller to highlight your selection.

The controls are certainly...different. But what do the changes really mean for the player? The controls allow players to perform multiple actions at once - walking and interacting with nearby objects, for one. And because the controls rely upon the Sixaxis motion sensor embedded in the DualShock 3, the barrier to entry looks to be greatly reduced. There are no arcane button combinations or complicated third-person aiming reticules in Heavy Rain. Instead, you'll occasionally tap a button, hold another, or gesture with the controller to perform your desired action.

Back to the demo. After ringing the doorbell, knocking, and calling out, our intrepid journalist is greeted with eerie silence - nobody's home. Walking around to the back of the house, our journalist protagonist (unwisely) decides it's time to break in and score some incriminating photos of the alleged serial killer. Though her actions are foolhardy, she's riddled with doubt, a fact reflected in Heavy Rain's "internal dialogue" concept. At any point, you can listen to your character's doubts, insecurities, and rationalizations about the current situation. These moments of waffling help bond you to the character, but they can also provide important clues.

The journalist decides to infiltrate. But how? There are no traditional "puzzles" in Heavy Rain, or even inventory items - the obstacles here are much more practical in nature. Several oil cans are scattered about the backyard, so via a simple mini-game, the woman positions them in front of an open window and uses them to boost herself up to the window. Using upward thrusting gestures of the DualShock controller, the journalist props open the window and wriggles her way inside the dimly lit house.

We're not going to reveal the minute-to-minute details of what happens inside the house, but we can say this much - the home owner is one sick, demented puppy. Creeping through the upstairs bedrooms, the journalist stumbles across some ghoulish evidence (hint: the evidence involves taxidermy and nurse outfits). Unfortunately, the owner comes home at an inopportune time, leaving our heroine trapped upstairs!

There are many ways this scenario can play out, and the developers demonstrated several possibilities. If you're careful and quiet, you can maneuver the woman back down the staircase, directly past the reclining killer, and escape through the garage door. But if you accidentally step on a squeaky floorboard, the killer will wise up and begin stalking you through the house. If he catches you, you'll have to fight him off with quick-time event button taps and quickly escape before he recovers. Depending on the method you use to escape the house, the developers claimed, any number of events could happen: if you escape without been noticed, the killer will be arrested; if he sees you but you escape, he'll commit suicide; if you reach a phone and call the cops, they'll charge in and rescue you. And of course, you could end up being the next victim of the killer's macabre display. Each of these possible outcomes could have a ripple effect across the broader storyline in Heavy Rain, impacting other characters or events. Because Heavy Rain will include several different playable characters, the possibilities begin to look almost infinite.

Some of the concepts in Heavy Rain are difficult to describe. But we're suckers for lavish graphics and cinematic camera styles, both of which Heavy Rain has in spades. Whether Heavy Rain shatters video game conventions once and for all is up for debate, but its mastery of mood, camerawork, and visual realism make it an absolute must-watch for all PlayStation 3 owners.

wow, i hope they don't screw this up, becuase it seems like it could be epic..

Some details up on Kotaku on the controls for the game (not just the head movement and forward movement).

http://kotaku.com/5039720/heres-how-heavy-rains-controls-work

Article below for the lazy or incapable.
Quantic Dream's David Cage walked us through a Heavy Rain demo at Games Convention last week, giving us a taste of how the game actually plays. While much of the presentation touched on facets of Heavy Rain's "rubber band" storyline and little things, like motion captured eye movement, Cage paused often to talk up the PlayStation 3 game's control scheme.

We've already written about the driving game inspired character control -- the R2 button moves her forward, with the left analog steering her head and shoulders -- so let's focus on how everything else is done.

After discussing how the character walks, Cage showed us how to interact with objects. Outside of the residence that the protagonist was investigating were a pair of metal trashcans and a mailbox. Both could be opened with the right analog stick, using forward and back motions that translated to on-screen movement. Pulling back on the stick fully opened the mailbox door fully, pushing it forward closed it. You may have seen this interactivity showcased in the game's Games Convention trailer, with the character opening a refrigerator with a sweeping arc of the right analog stick.

Heading up to the house's front door, a context sensitive control scheme appeared in the bottom right corner, giving us two options — knock or ring the doorbell. Both could done repeatedly, with a side to side motion of the right stick.

Following that, another context sensitive control option became available, letting the player call out to whomever might be inside. This was done with SIXAXIS control, giving us three dialogue options. This could be done in concert with the knocking/doorbell-ringing for maximum annoyance to whomever might be at home.

As the character walked around the house's right side, we encountered a barrel. It wasn't of the exploding type, just a regular, inflammable barrel that Cage wanted to use as a step. Pushing the object over with the square button, his controlling assistant pushed it forward with a thrust forward of the SIXAXIS. To right it again, he hit the square button.

Heavy Rain also gives players access to internal dialogue. Using the L1 button, we can listen to the main character's thoughts, giving players helpful clues about how to progress or simply to learn her opinion about the pros and cons of the current situation. There were two options when deciding whether to break and enter the house, one "daring", one "cautious."

Much of what we saw in the house was controlled via these methods, with brief Quick Time Events requiring randomized button presses. One, triggered by bumping into an overturned bottle, simply required a quick push of the triangle button.

Perhaps the most interesting implementation of the PlayStation 3 controller was during one of the stealth-action sequences. Forced to hide from the killer during the demo, the protagonist sneaked behind an open door, something that required the player hold X, then the R1 button, then the triangle button.

Another version of this sort of finger Twister game occurred when she sought shelter in a large wardrobe, requiring four consecutive button presses. We didn't actually see anyone from Quantic Dream fail at this, but it added a nice bit of tension to the scene.

Some of these control methods have been featured in Quantic Dream's previous games, but Heavy Rain looks to bring them all together into a cohesive package that feels thoroughly well implemented. We definitely look forward to going hands-on with the PlayStation 3 controller whenever Sony decides that's something it wants us to do.

I'm most certainly getting this as a day one purchase, but was anyone not as impressed with the visuals after seeing the HD presentation on PSN?

I mean, I didn't see any huge leap over say MGS4, but with the goo'ing and Ah'ing from the press, I just thought it was going to blow anything we've seen out of the water.

Also didn't think they've just yet nailed the breakout from the "uncanny valley"

There’s still something weird, wrong with the animations with the mouth lips and cheeks that needs to be fixed up.

With that said, I’m very interested in the story / narrative and new gameplay styles. We need more games that turn away from run / gun and the FPS genre that’s been horribly overused the last 10 years.

Also didn't think they've just yet nailed the breakout from the "uncanny valley"



I agree. As nice as the visuals are, I felt the same way when I saw the footage of the female protagonist talking into the audio recorder. In that first close-up shot of her face, her eyes look flat and lifeless. She actually looked less realistic in that respect than some characters from current- or even previous-gen games. The characters in MGS4, for example, demonstrate more vibrance in their eyes, which is the key to truly conveying emotions with digital characters' facial expressions. If the emotion never touches the eyes, something fundamental is lost.

Pretty ambitious. I don't see it working out as well as it sounds on paper (like Indigo Prophecy), but points for trying.

There’s still something weird, wrong with the animations with the mouth lips and cheeks that needs to be fixed up.

The voices and mouths aren't properly synced.

The voices and mouths aren't properly synced.

that could be it, as I didn't notice in my one viewing.

Still IP should get in touch with Image Metrics if they haven't and see if they can't further this kind of tech before release. their work is still in the U.V. area, but so much closer to where it needs to be compared to IP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLiX5d3rC6o

not sure on Emily's polygon count...

that could be it, as I didn't notice in my one viewing.

Still IP should get in touch with Image Metrics if they haven't and see if they can't further this kind of tech before release. their work is still in the U.V. area, but so much closer to where it needs to be compared to IP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLiX5d3rC6o

not sure on Emily's polygon count...

Ah, the good ol' Emily demo.

I noticed the lip movement not being in sync with the audio as well...and the face did seem devoid of emotion in the first shot. The 2nd shot towards the end was a bit better.

There was an interview where they talked with the developers, and the devs seems to think they are going to do a better job than Heavenly Sword.

We'll see...

that could be it, as I didn't notice in my one viewing.

Still IP should get in touch with Image Metrics if they haven't and see if they can't further this kind of tech before release. their work is still in the U.V. area, but so much closer to where it needs to be compared to IP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLiX5d3rC6o

not sure on Emily's polygon count...

I watched the interview the FXGuide crew did with Image Metrics on their vodcast awhile back and was blown away with the Emily demo. It will really be a treat when videogames achieve that level of "double-take" realism.

More info on Heavy Rain. This was briefly mentioned before, but kinda-sorta explained more by the developers.

Apparently, if you die, the story still goes on.

Seeing as its the spiritual successor to Fahrenheit, we can expect Heavy Rain to try a few novel things in the story-telling department. Here's one of them: the main character can die, and the game will continue. Uh, wait, huh?

I can’t really tell you too much about what the story’s about or how it’s going to work with the characters, all I can tell you that your character - the main character - can die, and the story will continue.

That's creator David Cage, who goes on to say that, yes, this means you can go on playing, just not with the main character. So long as this means we don't have to endure a torturous QTE sequence to bring her back to life, OK, Cage, we're interested.

http://kotaku.com/5048264/heavy-rain-keeps-going-whether-you-die-or-not

More info on Heavy Rain. This was briefly mentioned before, but kinda-sorta explained more by the developers.

Apparently, if you die, the story still goes on.



http://kotaku.com/5048264/heavy-rain-keeps-going-whether-you-die-or-not

Well, they did say that you play several characters. So thinking along the lines of a movie, the death affects the outcome of the plot, and the other characters go on.

Sounds like they’ll be quite a few multiple endings, ala Silent Hill.

Another plus, love games like that!

A new 30-minute presentation of Heavy Rain, in French though. I can't watch it right now unfortunately but it's supposed to be pretty amazing.


And don't worry about spoilers. This stuff was all made for presentation and won't actually be in the game according to the video.

Video:
http://www.gamekyo.com/videoen13496_heavy-rain-public-presentation-video.html


Mirror:
http://www.gamekyo.com/videoen13497_heavy-rain-public-presentation-video-mirror.html

Here's the public presentation of Heavy Rain for the PlayStation 3 made by its Producer at Micromania Games Show 2008 in Paris.

- In this demo, the player takes the role of a young journalist who is investigating on several girls' disappearances, she goes to a house of a former taxi driver who is suspected of killing these women. In this presentation, the Producer of the game shows 2 different ways to finish this demo, there are lots of different ways to get through the story.

- Multiple view camera system, not always behind the girl.

- The demo is fully playable, no cut-scenes, the player can control the girl at any time.

- The Sixaxis motion sensor is used in the game to make different moves (open a window, raise or hit on an object, etc.).

- It is possible to hear what is happening in the mind of the character, so the player knows the different choices that are available.

- No loadings in the game!

- Backgrounds are fully interactive (all objects can be used, all doors can be opened, etc.).

- Very interesting Split Screen System to keep an eye on the murderer, control the character at the same time.

- The player has to maintain several buttons to stay hidden, uncomfortable situation for the player to reproduce the same stress in the game.

- Quick time events for some action scenes.

The player has to maintain several buttons to stay hidden, uncomfortable situation for the player to reproduce the same stress in the game.

Love this idea.

Check out the purty new screenies (from 1up's preview (http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3171575)):

http://www.tsurugi.co.uk/misc/ps3/heavyrain/screens/1up1.jpg
http://www.tsurugi.co.uk/misc/ps3/heavyrain/screens/1up2.jpg

At E3 in 2006, Quantic Dream president and CEO (and Heavy Rain writer and director) David Cage showed a tech demo of an actress auditioning for a role with quick dramatic emotional shifts. It wasn't from any particular game, according to Cage, but designed to show how an in-game character could look and act -- and many associated it with the title "Heavy Rain," in part because E3 kiosks labeled it as such.

But it wasn't. So fans of Quantic Dream's previous adventure game, Indigo Prophecy, had to wait to see what the developer had in the works. Fast-forward to this year's Leipzig Games Convention: Cage ran through press meetings to formally unveil the title. Sort of, anyway. He showed a live gameplay sequence that revealed many of Heavy Rain's planned features, but did so using a just-for-tradeshows scenario and story -- which, by dictionary rules, makes it tech demo No. 2.

Between those two showings, he created extremely positive buzz for the game -- in my Games Convention preview, I found myself "as excited for the game as I have been for any in recent memory" -- and did so without actually showing the game itself. Is Cage a genius, and the media a bunch of suckers? (He does have four job titles, after all.) Perhaps it'd be more accurate to say that his ideas have generated a ton of excitement -- but to date, they've been demonstrated in highly controlled circumstances.

Which, of course, makes me want to know more.

1UP: I heard you mention at Games Convention that Heavy Rain is "everything we learned and did right on [Indigo Prophecy] done 10 times better, less everything we've done wrong." What are some examples of things you did wrong in Indigo Prophecy that you're staying away from this time?

David Cage: After [Indigo Prophecy], we spent a lot of time reading reviews and players' feedback on forums. We also had our own ideas about what worked and what didn't. First and foremost, I think we have a much stronger script in Heavy Rain. Although it was more complex to write, I think the characters have real substance, and the story should be emotionally involving. I also tried to evoke themes rarely used in games, which should be one of the challenges of the game, but also one of its more interesting aspects. It's an important test for me to see if we can tell more subtle stories and trigger more complex emotions in a game or not -- something we already started to experiment with in [our] The Casting demo.

We also continued to develop our concept of "bending stories," allowing players' actions to have consequences on the story. We pushed this idea further, in a more constant, fluid, and effective way. We also entirely redesigned the way action scenes work, something that was one of the weak aspects of [Indigo Prophecy].

We also spent a lot of time and energy in developing a solid engine, graphics tools, and pipelines. I think gamers can already judge the graphic quality from the first playable demo we presented. Many people seemed to think that this pre-teaser was prerendered and not interactive, but it's entirely real time and fully playable.

We really improved the experience at all levels, with more interactivity, new gameplay mechanics and interfaces, high-quality sets and virtual actors, a new technology of facial motion capture, better animations, and many, many other surprises I cannot reveal now. But, believe me, what we've shown so far is nothing compared to what we're currently working on for the full game.

1UP: You also mentioned at Games Convention that the taxidermist scene you showed won't be part of the game's main story. Will it still appear in the game, and if so, in the exact same way we saw it? Or perhaps with changes, such as how Konami showed Metal Gear Solid 2 scenes in their marketing with Snake as the main character -- even though he never appeared in those scenes in the real game -- to avoid spoilers?

DC: Not showing a part of the game was really important to us. We believe story is a key component of the experience, and we didn't want to spoil it. We haven't decided yet how this first playable will be used. Maybe as a bonus scene that players will unlock in the game, or maybe as extra downloadable content.

1UP: You warned against reading too much into the taxidermist scene, but does that scene suggest Heavy Rain's themes might be more rooted in reality than Indigo Prophecy's?

DC: Definitely. We tend to believe in our industry that we need to tell simplistic or spectacular stories, where the hero saves the world, destroys evil, or has supernatural powers. This is because the videogame, as a medium, has been too immature to tell complex and subtle stories. I made this mistake myself at the end of [Indigo Prophecy], where I felt my story needed something spectacular because all I had so far was normal people leading a normal life. I realized that the "normal" part was the one that worked the best, and that it wasn't necessary to save the world to tell something exciting anymore. Heavy Rain will be about normal people in real life, and I believe it'll be much more emotionally involving, as gamers will easily relate to the situations and characters. This is a new approach. In Heavy Rain, you won't be a superhero or a gangster. You'll just be someone real.

1UP: How have the button-pressing minigames in Heavy Rain evolved from those in Indigo Prophecy?

DC: Of course, we were not satisfied with the way PAR (this is what we call these sequences) were implemented in [Indigo Prophecy]. We bet on the peripheral vision of the player, and it didn't really work. Having said that, we didn't want to throw away everything just because we did it wrong. There are some very interesting aspects to PAR: There's no limit to the types of actions, animations, and cameras you can offer, which makes every single action and scene unique. These scenes are very spectacular, fully contextual, and easy to understand and play. They're also more and more common, as they've been used in games like Shenmue, Tomb Raider, and God of War.

So I started again from a blank page and tried to keep what I liked about PAR while getting rid of what I didn't like. I think we found an interesting new solution by integrating symbols in 3D in the set and in animating them with the character or object they relate to. It's much less disruptive for the visuals, better integrated -- and, if well tuned, can be interesting to play. We also changed the pacing of the action, asking for fewer symbols but on a fast pace. PAR segments are just used in certain sequences for certain actions, of course; they don't constitute the main component of the experience.

I know there's always a strong reluctance from some hardcore gamers for this type of sequence, but we hope to convince them by the way we're going to implement them and by how we'll make these sequences really enjoyable and spectacular.

1UP: How do you determine which actions players will perform with the right analog stick and which they'll perform with physical controller movements?

DC: We use the Sixaxis motion controller for violent actions requiring you to push, hit, or kick in general. Our approach to interface is really based on emulating the character's moves on the controller. We want to make the player feel the same way as his character onscreen.

1UP: Will players use the PS3 controller's face buttons for anything?

DC: We don't use them for the moment, apart from action sequences. We don't feel we need them for the moment.

1UP: In a recent interview with Develop magazine, Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said, "One focus that has been, and will be, key is how we use the online technology and PlayStation Network to involve more consumers in participating.... That's the major common theme that we are trying to enforce with all our projects." Might we see any online features in Heavy Rain?

DC: Heavy Rain's an experience about interactive narrative and emotion, and we really wanted to focus on making these core elements right. The game will support the Trophy system and may offer some kind of extra content online, but Heavy Rain is a single-player experience.

1UP: What's the biggest development challenge you're currently facing?

DC: The biggest challenge is probably about the overall level of detail and quality we need to reach in all areas of the game. Any detail may break the illusion and stop the suspension of disbelief. In most action games, the player can accept that dead bodies disappear after a while; this kind of thing would break the experience in Heavy Rain. All characters have to move and behave right, all elements in the environment that the player may want to interact with must be interactive, and the story must behave in a logical way, always offering the player possibilities that they'd reasonably expect. Maintaining this level of quality and consistency through the full game is definitely a challenge, especially because each scene is unique, and most of the time offers a specific [type of] gameplay.

1UP: Is Heavy Rain the only project in development at Quantic Dream, or is the company a multiple-game studio at the moment?

DC: Quantic Dream's been a single-project company for years. We put a lot of energy and attention in our projects, and we never wanted to compromise the quality. The company has now reached another stage where we're ready to have two and soon three projects at the same time, with the same desire of ambition and originality. We want to continue to pioneer emotion and narrative in games in the future, but also apply what we've learned to different formats and different genres. Online is definitely going to be one of our next steps. This industry changes quickly, and online is going to be a key component of not only gameplay, but also of distribution in the near future. What gets me excited is to work on new ideas and new challenges, and I think we have some very unique concepts in the pipeline.

Good stuff Joe! Thanks!

How do you aim down the sights?

A new preview is up (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=310399&page=1) with some interesting details revealed. Here's a summary:


The Script
2,000 pages long
60 scenes, each about 15-20 minutes long, most, but not all of which you see on any play-through
40,000 words of non-linear dialogue
Based on 6,000 pages of notes and references
15 months in development


The Art Design
Two weeks scouting for locations on the East Coast of the USA
15 months of design by ten people
Photos, topographical gameplay maps, sketches of every item, paintings of every scene


Outsourcing to Asia
Over 100 people involved outside Quantic Dream
480 man-months of work
Based on an "outsourcing bible" and "level architect blueprints"


The Motion Capture
All done on-site at Quantic Dream in Paris
170 days of shooting across nine months
Over 70 actors and stuntmen involved
Casting sessions in Paris and London
30,000 unique animations recorded
Largest mo-cap project in the history of videogames


--------------------------------

There's no rain during our trip to Paris to see Heavy Rain, which is bad news for the photographer travelling in our group, who might have done well out of that. Then again, there's no Heavy Rain on our trip to Paris to see Heavy Rain either. Nor, it turns out, was there any sign of it at Leipzig's Games Convention in August, despite its top billing at Sony's conference and director David Cage's press briefings. When we sit down with Cage three months later to ask whether anything we've seen so far - characters, locations, scenarios - is actually in the game you'll be invited to buy in the second half of 2009, he pauses for a second. "No."

Instead we've been invited under the Channel and through the terrifying Parisian traffic to witness a speech and a slideshow. Cage - the diminutive, loquacious and occasionally poetic head of development studio Quantic Dream - wants to tell us about his ambition, his methods, and his philosophy. And it's important to emphasise his role. He wrote the 2,000-page, non-linear script that prescribes not only the game's characters, locations and scenarios, but also its gameplay mechanics, over a period of 15 months, preferring the help of Hollywood script-doctors to established game developers. He directed every one of the 60 scenes that make up the game, casting and commanding more than 70 actors and stuntmen to perfect the look. His co-CEO - the charming Guillaume de Fondaumière - treats him reverentially, greeting the press and helping us to pass the time between interview slots, but only Cage speaks about the game.

We're up against pure ego, then, in a building where everything is open plan except for a single private office (guess who), and yet we're spellbound. We can't tell you how Heavy Rain looks, sounds or plays in any great depth, but we can tell you it's interesting. As with Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy in the US), Cage respectfully declines the "pattern-based" rhythm of modern action-adventures, preferring "a complex story told through contextual actions and realistic visuals", which reaches beyond the emotional palette - as he perceives it - of frustration, anger and anxiety that underscores the majority of contemporary videogames. It's easy to trigger fear and frustration, he argues, "but to make you feel social emotions like empathy is more difficult".

Ironically, contextualising these goals within the framework of what will go on sale next year is almost impossible. Leipzig's taxidermist scenario - where a woman enters a house, discovers stuffed dead people, is surprised by the return of the house owner, and has to escape - gave us an understanding of one or two core concepts, like the 'impress' system, where a character hiding quickly in a cupboard is held in place by an awkward combination of buttons designed to bridge the emotional divide between sofa and peril. We also discovered that the Sixaxis motion sensor would be used to throw, kick and generally "give an impulsion", as Cage puts it, and that your character would move when you held a trigger and follow head movements directed by the player. But Cage refuses to elaborate during our visit, except to say that "there is some kind of language regarding the interface and how we deal with things".

We ask about the way in which Cage goes about weaving story and gameplay together, speculating that just as developers who allow gameplay to dictate the scenario are often forced to concede to cut-scenes - something Cage promises only to do as a last resort - he may be forced to concede to repetition if he's to map his game to the story he wants to tell. "I'm not starting with the story and trying to fit gameplay in," he insists, becoming animated, "because that would fail the same way. What I try to do is to think about the story and the gameplay together. At the moment that I have an idea for a scene, I try to think about the potential for gameplay in this scene. Or when I think I think about a nice gameplay mechanic, what's the potential for the story? I wrote many scenes that were deleted because they had a good idea for gameplay but not for story, or a good idea for story but not for gameplay. I need to have good ideas for both in every single scene."

The consequences of these gameplay mechanics - whatever they turn out to be - will bend rubberband arcs within each scene in a manner that amplifies Fahrenheit's most noteworthy achievement. "There are scenes that you will get or you will miss based on what you've done," Cage tells us after his presentation. "There will be part of the scenes that you will see or not see, and there will be specific actions in the scenes, so it's really an open end. There is no way you can see everything in one play-through, because there are many scenes you can only see if you play a certain way."

Famously, Cage has even conquered death in Heavy Rain, having revealed earlier in development that the termination of a central character will not end the game. It's a problem he confesses that he couldn't solve in Fahrenheit, in which one character was essential to the unfolding story and others - though playable - were ultimately periphery. "What do I do?" he says, almost forlornly. "The game stops, what happens? I had to give you a game-over... With Heavy Rain, we took a big risk, and said, okay, this is a huge challenge but let's try to ensure that whatever happens we don't need game-over. There will be different ways of dealing with that."

Given the author, we suspect this means the death of playable characters will be essential to progress. Having elected to make another game of "choice and consequences", Cage is eager to assert that we will have to make difficult, contextual decisions more poignant and complex than the binary moralism of most adventures. Even so, a visual timeline of the game's story, which lurks uninspected by most of assembled press along the back wall of the production floor, is a straight line from left to right, and Cage confirms that while your path through the game will probably deviate from the guy standing behind you at the checkout, there's a coherent "linear backbone to the story".

Beyond the broad strokes, our visit also contemplates the finest details - the emotional firmament of each scene, dictated not only by characters and your actions toward them, but also their surroundings. Incidentals like a mother kicking a door closed with her heel as she struggles with groceries have been motion-captured, while a prostitute's apartment reveals photographs pinned to the side of the bathroom mirror and a stereo positioned within earshot of the shower because that, we're told, is where its owner prefers to listen to it. Despite the Havok sticker on the posters, it's no surprise to learn that Cage also guides the physics within each location, insisting that your material impact on any given scene must make sense within context. "You cannot when you visit the prostitute, for example, just take a pillow and throw it on her and make a mess," he explains.

At the end of his initial presentation, Cage guides us through a number of the game's locations - its "sets" - taking in the prostitute's home, an antique shop full of dusty typewriters (each of which has individually modelled keys), a train station showered through giant windows by the light of dusk, and a grim crime scene in the night, at which a detective - potentially one of the core cast - stands at the police line, while cops in overcoats pick through the scraps of grass around a tarpaulin-suited body, under the sweeping lights of the traffic crossing a bridge overhead. Heavy rain falls. We ask Cage about his decision to set both his recent games on the US East Coast. "With these two games I tried to create dark thrillers," he says. "You don't choose the place where the story takes place just because it's cool; it has to support your story, and I think that's the case."

It's another response that he delivers without much contemplation. That, evidently, came long ago, as did the decision to jettison anything approaching the outlandish conclusion to Fahrenheit. "When the game was released, you guys wrote that the most interesting part was probably the first two-thirds where we were just following normal people in normal life, and we were just with them. Working on Heavy Rain, we just decided [the ending] is not a mistake we should do again. We can tell a real story about real people in real life, and we can make it as interesting as anything else." Cage may be polarisingly self-assured, but it's the first time since we arrived in France that we've decided he's wrong. This is more interesting than anything else.

Thanks Joe!

That, evidently, came long ago, as did the decision to jettison anything approaching the outlandish conclusion to Fahrenheit. "When the game was released, you guys wrote that the most interesting part was probably the first two-thirds where we were just following normal people in normal life, and we were just with them. Working on Heavy Rain, we just decided [the ending] is not a mistake we should do again. We can tell a real story about real people in real life, and we can make it as interesting as anything else."

Oh, thank christ. I can actually look forward to this game now.

Does this game have perks?

j/k...all joking aside, have you guys seen the new screens (http://www.psu.com/New-Heavy-Rain-shots-display-visual-prowess-News--a0005708-p0.php) for this? I was pretty astonished by one of them (and a little skeptical).

Brandon

Does this game have perks?

j/k...all joking aside, have you guys seen the new screens (http://www.psu.com/New-Heavy-Rain-shots-display-visual-prowess-News--a0005708-p0.php) for this? I was pretty astonished by one of them (and a little skeptical).

Brandon

Yes, this one in particular is quite nice.

http://images.eurogamer.net/assets/articles//a/3/1/0/3/9/9/ss_preview_cropped.jpg.jpg

yum.

New mini-preview (http://blog.play-mag.co.uk/uncategorized/heavy-maaaan/) and concept artwork:

Heavy Rain has a lot about it. More than likely enough to spark yet another trite ‘Games as art’ debate, at least. For anyone who’s looked into it, and played Quantic Dream’s previous titles, you cant help but be swayed, not only by David Cage’s enthusiasm, but by the undeniable quality of the piece. The two demos that Quantic has put out won’t be in the finished game, but display the genius and determination of a man who has spent several nights sleeping at his desk and countless hours writing and rewriting mammoth scripts, not just for this game.

It’s this excitement that lead me to get back into Fahrenheit, and I can heartily recommend it as an antidote to the kind of noisy brain farts that populate the shelves of your local game vendor. If the term unique can be applied to any contemporary game, it’s this. Sure, the last half goes a little bizarre, and it’s easy to see the game as a string of arbitrary QTE’s, but it’s significantly more than the sum of its parts. It has more than a few of my favourite moments in gaming, some of which I’d completely forgotten about. What makes Fahrenheit exciting from my current point of view is that everything Cage is talking about at the moment has some kind of presence in Quantic’s previous game. Decisions having a real effect on gameplay, acting creating an emotional attachment and narrative being genuinely developed. These are all things that Cage tried with Fahrenheit, he a had a good deal of success with it though, and with the upcoming Heavy Rain, we should see some of these concepts better realized. Or at least you have to hope so.

It does make you think though. While Fahrenheit wasn’t a massive commercial success, selling a mere 700,000 worldwide, it received huge critical acclaim and wasn’t a complete flop. There hasn’t been anything since that comes anywhere close to it. I did hope, for a time that a slew of copycat titles would flood the shelves. The ambiguity of the genre if nothing else probably initiated a few board-room suggestions. Why has nobody tried taking Cage’s tack with games? Probably because it simply requires too much work for too little monetary reward. That’s a tragic thought. With Sony exclusivity backing this effort though, if we see decent sales of Heavy Rain, surely the copycats can’t be that far off. Mieow.


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I wasn't planning on picking this title up. After seeing the Qore previews though, I may buy it or at least rent it. I've always felt like as the genre of gaming progresses, some will give you the feel that you're in an interactive movie. This title seems to be going that direction, so I want to try it out.

It seems to me that the success of the title (from a replay value standpoint) will be in how engaging the story is, how believable the plot is and how much we like and can relate to the internal conflict of each character. Hmmm, sounds similar to actual movies :)

Brandon

I'm definitely interested. I enjoyed Indigo, though it would have been better without the super sci-fi aspect. I really thought the supernatural tie in to the ancient civilization was just right, but then it went too far. Still, it was fun to play/watch.

Another interesting interview: (http://www.dpadmagazine.com/2009/03/16/killer-app-an-interview-with-david-cage/)

After spending three years in pre-production, fifteen months writing and almost two hundred days motion capture shooting, Quantic Dream’s David Cage is ready to talk more about his studio’s upcoming PS3 title, Heavy Rain; a game that he hopes won’t just prove to be an outstanding dark thriller, but a title that will forever change the face of the industry.

D+PAD: Heavy Rain is a brand new IP for Quantic Dream, but just like your previous title, Fahrenheit, you’re looking to break boundaries with storytelling in video games. How do you go about starting a project like Heavy Rain? Do you look at what worked well in Fahrenheit and expand upon those elements, or is it a completely different process?

David Cage: After Fahrenheit, we spent a lot of time reading critics’ opinions and listening to gamers. We also had many things we were not happy with and that we wanted to rethink and change. At the same time, we did not start thinking of Heavy Rain as a sequel, but I had the feeling we found something with Fahrenheit that I wanted to explore further. These ideas of letting the player tell the story through his actions using Bending Stories, of considering the experience as an emotional journey with moral choices, of having short and varied scenes, of moving the challenge from the controller to the mind of the player, all these were interesting concepts that could significantly be improved. But we also had many new ideas that we wanted to implement regarding gameplay and a new technology that allows us to improve the quality of the immersion.

If I had to summarise my motivation for Heavy Rain, it was to create an emotional simulator, use all means to make the player feel something, making an experience rather than just another video game. To achieve this goal, I thought that Fahrenheit opened the way, but that there was much more to do.

Heavy Rain is looking to blur the line between video games and movies. Were you inspired by the work of any particular film creator/director for Heavy Rain, or is the game entirely your own vision?

You are always inspired by other people’s work, not only movies, but also books, TV series, comics, paintings, art in general. Heavy Rain is a dark thriller and I am sure people will find connections with some films we all liked like Silence of the Lambs or Seven. I also really liked a Korean movie call Memories of a Murder and other Asian films. I like Asian cinema, but I also appreciate some Spanish or Spanish-speaking directors like Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth), Alejandro Inarritu (21 Grams, Babel) or Alejandro Amenabar (The Others).

What’s really different for me on Heavy Rain is that it is the first script I’ve written for a game that refers to things I have personally experienced in my life. In most other art forms this is quite usual, but it was something weird to do for me in a video game. Most games talk about rookies going to the battlefield or heroes fighting against the forces of evil, situations that few people actually experienced in their own lives, so they can only try to figure out what it means for their characters.

Heavy Rain is of course not based on my private life, but it is based on emotions that I have experienced myself, which will - I hope – support the story I want to tell and make its emotions more believable. I think our media is now mature enough to tell more personal stories, and I hope that more game designers will start talking about more personal things, because this is how other art forms reached maturity and more complex and interesting forms.

This is probably my main expectation from next gen games. Rather than displaying more polygons or having a physics engine, they should start to offer meaning.

One of Heavy Rain’s most touted features is its unique interface. Can you tell us a bit more about how Heavy Rain’s control system works and how it sets itself aside from other titles in the genre?

We had a very simple approach to interface: it should participate to immerse the player in the world by asking him to mimic what his character is doing on screen. We experienced that on Fahrenheit with the new control system we proposed for actions (MPAR, using a move on a stick to unfold animations instead of just pressing a button). We continued experimenting with the same philosophy on Heavy Rain. We have also implemented an interface called MPRESS that could be seen in the Games Convention demo when the character needs to hide, for example.

Regarding navigation, we wanted to find a solution to the dependency between controls and cameras. We were looking for a real sense of directing all the time, and not only in cut scenes, which meant having the possibility to place cameras in the set without having constraints based on controls. At the same time, all games that tried that had to face conflicts with the control system, with characters suddenly going left while the player wanted to go right just because the camera changed. We solved this issue with two things: moving forward is [like accelerating] in a racing game by pressing R2 (whatever the position of the camera is), while the left analogue stick controls the head of the character, defining his direction when he walks. We also added a specific system to help navigation in populated environment to offer realistic sets where the player cannot get stuck. These are just some of the new ideas we put in place for Heavy Rain regarding gameplay. Some of them are real changes of paradigms, but we could not make the game we wanted using the same old rules.

It’s been said that QTEs will be commonplace within Heavy Rain. Taking into consideration the amount of criticism that has been levelled at the use of QTEs in the past, how have you gone about making sure that they add something to the experience, rather than detract?

QTEs are a minor part of the gameplay of Heavy Rain. They are used in some action sequences for scenes that would have been impossible to make with any other types of interfaces. If you have a fight for example, you either make a very video game type of sequence (punch/kick/combos, always the same moves, limited in an arena to avoid collision problems and inconsistencies with the environment), or you rethink the interface to support what’s really important in a fight: reflexes, quick decision making, pacing, having spectacular moves and directing, being injured, winning or losing). We entirely redesigned the interface to integrate and animate GUI within the 3D world instead of having it on top of the screen, which is definitely less distracting, and we worked hard on tuning them, timing them right, making sure they reinforce immersion and support the feeling we try to create in the scene. I think people will be quite surprised by what we managed to do in the game. I know many hardcore gamers are by instinct resistant to the concept of QTEs, but we put some serious thought into making it evolve and I hope to convince them that our approach supports the experience.

You’ve previously stated that you felt most video games were “structured like porn movies”, whereby part of the story is told, then there’s some action, and then a bit more story. With Heavy Rain you’re looking for a more consistent “interactive performance”. Can you give us some examples as to how that will work?

The reason why most video games are structured that way is very simple: they are based on repetitive patterns that make it impossible to tell any story, so they have to rely on cut scenes to move the story on until the next action scene. Interactivity is used to trigger adrenaline and stress, but it does not support narrative in any way. What I’m trying to change is to directly use interactivity to tell the story instead of cut scenes.

The player should tell the story directly through his actions instead of watching it. The first way of doing this is to rethink interface and this strange rule saying that a control scheme should be limited to a certain amount of repetitive actions. If you use a contextual interface, you get access to an infinite number of actions, so your characters can at least do things to tell a story and not just jump or use their gun. The other difficult conceptual step to make is to redefine what gameplay is about: an experience may not be based on weapons or cars and still be fun. Interacting does not necessarily mean to destroy, kill, jump or drive. Interactivity can be about changing your environment, changing relationships or making decisions. It doesn’t have to be limited to military conflicts; any kind of situation can become interactive. Fahrenheit started to show that it was possible: the game was not using any gun or vehicle; it had no enemies to fight and no puzzle to solve. It was just about immersion and decision making. I think it is time for our industry to grow up and explore new possibilities instead of redoing the same games with the same old concepts over and over again.

Other games have tried to implement a similar decision-making system to what you’re doing with Heavy Rain, but the results and story-structure have always ultimately been pretty much pre-determined. How deep does Heavy Rain’s system go? Is there a specific number as to how many variances the story has to offer?

When you think of narrative in a game, you have two options: you create a sandbox (ideally an MMO) where you give as many quests as possible and hope that gamers will generate a narrative on the fly by their interactions, or you write a story. In the first option, you have no control over the narrative and most of the time, there is none or of very poor quality. If you write the story, you can guarantee its quality and consistency for the player. No one can pretend today to generate complex storytelling procedurally just because this is not possible. Heavy Rain is based on a script, and I don’t think there is anything bad or wrong about that. I created a backbone for my narrative, I wrote all the possible variations based on the player’s decisions I could think of, using techniques like Bending Stories to follow their consequences and give a feeling of freedom to the player within the context of the story, so his decisions can really impact the narrative. I think the result will emulate a freedom of choice while maintaining the quality and consistency of the narrative. It is impossible to say how many paths there will be, just because there won’t really be any. Actions have consequences, sometimes they are limited to the scene, sometimes they will severely impact the narrative.

Are you concerned that some players simply won’t run with the concept of Heavy Rain’s flowing narrative, for example, choosing to reload whenever a character dies instead of letting the game run through? Did you consider being more Draconian and forcing this on the player?

This is still a possibility. I still have some time before making a final decision. It is always difficult, because it should not frustrate the player but support and improve his experience.

An increasing amount of publishers and developers are moving into the mindset of preparing additional content to be made available as an extra download post-release. What do you think of that approach, and is there much scope for DLC in Heavy Rain?

Honestly, my focus is on putting as much content as possible on the Blu-ray. We have many plans for DLC, but I won’t work on them until the game is finished and fully satisfying. Games are expensive; my focus is to give as much as I can to gamers for their money.

Video games have gone from being predominantly fantasy-based to realistic ‘gritty’ experiences. Even games developed by your own studio have followed the same path to an extent, with Omikron’s futuristic setting replaced by more realistic scenarios in Fahrenheit, and an even darker realism set for Heavy Rain. Why do you think there’s been a sudden push for realism?

Omikron was aiming to be realistic with the technology of its time… I think that more and more creators want to tell stories that are closer to them, to situations or emotions they have personally experienced. It is easier to talk about something you know than imagining what it was to be a rookie during WWII… For me, it is much more about situations than about realism, more about my personal link to what I want to write than a will to tell stories set in a contemporary or realistic environment. I could work on a non-realistic game in the future and still try to talk about subjects that matter to me and thus seem to me “real”.

Do you believe that a realistic setting helps with story-telling, to allow players to empathise with characters more so than they would in a fantasy scenario?

Realism is just a rendering type you choose, nothing more. You can create emotions with any type of rendering if you have something interesting to tell. You don’t need MoCap, virtual actors, facial animations and all the other technology we have on Heavy Rain. This was just the tone and atmosphere I chose for this game because I thought it supported the story I wanted to tell. It is not a requirement and you can tell fantastic stories full of emotions without realism. There are many examples of that in all other arts: think of Miyazaki’s work for example, or the fantastic animation film The Iron Giant, Alan Moore or Frank Miller for comics, ICO or REZ for video games.

David Reeves has said that Heavy Rain will be the most important game for PS3 this year. Does the knowledge that there’s a huge amount of pressure on the team to deliver from both consumers and colleagues affect development?

Currently, I’m working on a title that is extremely anticipated worldwide, exclusively on a console we chose, with the full support of a console manufacturer, with the time and means to make the game we want, on something that is new, original and creative, aiming to redefine how players play games, making covers of magazines and raising an incredible amount of interest. I have worked all my life to be in this position now; this is what any creative person in this industry dreams of doing. Am I going to complain that Sony sees Heavy Rain as a major title for their console this year? Certainly not. This is an honour and we do everything we can not to disappoint people’s expectations. It may sound arrogant, but I believe that this game can be important not only for Sony or Quantic Dream, but beyond for our industry. We have the responsibility to demonstrate that it is possible to create games with more creative ambitions, more complex stories to tell, and that it can be fully playable and more exciting than interactive battlefields. I hope to convince people outside our industry that games can be more than just toys for kids: that they can become art. I don’t pretend I will do all that with Heavy Rain and make it a milestone, but I hope that it will open the way.

You mentioned earlier that you think it’s time for the industry to grow up. With Heavy Rain you’re creating a much more mature, slower-paced title in an industry fuelled by more juvenile themes. Hardcore gamers have reacted to Heavy Rain in a very positive light so far, but what do you think will make the game stand out at retail?

Heavy Rain will be different. I hope it is going to break with many old game conventions and explore new ideas. Its story will – I hope – also surprise people, and I would like them to go from scene to scene eager to know what will happen next. The game will aim at creating moments that will leave an imprint in players’ mind. The game should also look stunning with its graphics, virtual actors and motion capture animations, but most of all, I hope that people will enjoy it because of its ambition to be what comes after video games.

Heavy Rain launches exclusively on PlayStation 3 later this year.

This is what I envisioned PS3 games to eventually be... engaging, innovative, and graphically badass.

I liked Indigo but the supernatural crap seemed a little too forced. I appreciated what they were trying to do - so it was still fun to play. I have high expectations for Heavy Rain. A day one purchase for me.:cool:

In interviews it does seem like the developer has learned from the mistakes and complaints about Indigo Prophecy, but I am still keeping my expectations low.

release date?

According to the official Playstation blog (http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/05/11/infamous-your-questions-answered-1/), we'll get more info on this game on May 22nd. Hopefully they do a full reveal with multiple gameplay sequences played out to get a better feel for it.

It will be a NEXT GEN Indigo Prophecy, lets hope people give this a try and not call it crap because the game will basically be a interactive movie like Indigo Prophecy was.

It will be a NEXT GEN Indigo Prophecy, lets hope people give this a try and not call it crap because the game will basically be a interactive movie like Indigo Prophecy was.Wait, so are you saying you did or did not like Indigo Prophecy?

Regardless, I'm one of those folks who thought it was "crap because the game basically was an interactive movie"; even worse it was an "interactive movie" that had a sucky ending; even worse it was an "interactive movie that sucked" and was built almost solely on QTEs.

I like what I've seen so far of Heavy Rain, but I definitely hope it's not just a bunch of QTEs like Indigo Prophecy was, and I sure as **** hope it doesn't have some lame-ass "twist" towards the end.

Yeah, Indigo Prophecy didn't suck because it was an interactive movie; it sucked because it had an awful story and turned into a glorified Simon Says halfway through.

The early stuff in that game was great. Trying to hide the evidence of your involvement with a murder while the cops are at the door getting impatient was brilliant, and searching out clues as the cops was great, too. But the story and gameplay seriously jumped the shark.

The developer has acknowledged these shortcomings and said they learned from it and the story will not be taking that kind of turn in Heavy Rain, so I'm looking forward to it. It is NOT simply a next-gen Indigo Prophecy.

This game looks awesome. I just hope its not too much like a French movie.

This game looks awesome. I just hope its not too much like a French movie.

What you mean? The Professional was a great movie! http://illiweb.com/fa/i/smiles/icon_bounce.gif

Just playin Tez. I'm really not that ignorant. Will this have subtitles and will Van Damme make a guest appearance? (I know, I know... he's Belgian.)

What you mean? The Professional was a great movie! http://illiweb.com/fa/i/smiles/icon_bounce.gif

La Femme Nikita was highly decent as well.

La Femme Nikita was highly decent as well.

Yeah, it was pretty good. Way better than the American remake, Point of No Return. U guys r really sidetracking the thread. :p

Two Luc Besson movies count as French movies? He's about as French as fries. :rolleyes:

And on topic, as good as it is to hear they've taken criticisms to heart, I don't trust game designers who pander too much to gamer criticisms. Game looks great in previews, and I hope to see some solid gameplay footage come out of E3.

A lot of info will be coming in over the next few days. GTTV will air some new material tonight.

Also, here are some new pics from Meritstation:

http://www.meristation.com/EPORTAL_IMGS/GENERAL/juegos/PlayStation3-AventuraGrafica/da/IMG2-cw4a1596c21f579/Screenshot5.jpg

http://www.meristation.com/EPORTAL_IMGS/GENERAL/juegos/PlayStation3-AventuraGrafica/da/IMG2-cw4a1596c22e447/Screenshot98.jpg

http://www.meristation.com/EPORTAL_IMGS/GENERAL/juegos/PlayStation3-AventuraGrafica/da/IMG2-cw4a1596c21ce51/Screenshot27.jpg

http://www.meristation.com/EPORTAL_IMGS/GENERAL/juegos/PlayStation3-AventuraGrafica/da/IMG2-cw4a1596c2071cc/Screenshot106.jpg

Is it just me or is anyone else expecting this game to be a dud?

Is it just me or is anyone else expecting this game to be a dud?

just you

Holy crap; that looks pretty amazing. Hopefully it will play amazing.

Is it just me or is anyone else expecting this game to be a dud?

Expecting? No. But I think it's the type of game that could be a complete dud. Whenever you break away from the norm and think outside of the box in an industry where only a few genres appeal to the mainstream buyers, that chance exists.

Of course, there's also the possibility that the game achieves everything it hopes to achieve within the scope of the genre, yet people buy it and hate it because they don't know how to bring up their iron sights or can't find the grenade toss button.

Brandon

Is it just me or is anyone else expecting this game to be a dud?I'd love to be proven wrong, but I just don't see who this will appeal to.

High concept. Great!
Looks very pretty. Good deal.
Non-traditional game. Okay.
QTE-driven. Uh...
No dying. Um...
Interactive cinematics. :rolleyes:

I'm just not sure how they'll market it, or who it'll be marketed to.

Anyway, I'm intrigued, but skeptical. Indigo Prophecy was a big let-down, and this is starting to sound more and more like it (QTEs, multiple character storylines, and so on). Indigo Prophecy sold okay (700k worldwide), and got mixed reviews. Heavy Rain may be headed for the same.

http://www.n4g.com/ps3/News-283749.aspx

QTEs are supposed to be a minor part of the game.

The latest gameplay video appears to contradict my above post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKqYxSFxk4Q

I suspect the majority of the game will be spent exploring and talking to people in order to receive clues, but the action sequences will be QTEs. I'm kind of iffy on this game too now.

Clears that up. Rental confirmed.

Looks like a modern day Dragon's Lair (QTE - driven).

Guess I'll wait to see more info....have no desire to play a game built around QTEs.

not even a rental

this game seems full of timed button mashing. you do very little exploring. even when you do, it seems like it's interrupted by cut/fight scenes that begin and end with button sequences. terrible idea for such a pretty game.

The bad part is that they've spent like 4-5 years and probably a huge amount of money to make this happen and its all starting to crumble. Hopefully they will hit E3 hard and win some ppl over.

Here's another 20 minutes or so of gameplay (youtube):

Part I (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycoxWUXPJ3Q)
Part II (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XyE4dfed_A)
Part III (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpkA9NVpxac)

According to this write up, (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/985/985796p1.html)the QTE's aren't just simple win/fail, process of elimination activities hinging on 100% perfect responses to move the game forward:


Over the past year, we've had the chance to see bits and pieces of Heavy Rain a couple times, most recently back in December. Our looks at the game have been shrouded in mystery for the most part, giving us glimpses at how the game looks and how it'll work from a macro level, but details on exactly who these people are and how the characters were tied together were left in the dark.

That all changed back in April when I had the chance to not only see an extended act from the game but also get my hands on the title for the first time. To say Heavy Rain is an ambitious title would be an understatement, and to say it isn't unique would be a flat-out lie. What Quantic Dream is crafting here could turn out to be nothing short of an instant classic if all the pieces come together correctly. It'll take us more than a single play-through to figure that out, however, as the game isn't designed to be a linear tale by any stretch of the means. Instead, it's something meant to be experienced in unique ways by different people each time you go through the game.

The biggest example of this has to do with the four characters and their part in the game. Each of the four main characters is in some way tied to or searching for the Origami Killer, a murderer who leaves an origami bird at each crime scene. Each of these characters plays out their part in the game in unique scenes, with the title swapping between them chapter by chapter (of which there are currently 60-plus). We're told that the characters are exclusive to their individual scenes, meaning that for the bulk of the game, they won't directly interact with one another. I wouldn't be surprised if they come together at the end, but for the most part, they all make up separate parts of the story.

The interesting bit here is that each character, and moreover each scene, plays out in a unique manner, and each one gives you a different perspective on the story. But as I said, the game isn't meant to be played in a linear fashion, at least in the normal sense of "linear" in terms of game design. If a character dies, they're dead, but the game doesn't end. It simply goes on with you continuing as the remaining characters; you just miss out on the dead peoples' scenes. If you want to get the full experience of the tale you'll want to do your best to keep them alive until the finale, but should death become them, it'll only work to make your story more personal.

My time with the game was spent in a scene (set somewhere in the middle of the game) starring Norman Jayden, a detective on the trail of the Origami Killer. As with everything else in Heavy Rain, Jayden isn't a simple character. While he's one of the good guys and is doing everything in his power to hunt down and stop the killer, he also has a drug addiction that he's hiding from the force. His vice is called triptocaine, and as he's trying to kick his habit, he sometimes suffers from withdrawals and has to resolve to feeding the monkey to keep it together. This can directly affect his scenes in big ways, which I'll come back to in a bit.

The setup for the scene is that the police have determined that the Origami Killer had driven a car at some point that came from a chop shop run by a man named Mad Jacky. His chop shop doubles as a junkyard, so Jayden heads there for some answers.

Walking up towards the bulk of the junkyard, Jayden spots a large man in a magnetic lift. He doesn't offer up any answers and is generally unwilling to cooperate, so Jayden heads inside of a nearby garage to look for clues. Here, we got a look at Jayden's prototype A.R.I. device, or Added Reality Interface. The A.R.I. is a combination of a set of glasses and a glove. The glove "reads" things in the environment with a sort of infrared-esque technique, is capable of picking up scents in the air and can evaluate substances and feed info to the glasses, such as DNA and the like. So in practice, enabling this allows you to see footprints, blood trails that may have been poorly cleaned and even the lingering scent of flowers that had recently been in the area.

Tossing on the A.R.I., Jayden then sees a number of footprints and a trail of blood that lead toward an acid bath (where metals are melted down). Looking inside, he spots a human skull before feeling the cold steel of a gun at the back of his head. Jacky, who was actually the man in the magnetic lift, doesn't like anyone snooping around his garage and threatens to kill Jayden.

At this point I had my first look at combat. Action sequences like this play out like a quick-time event where icons appear on the screen and it's up to you to match them with button presses. The difference here is that these sequences play out in a branching manner, so missing a prompt doesn't mean that you lose but rather that the scene will change and play out in a different manner. So, you might have a number of chances to win (or lose) a fight during a sequence.

After a quick scuffle in the garage, Jayden manages to knock Jacky to the ground and pick up his gun. Jayden tells him that he's going downtown and gets ready to cuff him, but his vision then begins to blur and his hands begin shaking as a withdrawal starts kicking in. Here you get an opportunity to actually fish a bottle of triptocaine out of Jayden's jacket and subside the withdrawal, but this seemingly simple task is anything but that. You start seeing button prompts appear around his beltline that you need to match, but the tricky part is that you don't press them in sequence; rather, you need to press and continue to hold each button as new ones pop up. If I remember correctly, the sequence went something like L2, R2, Circle, Triangle, X, Square and then a directional press on the left analog stick. I actually almost finished the sequence in time but wound up succumbing to the attack and passing out.

Had I managed to get out the pills and take one, that may have been the end of the scene with Jayden just taking Jacky off to jail, but instead Jayden wakes up from his slumber in his car to find it being moved by the magnetic lift and dropped into a crusher. Jayden also happens to be handcuffed to his steering wheel by this point, so before escaping you first need to figure out how to get the handcuffs off. Triggering a few icons around your hands has Jayden try to knock them or the steering wheel loose but to no avail. The trick here is that you need to look to the right, towards the glove compartment, which then shows that you can actually kick it open. Again, since the contextual icons stay with their corresponding objects, you won't see or even be able to trigger this unless you look around and at the glove box.

Once (if) you manage to climb out of the car (Jayden's death here results in a bloody mess), a somewhat lengthy fight with Jacky takes place. As I mentioned before, sequences like this play out a little differently depending upon what you do. In this fight, the magnetic lift that Jacky had been used is still running and creeping forward slowly. As the fight goes on, which features a lot of back and forth knockdowns, you can eventually get to a point where either you or Jacky will wind up under one of the lift's treads and meet an untimely death.

The cool thing about all of this is that I'm told that you can actually skip it all if you do a little investigating. It turns out that the car that the Origami Killer used is actually on-site and hidden around the back of the junkyard. If you avoid Jacky and do some snooping first, you can find the car and get all of the clues that you need to move on right there.

From what I've played, Heavy Rain has the potential to be something really special if the team can implement the different paths well and keep it from feeling too much like a Simon Says game during the fight and action sequences. I have a lot of faith that they can do this as what I played had a good bit of potential variety, so I'm really looking forward to get some time with the game where I can experiment with choices and see how different actions affect not only the individual scenes but the game and story as a whole.

It is obviously not for everyone but seems to have potential. I remain intrigued enough to wait for reviews of the full release.

Sounds like Myst taken to the next level.

Not a bad thing at all, but as said, some people just can't stand QTE's. I'm looking forward to it as being interactive cinema if anything. There's just not enough games with brilliant and engaging stories.

Thanks for posting the IGN write up. It really is sounding like Indigo Prophecy all over again. Most of those features and concepts already existed in Indigo Prophecy (especially branching actions, QTEs, and multiple storylines). The difference is that now Quantic Dream is really running with those ideas. Hopefully they don't screw the pooch with the story like they did with their last game.

Finding an audience might be really tough, though. Most long-time gamers (not just here in this forum) have strong opinions about QTEs. Many hate them, some don't mind them. If it were technologically possible, this would be a game well suited for the Wii audience. Pitching it as an "interactive film" or a "video game novel" and using basic QTEs could really appeal to the casual crowd. Tough to predict how it will do among more serious gamers. Make it pretty enough, and they will come. But judging by that footage, I'm less impressed than I have been by the screenshots.

QTEs are good depending on the situation.

I mean, for a game like Heavy Rain, which is focused on storytelling and multiple paths etc, its hard to cram a really solid combat engine into that. And whats worse, a few QTEs now and again or a really piss poor combat system where you button mash and hope for the best? If anyone here has played Omnikron (QD's earlier game) you may have some perspective on what I am talking about.

Ironically, the developers that coined QTE actually did put in a great combat system into the same game - of course I am talking about AM2 and Shenmue. But that's probably the exception that proves the rule, since Shenmue's designer is a certified Videogame Genius that had tons of experience making brilliant fighting games. QTEs in Shenmue were pretty small chunks of the game and were used to break up the flow a bit.

The thing that pisses me off about QTEs are when action games use them to show off stuff that is way way cooler than is anything possible in the game otherwise. Also, when you end up having to do the same stupid QTE over and over - God of War 2 etc.

Most long-time gamers (not just here in this forum) have strong opinions about QTEs.Case in point:

Also, when you end up having to do the same stupid QTE over and over - God of War 2 etc.I think God of War 1 and especially 2 are the sole exceptions to the "I hate QTEs" rule. Those two games pull them off perfectly. ;)

The GoW series comes close, but it's still too much - you do similar ones over and over. However, it passes point #1 (use QTEs to do cooler stuff than you can actually do) with flying colors. RE4 might be a better example. Lots of very good games botch their QTE sections.

Here is a combined look at the 20 minute detailed walkthrough video (http://e3.g4tv.com/videos/38847/Heavy-Rain-Developer-Walkthrough-Preview/?quality=hd) from the three parts posted above.

The game is confirmed for a Q1 2010 release.

Just a few more impressions from PSU:

http://www.psu.com/Heavy-Rain-Hands-on--a007538-p1.php0

Gamescom trailer

http://www.viddler.com/explore/Joystiq/videos/1646/2.035

This could be something amazing but the voice work is just not up to snuff with the visuals.

GamePro (http://www.gamepro.com/article/previews/211726/heavy-rain-the-first-interactive-movie/)is EXTREMELY impressed so far. If you want no plot spoilers (like me ;)), just read the bolded parts:

What would you do to rescue your child from a cold-blooded serial killer? Heavy Rain puts you in that intense situation from the perspective of four playable characters with very different lives. Each character is more realistic, more human than any game character you've ever seen. These characters have emotions, suffer from ailments, and have one thing in common: They're all searching to save your son from the origami killer.

At GamesCom, we met Ethan, one of the four playable characters in Heavy Rain and the most important. Ethan is a broken man filled with guilt and sadness. Two years ago, Ethan lost one of his sons in a shopping mall. He witnesses his son leave the mall and run into the street where he is hit by a car and killed. This emotional scene is completely playable as you'll fight against the crowd to catch up with Ethan's son. Fast forward two years after the accident, Ethan is a single father left to raise his remaining son, Shaun. Shaun is crucial to the story of Heavy Rain as he will be the origami killer's next victim.

In our demo, we did not see Shaun's kidnapping or Ethan's desperate struggle to locate his son and find the origami killer. Instead, we were shown a playable scene that establishes the broken relationship between father and son. In this scene, Ethan picks up Shaun from school and they go home to watch TV, make dinner, and go to sleep. Again, this is all playable and it can be played however you choose.

Playing this scene stresses the emotional distance and detachment between Ethan and Shaun. They barely talk, and you can further distance yourself from Shaun or vice versa try to take care of him. A chalk board reminds Ethan that Shaun should have a snake around 4:30PM, do homework at 6:00PM, eat dinner at 8:00PM, and be in bed shortly after. Time does advance in this scene, and what you do with that time is up to you. You can be a caring father or completely ignore Shaun's needs. If you ignore him, he'll help himself to snacks, continue to watch TV, and eventually fall asleep on the couch. Or you can talk to Shaun about his day, school, and homework. You can even grab chips for him to snack on and make a microwaveable dinner. Then putting him to bed with his favorite teddy bear really attaches you to both of these characters.

It's like watching a movie, but you're in control of what the actors do. For example, we watched in awe as Ethan noticed Shaun was sneezing, a sign that a cold might be coming on. He went upstairs, grabbed medicine from the bathroom cabinet, and gave it to Shaun. You don't have to do this. You don't have to do anything at all if you choose. Shaun can be forced to finish his homework and go straight to bed without being rewarded with more TV, but he will hate you for it. Oppositely, Ethan will kiss Shaun goodnight if you help him with homework, cook dinner, and let him watch a little more TV. What's more are how many options you have at all times. Another example is leaving Shaun to fall asleep in front of the couch and you can carry him to bed. The choice is yours as you command the actors of Heavy Rain, the closest thing to an interactive movie we've ever seen.

The next playable character we were introduced to is Scott Shelby, a private investigator and former cop. He's primarily hired by the victim's families who feel the police aren't doing enough about the origami killer. He's a bulky man who suffers from asthma.

The scene we saw with Scott Shelby takes place in a convenience store. The owner lost his son to the origami killer and Scott is looking for more information than what he can find in the police reports. Scott questions the man behind the counter, but he's reluctant to talk about his loss. Remember, this is all playable and you'll choose what to say from the available options assigned on the face buttons of the PS3 controller. Scott resigns from questioning further, but needs to buy an inhaler before leaving the store.

While Scott is in the back of the store, a young suspect enters and holds a gun up to the man behind the counter. He wants the cash from the register. Like the scene between Ethan and Shaun, you have many options for what to do about the robber in the convenience store. One example is to sneak up behind the crook, quietly grabbing a bottle of liquor to knock him on the head. Gently pushing the thumbstick on the controller performs actions more softly and slowly. Another example is to let the robber know of your presence. Hold your hands up with the L1 and R1 buttons and try and talk him down.

The robbery scene can end in a number of ways. The robber can be knocked out cold, talked down to retreating, the store owner can be fatally shot, and so can you.

Yes, even the main characters, such as Scott, can die in Heavy Rain. But it doesn't mean game over. You can keep playing the game and the story to save Shaun will continue. If all four main characters die, then the story is over and you will get one of the multiple endings. The point is to keep playing no matter what happens. It's life and you have to deal with it.

That concluded our demo of Heavy Rain and we left the room totally stunned. It was like seeing an intense, thought-provoking movie like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, all we wanted to do was discuss the implications of a game like this on the interactive movie level. Because that's what Heavy Rain is, the first interactive movie.

I'm definitly looking forward to this game. I enjoy games that have a good story to follow...Unlike Red Faction Guerilla...

this will be a definite buy for me!

Wow, that sounds amazing. This is the type of gameplay I've been wanting in games for a long time (kind of like Choose Your Own Adventure books). It will be fun to kill every main character off and see the bad endings.

I wish more developers/publishers would come out and say "f@(& you, pay attention" to knee-jerk media and fan reactions: QT Criticism is Bull**** (http://www.videogamer.com/news/david_cage_quick_time_criticism_is_bull_t.html)

Asked to respond to the game's critics at gamescom last week Cage said: "********! Just ********! I mean what's the question? We released Fahrenheit before. People know very well what the kind of balance we're looking for is. The balance is quite similar in Heavy Rain.

"I think that people who didn't see any demos or did not play the game are a little bit confused by the fact that the interface is in 3D. It's not quick time events. You navigate. You're free to explore. It's just that the interface, instead of being 2D icons in the lower corner, they are now inside the set. That's the only difference. You control the character second to second, and the balance is quite similar to Fahrenheit. There's no difference."

Cage added that it's simply the case that not everyone completely understands the game.

"You know when you make a first-person shooter, you just see ten seconds and you know what the game is about," said Cage. "When you see a game that has no real reference, that is kind of different, it's really difficult. Some people imagine things. Don't be afraid. It's not quick time based. All the purpose of Heavy Rain is to tell the story not through cutscenes but through gameplay. I would be stupid just to release cutscenes. I mean what's the point? I'd better make movie then. That's silly."



Whether they're ultimately right or wrong, it's refreshing for them to believe in something and not be afraid to say it rather than placating people (some of which simply want them to fail).

Brandon

They better have a demo, then.

they better have a demo, before release, then.

ftfy

I really am convinced to at least try this game. I'm thirsting for something original, and this game will most certainly be that!

...posting at 10:09 on a Friday is awesome. Gotta love being domesticated.

...posting at 10:09 on a Friday is awesome. Gotta love being domesticated.
10:09 just means you haven't left for the club yet. ;)

Now me, posting at 12:40, that's lame. :eek:

I played Cage's previous game, Indigo Prophecy (a.k.a. Fahrenheit) on the PS2, and it sounds like Heavy Rain is just an evolution of that gameplay style.

Indigo Prophecy let you roam freely through the current area, interact with environmental hot spots, and engage in a number of fixed dialog options with the other characters in the game. Scripted sequences (everything from fighting to playing the guitar) were handled with dual-stick quick-time events. You also had the chance to play different sections as different characters.

The game was uneven overall. In the early sections it bordered on brilliance, with lots of alternate action and dialog paths and a compelling story that had actual emotional impact. But the further into the game you went, the more bizarre and less coherent the story became, and the fewer options you were offered. The biggest action pieces also started to take on the frustration of a Dragon's Lair style game, where one or two bad flicks of the stick did you in. It was still worth playing, but in the end I couldn't help but wonder how much better it could have been with some more time to flesh out the second half of the game.

Cage acknowledged those problems in later interviews, so hopefully he's taken enough time with Heavy Rain...

- Jer

The biggest action pieces also started to take on the frustration of a Dragon's Lair style game, where one or two bad flicks of the stick did you in. It was still worth playing, but in the end I couldn't help but wonder how much better it could have been with some more time to flesh out the second half of the game.

Cage acknowledged those problems in later interviews, so hopefully he's taken enough time with Heavy Rain...I've already posted most of my reservations about this game, so I won't rehash them, but you point out a big potential fault with this game.

In interviews and previews, the "fix" for the Dragon's Lair style make-it-or-break-it QTEs is that you don't necessarily die if you mess up the QTE. The actions branch depending on which QTEs you make and which you don't. There are no "wrong" choices. That said, that won't prevent most players from feeling frustrated at not getting the button sequences right.

I think I remember in interviews that there's no way to re-load from a prior point in the game, that you just have to keep playing through to the end. But either way (with or without re-loadable save points), that sounds like pure frustration to me.

I think I remember in interviews that there's no way to re-load from a prior point in the game, that you just have to keep playing through to the end. But either way (with or without re-loadable save points), that sounds like pure frustration to me.

I hope that isn't the case :eek:

Brandon

According to this article (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=197626), it will be possible to reload from a previous point; the director just hopes that players don't rely on it too much, but instead play through to experience the consequences of their actions.

I played Indigo Prophecy, and one of the things I found disappointing was that the choices you made actually made relatively little difference; the multiple paths never strayed all that far from one another. Given that Heavy Rain's script is supposed to be 2000 pages long (http://www.vg247.com/2009/08/24/cage-heavy-rain-script-is-over-2000-pages-long/), it sounds like there will be multiple paths that really are different. I hope so; it could be extremely cool to have a game that you want to play ten times so you can follow ten different stories.

I am sure this will spur more sales. Be careful and not have kids around as it is a 'strip scene' with nudity......

http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=5318

Box art revealed:

http://www.qj.net/images/stories/PS3/Heavy_Rain/heavyrain.jpg

http://www.qj.net/images/stories/PS3/Heavy_Rain/heavyrainback.jpg

New interview: (http://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2009/12/04/david-cage-interview.aspx)


David Cage and his team at Quantic Dream turned heads with Indigo Prophecy's unique approach to storytelling, now the team is putting the finishing touches on the highly anticipated PlayStation 3 title, Heavy Rain. Even with Quantic Dream burning the midnight oil, David took some time to answer our questions about interactive narrative, and why Heavy Rain is not an adventure game.

Heavy Rain is often referred to as an adventure game. How do you feel about the application of that genre title to the game? In what ways is it appropriate or inappropriate?

Adventure games are a very clearly defined genre based on established mechanics: exploration, inventory management, puzzles and dialogue choices. There is generally a focus on story and characters with a very slow pacing and cut scenes to make the narrative move forward, generally in a quite linear way.

Based on this definition, Heavy Rain is NOT an adventure game. There is no inventory in the game, no object to combine or examine, no puzzle, the game does not rely on everlasting dialogues. The story is told through players' actions and not through cutscenes, and players' actions have significant consequences on the narrative. Last but not least, Heavy Rain offers a diversity of situations and gameplay, as well as some spectacular action sequences.

So to make a long answer short, I don’t think Heavy Rain belongs to the adventure genre, although it is about story and characters. I don’t know to what genre the game belongs. I don’t think it is that important though to put it in a specific box with a label on it. At the end of the day, if people enjoyed it, they rarely wondered if it was because it was an action/adventure or an RPG.



“Adventure games are dead” is a common phrase in the gaming industry. Do you think that discussion is even relevant in the current gaming landscape?

I'd probably agree with that phrase. The Adventure genre is one I really enjoyed but it has struggled probably because it's been unable to evolve with the games becoming outdated and of less interest. Again, I am talking about games based on inventory management, puzzles and dialogue choices.

It certainly does not mean that people lost interest in good stories and interesting characters, but more in the specific experiences this type of games had to offer. Heavy Rain offers a new approach to interactive storytelling: it is not based on mechanics, it fully integrates real time 3D and cutting edge visuals, it mixes storytelling and actions, and most of all, it offers players to have a real impact on the story. It is not just about seeing one or another cutscene at the end, it is about living different stories, being the writer, actor and director of their own story.



In any form of storytelling, characters are defined largely by their actions. How do you deal with the challenge of relinquishing control over those actions to the player while still maintaining a cohesive narrative?

That was definitely the main challenge in the writing of Heavy Rain. I wanted to offer many options in the story while guaranteeing that all of them were consistent with the characterization and the main plot and had the same narrative quality. Consistency was always my obsession. I found no absolute answer but solutions emerged from the writing. In every situation, many logical things can happen based on the decision made by the player or the fact that he succeeds or fails in making something. These actions have natural consequences on the plot but do not interfere with the characterization.

The technique behind this is to create narrative bottlenecks, strong contexts for choices, where I can predict what the player will want to do. It creates a very fluid experience where it seems that you can do whatever you want. In fact, the player does what I “encouraged” him to do, which helps to create a consistent characterization and a better experience. I also discovered that many players integrate some role playing attitudes in the way they behave. As they identify themselves to the characters, they want to do what they believe their character would do in the context (and not necessarily what they would like to do as players). By doing so, players also actively participate to the consistency of characterization. A good example of this is the forced strip-tease in one of the scenes we presented: most male players were exclusively focused on trying to find a way not to get naked in front of this ugly guy, which means they felt they were Madison and they behaved accordingly.



Right now, Quantic Dream is the only developer making games in this style, focused so intently on story and character. Why do you think more developers haven’t attempted it?

Our industry is entirely focused since its creation on creating games for kids and teenagers. What this audience wants is simple instant fun with guns, cars and explosions. Some video games managed to make incredible things based on this paradigm and it is today the most secure choice on a financial standpoint for a publisher.

Quantic (and Sony)’s bet on Heavy Rain is to say that there is another emerging market of young adults and adults looking for a different type of interactive experiences based on a different paradigm: they want experiences that are journeys and not series of obstacles, that bear meaning and emotion and not only adrenaline, that explores other themes closer to cinema or literature, but that are fully interactive and visually stunning.

Quantic Dream has focused for twelve years on new ways of triggering different types of emotions with interactivity. We have a tradition of working on innovative titles and taking risks on new ideas. We were fortunate enough so far to meet publishers understanding and sharing our vision and giving us the possibility to develop our ideas. We also invest very significantly for years in R&D to develop tools, pipelines and engines to serve our objective of creating emotion-driven experiences.

This combination of things put Quantic is this position today but it is definitely a rare luxury to have the budget of a AAA title to work on an original IP and concept. In a certain way, we are probably the most expensive indie developer in this industry…

On a separate point, I think that few publishers understand today the importance of narrative and emotions even in first-person shooters, although cinema has proved for a long time that special effects and action alone do not make good movies if there is not a good story and some exciting characters.

The industry is also very slow to understand that our customers are not exclusively 15 years old anymore, but according to recent surveys they are 35… We seem to ignore this point and continue to make games for kids. By doing this, we limit our audience and let older gamers quit playing and move to other entertainment platforms like internet, cinema, music, iPhone, etc. when these people should be our primary target because they have money to spend (and not only at Christmas…). But in order to reach them, we need to raise the quality level, add creativity and meaning and change some of our core paradigms.

This is not a simple step to make for this industry, so we continue to do the same things the same way as long as it keeps selling. I don’t think that this is the right way of preparing the future. We may end up being a cultural ghetto for kids and geeks when we should be a major entertainment platform in the coming years. This is really what is at stake.

I wish that more developers will have the possibility to be creative and bring new concepts to the table. More publishers need to understand the importance of innovation in our industry and take risks accordingly, but consumers also have a responsibility in this situation. By buying more original games rather than sequels of sequels, they send a message to decision makers about how they want this industry to evolve.



Do you see this style of game becoming more prominent in the future?

I would like a better balance between games for kids/teenagers and games for adults. At the moment, it is probably a ratio of 99% vs 1%, I would be really happy with a 70% vs 30% ratio as a first step…

Again, this is not a personal fantasy, it is an absolute necessity for our industry and a natural way to evolve. Think of the first movies that were made a century ago: very spectacular scenes that were shown in fun fairs to impress people and entertain kids. Cinema successfully evolved from a fun fair attraction to art. Video games were also born in fun fairs. We still have to evolve and become an art.



Heavy Rain features multiple playable characters. Can you talk about your approach to making these characters believable and making gamers care about them?

I have a very simple technique for that: I usually start with an archetype, a type of character that players will quickly feel they know by the way they look, talk, behave. We have all seen before an FBI agent very professional and cold, totally involved in resolving a case in spite of the local police lieutenant, we have all in mind a film noir detective working alone with his own methods and following his own rules. All these archetypes came from movies, tv series, novels, comics, and they form a part of our commonly shared culture. Archetypes are the entry points to characters. They allow to break very quickly the barrier with the player and to make him comfortable. He thinks he knows these characters forever and can predict how they can/should behave.

Once this is established, the challenge is to go beyond archetypes by adding layers of complexity to the characterization that will surprise the player and make him feel there is more than what he thought. He believed he knew everything about this character, and then you can reveal other aspects of his personality that he did not suspect. By doing this, you can create rich and surprising characters without spending hours to create empathy and make players care for them.

Once this is done, identification can fully work. By feeling empathy for these characters, the player identifies himself to them, puts himself in their shoes and shares what they feel.



Gamers have a tendency to reload previous saved games if events don’t play out in their favor. Will Heavy Rain allow this? Do you see it as damaging to the narrative?

Heavy Rain will allow players to access any scene that has been already played. I wanted this feature to be implemented although I think it damages the narrative because I thought they would want to access different points of the story and see what would have happened if he had done something else.

Personally, I would prefer players to play the game once and not go back, to create a story unique to them and never know what would have happened otherwise. But this is a designer’s dream and I see no reason to frustrate players by imposing this.



Heavy Rain got some attention very early in its development because of its impressive visuals. What can you say about the importance of high-quality graphics to the experience of the game?

The story of Heavy Rain led us to a realistic type of rendering. Although I don’t think that this is required to create emotional experiences in general, it was definitely the rendering that worked the best for the game. When you work on realism, there is really no middle ground: you are realistic or not.

We made very early on an important decision that made our lives much simpler: instead of working on huge environments with a low level of details and interactivity, we decided to work on smaller environments but as detailed as possible and as interactive as they can be. Our scenes don’t take place in open cities but rather in a house for example, where attention is paid to every single detail. Some scenes just take place in a room, but highly detailed and with many things happening. Another rule was that each scene uses a unique environment. We don’t come back to places, scenes are short and usually fast paced, which means that the player discovers a lot of unique environments and never knows what to expect next.

Regarding characters, the game also features a quite impressive gallery of faces and surprising people… all based on real actors. They were usually created as full virtual clones of real people, using their face, their voice, their body, their movements and facial animations. We developed all technologies and engines internally at Quantic specifically for Heavy Rain.

I believe all this work plays an important role in the experience offered by Heavy Rain. The story and the characters aim to look and feel real, sets, animations, faces are as close to reality as possible today in real time 3D. It was really useful in creating believable emotions, empathy, and make the player feel he is “playing reality."



What was one of the lessons you and your team learned from making Indigo Prophecy and have applied to developing Heavy Rain?

We learned a lot from Indigo, from what worked as well as from what didn’t work. We see Indigo as the prototype to Heavy Rain, and we wrote a better story, redesigned an interface integrated in 3D, imagined a new approach to action sequences, redefined bending stories and how actions can have consequences, significantly improved the technology and tried to imagine scenes never seen in a game before.

Most of all, what I learnt from Indigo is: 1) it is possible to create an experience based on story and emotion for an adult audience, and 2) players can have interest for this type of experiences if it is written and executed right. Just discovering these two points would have been enough in my mind to justify the hard work put in Indigo.



In Heavy Rain, the gameplay appears to be relatively simple, chiefly giving gamers an avenue to travel through the story. Are good storytelling and complex gameplay mechanics incompatible concepts?

“Allowing the player to make complex things in a simple way” was one of my tag lines designing the game. I wanted the challenge to be in the mind of the player and not only on the controller. I am not a big believer in mechanics in general. Creating patterns and loops spread through levels is not my vision of creative design. I try to explore contextual actions which means that what you can do changes based on the situation. It is much more complex to write because your characters have virtually access to anything, which means more freedom and more problems on a design standpoint, but I believe this is the only way to go. It is almost impossible to create interesting and complex emotions with a hero only able to run/jump/shoot/crouch, and you end up having to tell the story in cut scenes.

So in short, I don’t believe that complex mechanics are necessary for good storytelling because mechanics are based on loops and narrative hate loops. We need to invent new ways of interacting not based on mechanics. I believe this is where the real challenge is.

I'm going to try to play through without loading to get the full experience. Hope it turns out as good as it sounds.

Adventure games are NOT dead!

Simply put...can't wait! Maybe I should start a thread for me and others who just can't wait.... :o

What about us guys who can't wait to see if it's any good and then they'll be in line to buy it a week after it comes out if it is, in fact, good?!

hrmmm...good question...

....

Simply put...can't wait! Maybe I should start a thread for me and others who just can't wait.... :o

+1 to that. The first half of 2010 is going to be epic for games: Heavy Rain, WKC, Red Dead Redemption, FF 13, Resonance of Fate, and The Last Guardian. All day-1 purchases for me!

'Can't wait' doesn't begin to cover the torture of twiddling my thumbs waiting for all the sweet games coming out next year! :p

Looks very promising. I really enjoyed Quantic Dream's previous games - Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit and Omikron: The Nomad Soul.

I'm really looking forward to this game. I just hope this doesn't end up being one of those "OMG, the killer is my other personality!" plots. If they are going for 'different' I hope they kept 'different' storyline as well...something that will mess with my head a bit.

A new video (http://ps3.ign.com/dor/objects/811232/quantic-dream-project/videos/heavyrain_gmp_memories_83109.html) of the game is up, but if you're like me and know you want to purchase it, perhaps you'll skip it to keep the story as surprising as possible.

ign.com (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/105/1054486p1.html) has a write up on the first 11 chapters.... again, it may have too many spoilers, so here is a summary paragraph below. Click on the link to read the rest of the specific details:

Heavy Rain is looking really good at this point with great presentation all around. I don't know if the pacing will suit everyone who tries it, but those who want an engrossing story, one that's determined by how you play it, will probably find a lot to like here. I for one am excited to get my hands on the final release.

http://psnow.es/uploads/images/ps3/heavy_rain/img012-1056.jpg
http://psnow.es/uploads/images/ps3/heavy_rain/img002-1056.jpg
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http://psnow.es/uploads/images/ps3/heavy_rain/img010-1056.jpg

Technically, it seems like Quantic still has the same issues as they've had in their previous games, ie weird voice acting combined with some really good mocap'd animation and really odd other animation. The graphic engine looks decent enough, though those eyes on all the character models are creepy in the extreme - like looking at dead people.

Things I think Quantic needs to work on: a more even take on animation (some is crazy good, some is really badly done) and possibly a good dialog editor or writer (we'll see for sure when this game comes out).

I'm still getting it as I really appreciate Quantic's efforts to be original (definitely welcome in the video game industry), and their stories can be interesting, though the last third of Indigo Prophecy was just ridiculous.

Ars.technica has a good article on where the game stands at this point and seems pretty optimistic, though it's down on the voice acting (my previous fear). Maybe the French studio just can't get the English nuances down right? :)

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/12/its-boring-until-its-not-the-subtle-genius-of-heavy-rain.ars

Ars.technica has a good article on where the game stands at this point and seems pretty optimistic, though it's down on the voice acting (my previous fear). Maybe the French studio just can't get the English nuances down right? :)

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/12/its-boring-until-its-not-the-subtle-genius-of-heavy-rain.ars

Just now seeing this game. I know what you mean about the dialogue. I watched one video so far with a girl breaking into a house and she said "This window is ajar". I mean come on, name one person you know in real life who ever used the word "ajar". That's an old video game word from way back in the day.

I do like GOOD adventure games however and hopefully this is one. I'll wait till some impartial reviews come out before I make a move on it however.

Just now seeing this game. I know what you mean about the dialogue. I watched one video so far with a girl breaking into a house and she said "This window is ajar". I mean come on, name one person you know in real life who ever used the word "ajar".

That will make contextual sense halfway into the game, as it's revealed that the girl is actually the disembodied voice of the interior module program of a 1990 Nissan 300ZX.

(See what I did there? I combined a stinging critique of Indigo Prophecy along with an old Eddie Murphy joke. Bask in my glory!!!)

That will make contextual sense halfway into the game, as it's revealed that the girl is actually the disembodied voice of the interior module program of a 1990 Nissan 300ZX.:D
Nice.

Anyhow, I'm now back in the "reservedly interested" camp about this game. I'll likely be relying on you folks' opinion more than anything else. So once you all get ahold of it, let us know what you all think!

I've already posted most of my reservations about this game, so I won't rehash them, but you point out a big potential fault with this game.

In interviews and previews, the "fix" for the Dragon's Lair style make-it-or-break-it QTEs is that you don't necessarily die if you mess up the QTE. The actions branch depending on which QTEs you make and which you don't. There are no "wrong" choices. That said, that won't prevent most players from feeling frustrated at not getting the button sequences right.

I think I remember in interviews that there's no way to re-load from a prior point in the game, that you just have to keep playing through to the end. But either way (with or without re-loadable save points), that sounds like pure frustration to me.


I know this is an old post but I just started reading this thread and wanted to put in my 2 cents.

What I would like to see for the save mechanism is no reloading from a save until after you finish your first run-through. Then have the saves work in a branching style on subsequent loads. That way if you were happy with everything up until 2/3 through the game you could go back and make a different decision or whatever. Then you are stuck on that path until you complete it.

A good way to get through multiple endings and different storylines without forcing you to play through the entire game. Still makes you live with your consequences, just doesn't punish you as harshly on the remaining plays.

Did any of that make sense?

Edit: and after reading through the rest of the posts it looks like he is close to doing what I had thought about. He just won't make you play all the way through it before reloading.

That made sense, and is a good idea. If they had a save system like that, they'd probably have mentioned it by now, though.

If they allow multiple save files, we can simulate that by saving frequently and then reloading the ones just before key decision points.

That would make sense. I suppose they still have a chance to surprise us before the game releases. No official release date yet, right?

They need to get this game out soon. The more I see, the less interested I get. :(

After recently buying Indigo Prophecy and then reading a lot about Heavy Rain I am really starting to get excited. Indigo was fun and Heavy Rain looks like it is going to take it to the next level. I really get nervous about the decisions I am forced to make when playing. I get a little rush at certain moments and can only play for thirty minutes until I need a ten minute break.

I am not sure how the save system in Heavy Rain is but in Indigo Prophecy when I feel I made a mistake I pause it and stop the scene and reload.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2792/4255477126_3a2264c1ac.jpg

The game is due in the U.S. on February 26th. Here is an interesting writeup from the Hypebuster series by ign.com (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/105/1058471p1.html) designed to help you know if you will like its unique play style or not. I can tell that I'm the kind who will enjoy it, but its not for everyone.

Fan Concern:
With all this talk of realism, does Heavy Rain actually play like a game? Or is it actually just an interactive story?

Hypebuster Answer:
It's a little bit of both, really. 'Realism versus Gameplay' is the real conundrum here, and no game can ever replace the subtle nuances of humanity, despite gorgeous graphics, motion controls and so on. What Heavy Rain does do, instead, is transform the PS3 controller's right thumbstick into a sort of 'universal' input device that represents a host of different functions in different contexts.

For example, moving the thumbstick in a smooth downward sweep might make Ethan take a seat at his desk. Another flick to the left and he'll extend his arm and brush the clutter onto the floor. A short, sharp flick upward might make him stand up, or reach for something above him. In essence, it's a way of making you think about how your arms move, fingers grasp and so on. In this way, Heavy Rain definitely never forgets that it's a game – but at the same time, it keeps the controls simple enough to remain unobtrusive during storytelling.


Fan Concern:
So is it photo-realistic? And are these dramatic performances going to cause a massive rethink on storytelling in games?

Hypebuster Answer:
Sadly, no and no. While Heavy Rain looks outstanding at times, with some lovely graphical techniques and subtle animations that will surely impress, this isn't James Cameron's Avatar. The promised photo-realism of early demonstrations comes up short, with the unshakeable 'uncanny valley' ever present. Textural detail on skin, fabrics and throughout the environment are excellent, but even still, there are some notably low-resolution textures in some places. We're hoping that these might still be placeholders, but we're not holding our collectives.

Lip-synching is also a mixed bag. Certain characters are utterly outstanding –particularly hard-boiled detective Shelby. Not only is his voice wonderfully matched to his stocky body and grizzled appearance, but his facial expressions and lip-synch is about the best we've seen so far outside of Uncharted 2.

The script for a game like this is clearly monstrous; each possible scenario has branching 'thoughts' or inner monologues as well as separate potential outcomes and reactions. We're talking hundreds of thousands of lines of fully-acted dialogue here – so the result is a quality of acting and script that can fluctuate greatly.

Of course, Heavy Rain appears to get the bulk of it very right, which is a relief. While you won't hang on every word like the latest Coen Bros. film, there are moments that are genuinely charged with emotional impact. Scenes and situations, such as a shocking home invasion and the distressing missing-child opening are truly confronting. That's a big deal for a game.


Fan Concern:
So, alright – if Heavy Rain is so open-ended and flexible, how much freedom do I really have? And do my choices really have impact?

Hypebuster Answer:
Hrmmm. Well, you should probably curb your expectations because Heavy Rain still needs to guide you through a narrative that sits at its core. You can't just break away and do anything you want, but at the same time, your decisions do take you in a few different directions to get you there. If you're thorough, quick-fingered and open-minded, you can end up in conversations that lead you to new evidence, or you might find a few different solutions to confrontations.

Really, when you break it down into key ideas, Heavy Rain takes the ideas of a classic point-and-click adventure and runs with it. You still collect items that you find in the environment, chat with the locals for more information (or just to flesh out the setting and scenario) and use all of this accrued knowledge to solve whatever puzzles, situation or question is in front of you. However, Heavy Rain's interface, which circles around the context-sensitive thumbstick and buttons, combined with the numerous main characters and the depth of the branching dialogue, creates a convincing illusion of deep and varied choice.


Fan Concern:
So, alright – if Heavy Rain is so open-ended and flexible, how much freedom do I really have? And do my choices really have impact?

Hypebuster Answer:
Hrmmm. Well, you should probably curb your expectations because Heavy Rain still needs to guide you through a narrative that sits at its core. You can't just break away and do anything you want, but at the same time, your decisions do take you in a few different directions to get you there. If you're thorough, quick-fingered and open-minded, you can end up in conversations that lead you to new evidence, or you might find a few different solutions to confrontations.

Really, when you break it down into key ideas, Heavy Rain takes the ideas of a classic point-and-click adventure and runs with it. You still collect items that you find in the environment, chat with the locals for more information (or just to flesh out the setting and scenario) and use all of this accrued knowledge to solve whatever puzzles, situation or question is in front of you. However, Heavy Rain's interface, which circles around the context-sensitive thumbstick and buttons, combined with the numerous main characters and the depth of the branching dialogue, creates a convincing illusion of deep and varied choice.

Ultimately, after experimenting with the same scenario played radically differently, the end result was mostly the same, but we were only privy to certain cutscenes and clues and not others. So bottom line (again, based on what we've seen), it's not free-form, but more of a toned down 'Choose Your Own Adventure' – and we're liking what we've played.


Fan Concern:
So riddle me this: if Heavy Rain still conforms to tenets of game design like quick-time-events (essentially pressing buttons as they pop up on screen) and item collecting, and it's not photo-realistic, then where's the innovation?

Hypebuster Answer:
That's a tricky one – and hype has a lot to answer for here – but that's exactly why we do Hypebusters in the first place. After all is said and done from hours and hours with the game, what we see here is the next evolution of the Adventure genre – one that has recently all-but-stalled-out in terms of fresh franchises and innovation.

So is it innovative? In some ways yes; there are some startling moments of dramatic manipulation of the player – ones we won't spoil. It also is beautiful, even if it doesn't attain those lofty ambitions that developer Quantic Dream set out to achieve.

In other ways Heavy Rain stumbles. The controls are cluttered, at times requiring you to hold a direction on the thumbstick while progressively adding more and more buttons into the mix. We see what Quantic Dream is doing, but it brings Heavy Rain back down to earth. After all, why should it take three button holds to draw a straight line on a drafting board? It just seems protracted (pardon the architectural pun).

However, once the story plays out, we feel that Heavy Rain may well present an experience that is far greater than the sum of its parts. Like Indigo Prophesy (Fahrenheit in some regions) before it, the experience is all about storytelling and everything in between essentially builds bridges from point to point for the player. There aren't many games available that will play with that concept and get it right – and that's to be respected and well-regarded.


Fan Concern:
Is it fun? Give it to me straight, fella. [That's what she said! –Patch]

Hypebuster Answer:
The big question – and one that is utterly the most important; yes, Heavy Rain is fun. But that's a conditional 'yes'. There are a few requisite tastes that you'll need to get the most out of Heavy Rain. For starters, you need a disposition that can deal with slow pacing; this is not an action game – though, the action sequences certainly raise the tempo as much as your blood pressure.

If you have a penchant for classic Adventure games, Heavy Rain comes close to rethinking the genre and bringing it up to speed. If not, well... there's always that Activision war shooter thingie - and that's supposed to be good, right? *cough*

Second, it's vaguely cerebral and definitely hinges around your ability to navigate lots of hovering menus and crime scenes. If you don't like this kind of stuff, you're not going to find a lot to chew on in Heavy Rain. This is a game that knows exactly what it wants to be and it doesn't apologise for its protracted structure.

Will it be the PS3's greatest gaming experience yet? Look, that remains to be seen, but we have our initial doubts. However, if you can contend with the traits of the genre, Heavy Rain is almost certainly going to reach you in ways the latest populist shooter could only hope to.

A demo has been confirmed: (http://www.shogungamer.com/news/heavy-rain-demo-confirmed)

If anyone is on the fence about Heavy Rain, both from a gameplay and story perspective, then they can get a small taste of the game as Sony has announced a demo will be released prior to the game's release. Both reps from SCEA and SCEE have confirmed the demo for their respective territories and have said details on the exact contents of the demo will be announced shortly.

http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/01/11/heavy-rain-ps3-release-date-for-europe/

Official release date is Feb. 23rd in NA (Feb. 26th in EU).

That must mean the demo is coming out soon! :cool:

A demo has been confirmed: (http://www.shogungamer.com/news/heavy-rain-demo-confirmed)


Good. This is definitely a game I need to try first.

Anyone know anything about "Heavy Rain Chronicles: Chapter 1 - The Taxidermist"? I am considering getting this game, and if you pre-order it from Amazon it says you'll get this downloadable episode free. Is this really worth anything?

Anyone know anything about "Heavy Rain Chronicles: Chapter 1 - The Taxidermist"? I am considering getting this game, and if you pre-order it from Amazon it says you'll get this downloadable episode free. Is this really worth anything?

If it's anything like Amazon's worthless pre-order bonus Treasure Map for Uncharted 2, that would be a big NO.

If it's anything like Amazon's worthless pre-order bonus Treasure Map for Uncharted 2, that would be a big NO.And to add, if it's like the Uncharted motion comics available for DL (~1.99 each I think) and they were ultra short, I would second that no.

Anyone know anything about "Heavy Rain Chronicles: Chapter 1 - The Taxidermist"? I am considering getting this game, and if you pre-order it from Amazon it says you'll get this downloadable episode free. Is this really worth anything?

From what I understand of it, it's a bonus chapter consisting of scenes that you've seen in gameplay videos that weren't actually a part of the main game.

Anyone know anything about "Heavy Rain Chronicles: Chapter 1 - The Taxidermist"? I am considering getting this game, and if you pre-order it from Amazon it says you'll get this downloadable episode free. Is this really worth anything?

Sure, it's worth $5.00. :)
The Taxidermist and other separate chapters will be released on the PSN network at later dates. Saving $5.00 is not really the best part in my opinion, getting the extra content before it would otherwise be available.

/My pre-order is in.

For me ordering the game from amazon is worth more than Heavy Rain Chronicles: Chapter 1 - The Taxidermist, a downloadable episode and $5 bucks off, because since I live CA and amazon's shipping warehouse is outside of CA I don't get charged tax, and also I get free 2 day shipping because I also have amazon prime.

Also right now if you register on the official heavy rain website & sign up for the 4 day online challenge you get a free voucher download code for a exclusive Heavy Rain PS Home shirt.

Here are pics of the shirt:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4278173208_f24ddac7d6_o.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2777/4277426159_b5b62a6aa2_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4278173144_3e63480f6f_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4277425847_30d7bb61d2_o.jpg

Link to the website for the 4 day online challenge:

http://www.heavyrainps3.com/#/en_US/experience

Does it come with that mustache also? :D

And the bulge in the pants (obviously photoshopped).

Does it come with that mustache also? :DAnd the bulge in the pants (obviously photoshopped).:p

Here's an interesting promo (http://www.vg247.com/2010/01/15/heavy-rain-website-goes-live-with-its-own-interactive-game/)leading up to the game's release:

The official Heavy Rain website is now live, allowing you to participate in ‘Four Days’ – the Heavy Rain Online Experience.

Four Days is a live online mystery playing out in real-time across three weeks starting January 26, where you’ll be able to get involved in the hunt for a killer by interacting with characters, identifying clues, and making decisions.

Between Tuesday and Friday of each week, there will be daily tasks for you to complete, or puzzles to solve, as well as some exclusive content.

If you register now at the official site, (http://www.heavyrainps3.com/) you’ll not only get to participate in the mystery, but you’ll also net a voucher code for an exclusive Home t-shirt.

Sony hinted that there may be “more to it than meets the eye” – whatever that means.

Game’s out February 23 in the US, February 24 in mainland Europe and February 26 in the UK.

Europe gets this bundle:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/4289734010_aff7903ca6_o.png

http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201003/5130/SCEE-announces-Heavy-Rain-demo-for-Feb-11

Demo arrives Feb.11 for EU.

The January edition of QORE has some gameplay footage and also a interactive part where you choose what happens to the character. There's atleast 6 different outcomes. Also with QORE you get a nice Heavy Rain PS3 theme for a free download.

New Gameplay trailer & PS Home puzzle game coming out tomorrow:

<object width="853" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GO7XbJHdd94&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GO7XbJHdd94&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="853" height="505"></embed></object>

Heavy Rain detective puzzles coming to PlayStation Home

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2010/01/pshomeheavyrain.jpg

Finally! You can put your CSI knowledge to good use. Starting tomorrow, PlayStation Home will be updated with a brand new Space: The Backstage Pass. At first glance, it may not seem related to Heavy Rain, but keen minds will be able to find a way to unlock a secret adventure, the Heavy Rain "Evidence Analysis" mini-game.

The PlayStation.Blog is scant on details, but promises Home denizens "will receive a rather special reward" when completing the game. "This prize is definitely one you Heavy Rain fans won't want to be without." That certainly sounds like the most enticing reason to visit the PS3 online community in quite some time.

Link:

Via blog.eu.playstation.com

Anyone here doing the four days challenge? I signed up for it, but when you follow the link in the email they sent you, it goes to a webpage (which takes FOREVER to load properly), but only gives you options for selecting countries in Europe.

Even then, I chose UK and got the following anagram:

@FCEPFRL OTDES

No idea what it is yet.

Maybe...
Perfect folds?

***WARNING DO NOT WATCH IF YOU DONT WANT TO SEE SPOILERS***

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This appears to be the first game where you have to

pee and shower.

No offense intended, but I've watched 3-4 gameplay videos of this game and it looks extremely boring and ill concieved. I don't understand what part of any of the videos I have seen is "fun".

Call me a pessimist, but I think this game is going to fall flat big time :o

No offense intended, but I've watched 3-4 gameplay videos of this game and it looks extremely boring and ill concieved. I don't understand what part of any of the videos I have seen is "fun".

Call me a pessimist, but I think this game is going to fall flat big time :o

Different strokes for different folks. I personally find 90% of FPS games tedious. If you played any of Quantic Dreams' games before, you'll know what to expect. And if it's like any of their previous games, it likely won't 'fall flat'. Though if you're referring to flat sales, that could happen, but that's never an indicator of quality.

To each his own. Honestly I'm tired of this current console generation being dominated by FPS like Modern Ware 2. I bought that game last month when it went on sale for $40 bucks and still haven't even opened it. When it comes to shooters I still enjoy the action adventure shooters like Uncharted 1 & 2.

Heck even action adventure genre for games is so saturated right now with Darksiders, Bayonetta, and Dante's Inferno. I passed on all 3 of those for now and will be renting those or won't buy those games until they hit the $29 dollar range. That's why I'm really looking forward to something new and different which heavy rain is. Some may say this is what Indigo Prophecy was on PS2 but honestly I never heard or knew about that game on the PS2 days.

I definitely wouldn't say this console generation was dominated by FPS. Sure, a few of them made it to the top ranks (Halo 3, COD, Resistance, etc.), but when I think of this generation, I think of Oblivion, GTA IV, Mass Effect 1 and 2, Gears of War 1 and 2, Metal Gear Solid IV, Uncharted 1 and 2, Resident Evil 5, Dead Space, Dead Rising, Assassin's Creed, etc. Then you have Fallout 3 and Bioshock, which while you may technically classify them as FPS, they don't fit the typical mold.

I actually think we're pretty spoiled with great games right now.

We've got a lot of good games now, but most of them involve shooting. Whether first person or third, they're still shooters.

There's nothing wrong with shooters, but as the thread is titled, Heavy Rain aims to be something different. And personally, I'd like to see more games that can't be readily classified.

New game play video

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Esh, I dunno about this game anymore. The uncanny valley stuff is pretty creepy, here. And the voiceacting in that mall scene was not even close to decent.

Looks pretty decent to me. The crowds were impressive. And, the clown was sufficiently creepy.

Maybe you are just scared of clowns.

definitely on the fence for this one. Need to play the demo when it comes out. Looks like it could be boring, but then again looks like it could be fun

That is the feeling I have had with the video releases.
Looks boring with fun parts instead of fun with boring parts.

This mall scene is the first footage I've allowed myself to watch since the "casting" tech demo, though I have read a decent bit about the game over time.

I wouldn't say that I'm excited to play this, but I am definitely intrigued. For lack of a better term, I definitely consider this to be an "artsy" game. I might pick it up just for the experience, and to encourage further efforts like this.

Kinda dumb scene there. This kid is actually outside and across the street from the mall yet is still "child like" enough to want a red balloon?

Kinda dumb scene there. This kid is actually outside and across the street from the mall yet is still "child like" enough to want a red balloon?

So, basically you've never interacted with an autistic, or learning disabled kid?

So, basically you've never interacted with an autistic, or learning disabled kid?

The kid did seem a little off, autism would make since.
I stopped watching the video after the kid ran off with the balloon. Still a buy for me after playing Indigo Prophecy and I don't want to spoil to much.

Come on, that was awful :confused:

It looks like you moved an anolog stick to dig for money in your pocket, pressed X a few times to yell for Jason, and walked around a bit. How is this even considered a game? I would fall asleep "playing" this game.

Come on, that was awful :confused:

It looks like you moved an anolog stick to dig for money in your pocket, pressed X a few times to yell for Jason, and walked around a bit. How is this even considered a game? I would fall asleep "playing" this game.

And, yet, you can't stop opening the thread, watching the videos, and commenting.



Did it ever occur to you that the first couple of scenes/levels/whatever might simply be to show you the method of input? There is no need for every game to be a fast twitch shooter. It looks to be a fairly immersive story with some weighty topics. Kudos for being something different.

Well after seeing that video I'm pretty keen to play the full game. An interactive story is definitely what I would call it, which I love since I love character driven media. Very 24 inspired directing too.

That older son is definitely autistic or at least aspergers, I know a few families with kids similar too that, it's so difficult for them.

I think after you beat the game it would be cool if the computer would turn your "performance" into a movie you could watch, relax, and review.

/With the ability to skip to the tense parts of course if you wanted.
/You become the director???

The acting was bad in this scene, but the other stuff I have watched is pretty good/decent. This game is not for action junkies. This game is for those who enjoy stuff like Myst or RTS games where you make decisions and watch them play out. Im sure theres stuff in here that is gonna get crazy ridiculous. Look what they did with Indigo Prophecy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw2pnkmYIhI&feature=related

The acting was bad in this scene, but the other stuff I have watched is pretty good/decent. This game is not for action junkies. This game is for those who enjoy stuff like Myst or RTS games where you make decisions and watch them play out. Im sure theres stuff in here that is gonna get crazy ridiculous. Look what they did with Indigo Prophecy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw2pnkmYIhI&feature=related

Thanks for that, I had forgotten just how badly Indigo Prophecy jumps the shark.

While I understand this is just a game as a father of an autistic child I find that video to be very disturbing (my wife actually had tears in her eyes at the end).

Jason

Still a purchase for me. I'm really looking forward to a new experience.

I think it looks great/different/intriguing. More like an interactive movie...reminded a bit of the a point and click adventure (which I sorely miss)

Probably not enough space marines blowing the crap out of everything, or enough multiplayer spend 15,000 hours spawning and running around and shooting each other on the same level for some people though :)

I haven't seen much gameplay footage, but was a bit put off by the floating "choices" that seemed to be going on (looked like a jumbled mess of words to me).

Also (and this is a side note), one of my peeves about crowds is when you run into people and they act like a wall and their feet keep moving and they kindof just bump off of you. In other games (GTA4 springs to mind), they'll move out of your way or if you bump into them they'll react and get knocked down or swear at you or something. Just a minor pet peeve of mine.

I think it looks great/different/intriguing. More like an interactive movie...reminded a bit of the a point and click adventure (which I sorely miss)
Probably not enough space marines blowing the crap out of everything, or enough multiplayer spend 15,000 hours spawning and running around and shooting each other on the same level for some people though :)

I haven't seen much gameplay footage, but was a bit put off by the floating "choices" that seemed to be going on (looked like a jumbled mess of words to me).

Also (and this is a side note), one of my peeves about crowds is when you run into people and they act like a wall and their feet keep moving and they kindof just bump off of you. In other games (GTA4 springs to mind), they'll move out of your way or if you bump into them they'll react and get knocked down or swear at you or something. Just a minor pet peeve of mine.


Off-Topic: Check out The Secret of Monkey Island Deluxe Edition on PC/Xbox360. Bought it last night for 10$ on PC. Played for 2 hours, reminded me of good old days!


On-topic : I'm intrigued. I'll check out the demo but probably won't buy it day 1 with all the games coming out.. maybe later on. It looks like a game my GF would like to play/watch me play. +1 for something different.

Off-Topic: Check out The Secret of Monkey Island Deluxe Edition on PC/Xbox360. Bought it last night for 10$ on PC. Played for 2 hours, reminded me of good old days!

Done months ago (was nice to play through it again with the updated graphics)

I will see what my backlog looks like when this comes out. I have a feeling I'll be able to pick up a used copy for cheap within a few weeks from the legions of gamers who will buy it on hype alone then be disappointed it's not a cookie-cutter FPS or twitch/reflex game.

Come on, that was awful :confused:

It looks like you moved an anolog stick to dig for money in your pocket, pressed X a few times to yell for Jason, and walked around a bit. How is this even considered a game? I would fall asleep "playing" this game.

Must shoot and blow **** up!!!! Rawr!!!!

Do you know how many millions of people played Mist? WTF was that? Seriously I have a similar view on Wii sports, people think they are playing something, in reality they are spazzing out the controller is ignoring half of the movements.

While I understand this is just a game as a father of an autistic child I find that video to be very disturbing (my wife actually had tears in her eyes at the end).

Jason

I find this an interesting observation. I am also a father of an autistic child(he turns 13 this march), and yet I didn't see anything "autistic" in the video.

I find this an interesting observation. I am also a father of an autistic child(he turns 13 this march), and yet I didn't see anything "autistic" in the video.

Watch the way the child moves, he has that very familiar 'sway' back and forth/ side to side that many autistic children have. It also seems logical that is what they are implying since the child wonders off and seems unaware of the impending dangers of simply crossing a busy street. Now whether or not the dev is implying autism or some other disorder I think it's pretty safe to say they are not implying that this is a normal child.

My son is 13 and we have been around and spent time with many other autistic children so my speculation tells me that the dev is trying to imply that the child in the video is autistic. Now obviously the manner in which they choose to manipulate this character has yet to be seen or if this particular 'child' even plays any more of a role in the game than what is shown in the video.

The disturbing aspect for me was that the so called Dad does not keep a hold of a small child in a busy mall (autistic or not). I see this happen all the time and these are the same parents (if you can call them that) that freak out when something bad happens to their child that could have been easily prevented had they just paid closer attention.

Maybe this game has a message... who knows.

* On another note... the voice acting is plain awful in that video but that was not what provokes emotion, it's the thought process of something like that happening to your own child. I hope the dev is not simply going for controversy here in order to sell this game, much like the recent terrorist scene in MW2 (free advertising by the media).

Jason

I'm pretty sure the video

is setting up what has been mentioned about the male character's breakdown of his marriage and his relationship with his other son as a result of his guilt and blame for what happens to the child in the video sequence.

So, as for his not paying close enough attention, that's kinda the point. Needless to say, these aren't plotlines normally associated with video games. Slightly more heady than "kill that giant alien bug," or "the princess is in another castle."

The fact that these types of discussions are taking place, in my opinion, is a testament to the job QD has performed here. I'm excited! :)

Must shoot and blow **** up!!!! Rawr!!!!

Do you know how many millions of people played Mist?

Apparently not enough to learn how to spell it.

I too don't really want to play a game where I have to search my character's pockets via onscreen prompts. Especially when the demo looks so clumsy.

I too don't really want to play a game where I have to search my character's pockets via onscreen prompts. Especially when the demo looks so clumsy.

Okay.

It's funny how some people who bought and saw the interactive part in Qore are saying that is a demo, when it's not a demo. The demo will be out on 2/11 and has been confirmed it will be on the U.S. PSN Store.

Watch the way the child moves, he has that very familiar 'sway' back and forth/ side to side that many autistic children have. It also seems logical that is what they are implying since the child wonders off and seems unaware of the impending dangers of simply crossing a busy street. Now whether or not the dev is implying autism or some other disorder I think it's pretty safe to say they are not implying that this is a normal child.

My son is 13 and we have been around and spent time with many other autistic children so my speculation tells me that the dev is trying to imply that the child in the video is autistic. Now obviously the manner in which they choose to manipulate this character has yet to be seen or if this particular 'child' even plays any more of a role in the game than what is shown in the video.

The disturbing aspect for me was that the so called Dad does not keep a hold of a small child in a busy mall (autistic or not). I see this happen all the time and these are the same parents (if you can call them that) that freak out when something bad happens to their child that could have been easily prevented had they just paid closer attention.

Maybe this game has a message... who knows.

* On another note... the voice acting is plain awful in that video but that was not what provokes emotion, it's the thought process of something like that happening to your own child. I hope the dev is not simply going for controversy here in order to sell this game, much like the recent terrorist scene in MW2 (free advertising by the media).

Jason

Now that it has been pointed out, I definitely can see a few autistic tendencies. However, I still don't think the kid is autistic. Rather, I think it's a combination of poor voicework and awkward animation. Basically I think it's such a poor execution(or insurmountable obstacles of the uncanny valley variety) that the result has been mistaken for an autistic child.

If I'm wrong, and this kid is autistic, and all these effects are intentional, then by god that is awesome. But I'm skeptical.

Apparently not enough to learn how to spell it.

I too don't really want to play a game where I have to search my character's pockets via onscreen prompts. Especially when the demo looks so clumsy.

Wow, I misspelled a decades old game I never played, you got me. Why are you posting here if you don't have any interest? :rolleyes:

Now that it has been pointed out, I definitely can see a few autistic tendencies. However, I still don't think the kid is autistic. Rather, I think it's a combination of poor voicework and awkward animation. Basically I think it's such a poor execution(or insurmountable obstacles of the uncanny valley variety) that the result has been mistaken for an autistic child.

If I'm wrong, and this kid is autistic, and all these effects are intentional, then by god that is awesome. But I'm skeptical.


The other characters do not exhibit the same odd movements ;). I am almost certain that they are implying something is not right with this particular 'child' character. A normal child at that age would/should know not to just walk out in front of moving vehicles (an autistic child not so much).

Jason

Watching that video just scares me. I could never let my child just disappear. If he is mentally disabled Dad should be holding his hand the WHOLE time. If my kid just ran off, I would beat his @ss when I got home to make sure he understood I am the boss and he better listen to me. If I found him outside I would probably be locked up! I hope for the developer's sake the kid is autistic and Dad is an idiot.

Still looking forward to the demo. With a little snippet like that, there isn't enough background to completely understand what is going on. Dad may be stressed and not with it. Who knows. There are lots of bad parents in the world. I just dread playing one. Might make the game frustrating/heart pounding at the same time.

So, again, for anyone doing the Four Days challenge, were you able to pick up the evidence today? I went to the website it provides after you complete the phone call (on Youtube) and there's nothing there except the Police background.

Download the demo NOW... if you have a EU account. (http://kotaku.com/5464839/want-the-heavy-rain-demo-right-now-heres-how)

Currently downloading it... can't freaking wait.

Download the demo NOW... if you have a EU account. (http://kotaku.com/5464839/want-the-heavy-rain-demo-right-now-heres-how)

Currently downloading it... can't freaking wait.

I'm downloading the demo right now and you don't even need a Europe created PSN account. Actually to my knowledge and the many times I've been on the Europe PSN store yesterday the demo is locked and not available to the public. Also I'm on my US PSN account & profile while I'm downloading the demo right now.

What you have to do is turn in the right pieces of evidence on this website:

http://www.precinct52.com/case1117_briefing

If you signed for the 4 day challenge event. I think even if you didn't you may still be able to sign up for the event right now.

The answers to the correct evidence you will need to submit to get a demo voucher code for the demo are out on a bunch of websites for the people who are lazy to do the 4 day challenge or just got frustrated with the 4 day challenge but I will not post the answer on here myself because I don't know how to utilize the spoiler button here on avs forum.

The demo officially hits the public and Europe & US PSN stores next Thursday the 11th and it has been confirmed on both US & Europe Playstation blog websites.

["spoiler"]
["/spoiler"]

Just remove the quotes. Now save a fella a few 'access denied' website requests and post those answers (at work)!

jeuxvideo.com/extraits-videos-jeux/0000/00004460/heavy-rain-une-douche-et-au-lit-hd. htm

So, basically we've established that Frankieaotv really has a thing for pixel boobs. There's a big, wide world out there, Frank--some of it involves real women.

Nothing like busting out a bottle of Jergens and firing up Dead or Alive.

I can see it now. Parents walking into their 14yr olds room while he is playing this game during that scene.

Cool break-in though. I gotta stop watching these Heavy Rain videos, gonna spoil too much :eek:

I'm downloading the demo right now and you don't even need a Europe created PSN account. Actually to my knowledge and the many times I've been on the Europe PSN store yesterday the demo is locked and not available to the public. Also I'm on my US PSN account & profile while I'm downloading the demo right now.

What you have to do is turn in the right pieces of evidence on this website:

http://www.precinct52.com/case1117_briefing

If you signed for the 4 day challenge event. I think even if you didn't you may still be able to sign up for the event right now.

The answers to the correct evidence you will need to submit to get a demo voucher code for the demo are out on a bunch of websites for the people who are lazy to do the 4 day challenge or just got frustrated with the 4 day challenge but I will not post the answer on here myself because I don't know how to utilize the spoiler button here on avs forum.

The demo officially hits the public and Europe & US PSN stores next Thursday the 11th and it has been confirmed on both US & Europe Playstation blog websites.

The site has been down for hours due to the traffic.

Just got mine a few minutes ago.

I'm downloading the demo right now and you don't even need a Europe created PSN account. Actually to my knowledge and the many times I've been on the Europe PSN store yesterday the demo is locked and not available to the public. Also I'm on my US PSN account & profile while I'm downloading the demo right now.

What you have to do is turn in the right pieces of evidence on this website:

http://www.precinct52.com/case1117_briefing

If you signed for the 4 day challenge event. I think even if you didn't you may still be able to sign up for the event right now.

The answers to the correct evidence you will need to submit to get a demo voucher code for the demo are out on a bunch of websites for the people who are lazy to do the 4 day challenge or just got frustrated with the 4 day challenge but I will not post the answer on here myself because I don't know how to utilize the spoiler button here on avs forum.

The demo officially hits the public and Europe & US PSN stores next Thursday the 11th and it has been confirmed on both US & Europe Playstation blog websites.

Just got my code, thanks for the FYI my pinoy peep...

Not a fan of the controls so far, reminds me of the tank controls in the original RE. Writing and voice work... too late to change any of it at this point. QTE's were nicely done and will wait on reviews before picking this up.

Nothing like busting out a bottle of Jergens and firing up Dead or Alive.

Whoa... this thread took a bad turn. :D

I'm downloading the demo right now and you don't even need a Europe created PSN account. Actually to my knowledge and the many times I've been on the Europe PSN store yesterday the demo is locked and not available to the public. Also I'm on my US PSN account & profile while I'm downloading the demo right now.

What you have to do is turn in the right pieces of evidence on this website:

http://www.precinct52.com/case1117_briefing

If you signed for the 4 day challenge event. I think even if you didn't you may still be able to sign up for the event right now.

The answers to the correct evidence you will need to submit to get a demo voucher code for the demo are out on a bunch of websites for the people who are lazy to do the 4 day challenge or just got frustrated with the 4 day challenge but I will not post the answer on here myself because I don't know how to utilize the spoiler button here on avs forum.

The demo officially hits the public and Europe & US PSN stores next Thursday the 11th and it has been confirmed on both US & Europe Playstation blog websites.

I said a EU account was required because when I got my code I tried entering it on my main account (US) and it didn't work. So I logged into my EU account and it worked :\. Guess I was just unlucky then or something :\.

Not a fan of the controls so far, reminds me of the tank controls in the original RE. Writing and voice work... too late to change any of it at this point. QTE's were nicely done and will wait on reviews before picking this up.

The reviews are out in the EU, so far so good.

I said a EU account was required because when I got my code I tried entering it on my main account (US) and it didn't work. So I logged into my EU account and it worked :\. Guess I was just unlucky then or something :\.I just did the code on my US acct and it worked without a hitch. Downloading as we speak. I will say that I registered with the HR site with an email address tied to my US acct, but it was not the US acct I actually downloaded the demo on.

I just did the code on my US acct and it worked without a hitch. Downloading as we speak. I will say that I registered with the HR site with an email address tied to my US acct, but it was not the US acct I actually downloaded the demo on.

my code didn't work with my us account and it's downloading so slow right now. It's been like an hour and im at 5% smh.

The reviews are out in the EU, so far so good.

The March issue of Playstation Official Magazine US version gave it 5 stars and editors choice also.

To have the code work on a North American account, you have to register on the Heavy Rain website BEFORE you log in to the Precinct 52 website.

http://heavyrainps3.com/registration/signup/en_US

The March issue of Playstation Official Magazine US version gave it 5 stars and editors choice also.

Imagine that...

Is anyone else having problems with the demo. When loading comes on in the left top corner it flickers and when the menu is up it flickers. I can navigate through the menu but when I start the game it flickers with graphics going choppy.
I played the trailer and it ran just fine.

EDIT: Nevermind, restarted the PS3 and resolved the problem.

To have the code work on a North American account, you have to register on the Heavy Rain website BEFORE you log in to the Precinct 52 website.

http://heavyrainps3.com/registration/signup/en_US

Did that. The code still didn't work under my U.S. acct and it did under my Europe acct.

Grabbing the demo now (worked on my US account, for what it's worth). The above video sold me. Not because of the boobs, but the home invasion afterwards was intense. Frantically mashing X to grab something while being dragged across the floor and the blind search for a phone is a nice touch.

Did that. The code still didn't work under my U.S. acct and it did under my Europe acct.

If you used the same code you already had, thats why. The codes are specific to region. If you registered at the Heavy Rain main site first, THEN played the game at the Precinct 52 site and got your code, it will work just fine.

Im sold on the demo. Its something different and the atmosphere is excellent. It also took me a minute or 2 to get used to the controls.

I loved the demo...I'll be buying this for sure...question is - is it a Day 1 purchase?

Was there anything interesting in the second part of the demo? I found a bunch of clues, talked to the people, and then left. Must be missing something. I tried going up the hill by the railroad tracks by hitting circle but it just kept slipping. Anyone find anything else interesting in that part?

Pretty cool how you can play through the same portion twice and get different outcomes because of how you interview or ask questions.

The site is up and running fine.

www.precinct52.com

Here are the 4 items to submit to evidence:

1. Diner (coffee shop c) 2. short cigarette 3. Tyre prints 1117h 4. Origami bird

Was there anything interesting in the second part of the demo? I found a bunch of clues, talked to the people, and then left. Must be missing something. I tried going up the hill by the railroad tracks by hitting circle but it just kept slipping. Anyone find anything else interesting in that part?

Pretty cool how you can play through the same portion twice and get different outcomes because of how you interview or ask questions.

That part was weird for me at first too...you have to HOLD DOWN the circle button and then when the next button appears you have to HOLD DOWN that one at the same time...if you did the tutorial it is similar to the moves you have to make to slip around the dumpster...

Was there anything interesting in the second part of the demo? I found a bunch of clues, talked to the people, and then left. Must be missing something. I tried going up the hill by the railroad tracks by hitting circle but it just kept slipping. Anyone find anything else interesting in that part?



You have to hold circle, the same way you had to hold buttons to squeeze by the dumpster at the beginning of the demo. But yeah, doesn't seem like anything interesting happens a the crime scene. I really like the way you look for clues and stuff, though.

All in all, this demo sold me on the game. The investigating, action, and conversation trees are all quite good. Also, the demo had a trailer that finally gave me an idea of the story beyond "there's some murderer." Hadn't seen it before, I guess I missed it when it first came out.

IxByTK-BqX8&hd=1

Glad to see you guys found out about the demo.
The demo was everything I expected it to be. Played the hotel scene a couple of times to get different reactions. The "QTE" was intense. I hate that after all these years I have still not been able to memorize the PS controller button layout. It is easy on the Xbox because A is before B and X before Y. Shapes have no relation to each other so I still get O and Square mixed up. Pissed I could never play Parappa the Rapper.

I am going to have to have controller drills for myself to get ready for release date.

Not a fan of the controls so far, reminds me of the tank controls in the original RE.

It is different. They had to do this because the camera angle is always changing. One of the problems with Indigo Prophecy was the camera would change suddenly and you would start going back the way you came. Kinda like Super Mario 64. Once you wrap your mind around it I think it will work better for this type of game.

Took me a moment to realize I should always hold the right stick when walking and not just point the head like I was doing in the beginning.

Heh, I've been patiently waiting for the release, ignoring pretty much all the comments and preview vids for six weeks now. Like a good movie, I want to know as little about the game as possible (even though I know the main plot and cast already).

When it does come out, hopefully you guys know when to use the spoiler tags in your posts. ;)

Heh, I've been patiently waiting for the release, ignoring pretty much all the comments and preview vids for six weeks now. Like a good movie, I want to know as little about the game as possible (even though I know the main plot and cast already).

When it does come out, hopefully you guys know when to use the spoiler tags in your posts. ;)

Congraulation on being able to resist. Most of the trailers have ben vague but the last on I feel included a big spoiler.

Ethan Mars is possibley/believed to be the killer

http://www.jeuxvideo.com/extraits-videos-jeux/0000/00004460/heavy-rain-une-douche-et-au-lit.htm

Why do I think the North American release won't include that shower scene? Not that it looks like it adds much to the game except for fanservice. (Unless it's the first time you're in the bathroom since it apparently becomes an escape point later on.) I doubt we'll see nipples or have the player towel her down in the version shipped on this side of the Atlantic. My French is probably good enough to play the Euro version, especially with the subtitles like those shown in the video segment. I'm a bit puzzled by how throwing her on a bed once constitutes "au lit," though.

I liked Indigo Prophecy for its story and innovative game play, though I must say my teen-aged daughter was better with the hand-eye coordination required to make it through some of the more difficult segments. This is the first I've heard of Heavy Rain, so I might take a closer look at it after its release.

@Swift Mojo Hand: You can use the "noparse (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/misc.php?do=bbcode#noparse)" tag to avoid obfuscations like $poiler.

It finally hit me what this game reminds me of - Night Trap for the Sega CD. "Gameplay" is essentially watching cutscenes and then pressing some buttons here and there.

EuroGamer (http://www.eurogamer.fr/articles/heavy-rain-test-2) - 9.0
Game Informer (print mag) - 9.5
PSM (print mag) - 5/5

Finished the demo and the style was absolutely stunning!

Finished the demo last night, and can definitely see both sides of the love/hate spectrum. At first, it definitely felt like a glorified Dragon's Lair game, but the crime scene investigation had a bit more meat IMO. I'm sure I'll get it eventually, but I'm not much of a day one buyer.

I'm not sure why they went with the point with left thumbstick and hold R2 to walk scheme. Why not just walk with the left thumbstick? Is it just so they have another button (left thumbstick) that can be used contextually? Took some getting used to and made it a bit clunky. This interrupted the mood a bit when I was trying to walk somewhere, but instead looked like I was dry-humping the wall.

I'm not sure why they went with the point with left thumbstick and hold R2 to walk scheme. Why not just walk with the left thumbstick?

"They had to do this because the camera angle is always changing." See post #213.
Replayed the seedy hotel scene for a third time and was surprised to find objects to interact with that I had not noticed before.

While Lauren Winter was talking I remembered I could move and walked to the bed post and leaned on it. I then walked to the dresser and leaned against it making my character look more sympathetic. I then was able to grab a tissue from the night stand and give it to Lauren. I put my arm around her to comfort her but she was not happy about that.

This is an example why this game is more advanced than Night Trap.
Don't just stand still when action is playing out.

I also moved gamma slider to the suggested level and felt it was a little off. It blew the brightness up way to high and the image looked washed out. My television is ISF calibrated and the game looks great at the default gamma setting for me. Dark and moody. . . .

Demo was great. Really enjoyed the cinematic feel and way the game played, although the camera was a bit of a struggle at time, especially during the crime scene investigation.

Was it only the sleazy place and crime scene? I thought I read somewhere that you got to play four different "demo" episodes.

Japanese gaming mag Famitsu scores it 37/40.

It finally hit me what this game reminds me of - Night Trap for the Sega CD. "Gameplay" is essentially watching cutscenes and then pressing some buttons here and there.

I enjoyed what I have played of Heavy Rain, but I'd be more interested in a Blu-ray version of Night Trap. Pure cheese. The early '90s were a wacky time for gaming. RIP, FMV games.

I enjoyed what I have played of Heavy Rain, but I'd be more interested in a Blu-ray version of Night Trap. Pure cheese. The early '90s were a wacky time for gaming. RIP, FMV games.

Oh I miss those games. My favorites were nighttrap, Slam City with Scottie Pippen, and some first person quarterback game (maybe quarterback attack?)

Edit: Oh I completely forgot the shooters. Maddog Mcgree, lethal enforcers, and some others.

^ Under a Killing Moon was one I played a fair amount. Even with all the disc swapping involved!

It would be interesting on the length of the game unless you can get stuck not able to solve certain puzzles.

Indigo Prophecy was short because it's difficult to get stuck in the game.

Another is replay value. I know there are several paths in the storyline but how much can the game be replayed before you have seen just about every paths in the game. I'm guessing most paths will eventually lead to similar ending with some twists of who is alive or dead. But in the end, do the dead characters matter much to get to the end of the story? Obviously, key characters cannot die or it would be impossible to conclude the story.

With heavy story driven game, there can only be so many different paths though the game for the story to make sense. There are many set points in the story that have to happen in a certain way.

^ Under a Killing Moon was one I played a fair amount. Even with all the disc swapping involved!

I had multiple CD-ROM drives connected to my PC to reduce amount of disc swapping.

Most disappointing was the last Tex Murphy game ended with a cliffhanger because Access got bought by Microsoft and dumped Tex Murphy series. There was a weekly turned multi monthly download audiobook series to help end the series.

I think Tex Murphy series were one of the best adventure game that combined classic adventure storytelling, first person movement, good blend of live actors with CG background, humor and story related puzzles.

I enjoyed what I have played of Heavy Rain, but I'd be more interested in a Blu-ray version of Night Trap. Pure cheese. The early '90s were a wacky time for gaming. RIP, FMV games.

Anyone played interactive DVD movie called Point of View? It had a few plot twists of who ended being the killer and different ways the main character to end. There was also another one made before it by the same company (forgot the title). The interactive movie was about a mother/wife went crazy after they lost their child and the husband hired a nanny to help his wife. The story can get quite twisted depending on the player's prospective in what the player thinks after each chapter. It was like playing a soap opera. I had fun with those interactive movies trying to get the most twisted path though the story with darkest ending.

There was also another one made before it by the same company (forgot the title). The interactive movie was about a mother/wife went crazy after they lost their child and the husband hired a nanny to help his wife. The story can get quite twisted depending on the player's prospective in what the player thinks after each chapter. It was like playing a soap opera. I had fun with those interactive movies trying to get the most twisted path though the story with darkest ending.

That one was called Tender Loving Care (http://www.aftermathmedia.com/tlc/index.html). One of the actors in it was John Hurt (The Elephant Man). It was one of the better interactive movies I remember playing. The production was quite good, and there were some nice looking ladies, too. :)

But in the end, do the dead characters matter much to get to the end of the story? Obviously, key characters cannot die or it would be impossible to conclude the story.

Actually any of the 4 main characters can die and the story will continue until they are all dead so I'm sure there are atleast 4 distinct endings. Then possibly a few variations of each

Anyone Remember FOX HUNT? I remember this was the coolest game when I got it. "Wow, I can play a movie" :D

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/playstation-games/281-1.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVwhCQVnoJM

The ign review was posted within the past hour: 9.0
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/106/1067755p1.html

No spoilers as far as I can tell:

Closing Comments
Heavy Rain is a hell of an experience. Its controversial control scheme actually works really well in allowing the fantastic story to dictate how events play out, and many of the game's scenes will keep you on the edge of your seat. It starts slow and the presentation isn't perfect, but the character development, dialog and story twists will hook you like few games can. Heavy Rain is not to be missed.

Here is the IGN video review for Heavy Rain.

No spoilers in the video review.

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Here is the IGN video review for Heavy Rain.

No spoilers in the video review.



How are they reviewing this so early? Most reviews don't come out until the day of, or the day before release.

Also, I tried to download the demo yesterday. Entered in my code and it said the code was invalid. Anyone know if they've stopped the downloads?

Also, I tried to download the demo yesterday. Entered in my code and it said the code was invalid. Anyone know if they've stopped the downloads?

I had to log into my UK account to get the code to work. I think it has something to do with what link you use to initially register?

Not sure, but mine didn't work on my US account, but did on my UK one.

It convinced me to buy it when it comes out.

How are they reviewing this so early? Most reviews don't come out until the day of, or the day before release.

Must distributors allow a reviewer to post reviews early if the score is above a certain benchmark.

That, and no online component means no waiting for servers to go live before posting a review.

I was on the fence about this game but after reading the review, I'm sold. I'll be picking this one up on release day :)

Demo releases to the US PSN store tomorrow.

I was iffy going into it, but pleasantly surprised as to how the controls work. The fight scene is intense, and one of the best looking fight scenes I've seen in a game.

I've had high hopes for this game and it sounds like it's living up to the hype. Love that it's something new and different. I'm sure plenty of mindnumbing FPS lovers will hate on it b/c it require more than a grenade and trigger finger, but for the mature gamers out there, this sounds like a genre defining game by creating a completely new video game genre.

From IGN review, it looks like Heavy Rain will have very limited replay value since you can't fail at all in the game and the reviewer said he tried to play as poorly as possible but it doesn't change much in the story. That confirms one of my questions of being a heavy story driven game, it can't go too far off the path of the plot. It's not like RPG game where there are so many different ways to play though the game.

Biggest question I have is the length of the game. If it's only around 6 hours to complete it (if you are good with QTE) with very limited replay value, is it worth $60 or rent/wait for it to get cheaper? I played Indigo Prophecy and it was a short game being only QTE though it.

Anyone Remember FOX HUNT? I remember this was the coolest game when I got it. "Wow, I can play a movie" :D

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/playstation-games/281-1.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVwhCQVnoJM

Those were the days when the video quality was so poor and yet we were so excited able to play a movie. Myst used Quicktime FMV and helped making the characters more alive. By Myst 5, it went full CG characters and the characters never felt alive.

I like FMV games that have decent actors and well integrated into the game. Games like Command and Conquer and Red Alert simply feel very empty without those cheezy FMV. Wing Commander III and IV would be like a generic space shooter without Maniac humor and "Luke Skywalker" acting.

From IGN review, it looks like Heavy Rain will have very limited replay value since you can't fail at all in the game and the reviewer said he tried to play as poorly as possible but it doesn't change much in the story.

Well, the reviewer does say that the player's choices can result "in vastly different endings," and that with regard to the multiple endings, that "it would take you forever to earn them all yourself."

I agree that it's disappointing that the middle of the game doesn't appear to change much on various playthroughs. Remember the stats about the script?

The Script
2,000 pages long
60 scenes, each about 15-20 minutes long, most, but not all of which you see on any play-through
40,000 words of non-linear dialogue



I had hoped they'd written many different stories, but now it sounds like a lot of those pages are just slightly different versions of the same basic scenes.

Well, the reviewer does say that the player's choices can result "in vastly different endings," and that with regard to the multiple endings, that "it would take you forever to earn them all yourself."

I agree that it's disappointing that the middle of the game doesn't appear to change much on various playthroughs. Remember the stats about the script?



I had hoped they'd written many different stories, but now it sounds like a lot of those pages are just slightly different versions of the same basic scenes.

I have played many games that have different endings. While the endings are different, the journey though the game didn't change a lot. The dialogs can a little different but they are still have to follow the same plot. That's difficulty of making story game because there can only be so much variation before the story starts to not make sense.

I don't think it's worth $60 but I will be putting it on Craigslist when I am done with it so it the end it will not be $60...more like $15-20...

I don't think it's worth $60 but I will be putting it on Craigslist when I am done with it so it the end it will not be $60...more like $15-20...

Did you somehow get a full copy of the actual game from some hole in the wall or mom & pop's video game store that breaks street date's and sells video games early ?

"Heavy Rain Review: No Wrong Conclusion" Kotaku.com

For everyone, but pdawg17 who has the game already, here (http://kotaku.com/5468585/heavy-rain-review-no-wrong-conclusion) is an nice spoiler free review.

http://kotaku.com/5468585/heavy-rain-review-no-wrong-conclusion

Did you somehow get a full copy of the actual game from some hole in the wall or mom & pop's video game store that breaks street date's and sells video games early ?

Sorry...poor choice of words...what I mean is given it is "only" 7-8 hours of gametime it may not be worth $60...BUT even if I end up feeling that way I will get some of the money back with good 'ole Craigslist...I wish I had the game already...I'm actually off to preorder it now...

I've had high hopes for this game and it sounds like it's living up to the hype. Love that it's something new and different. I'm sure plenty of mindnumbing FPS lovers will hate on it b/c it require more than a grenade and trigger finger, but for the mature gamers out there, this sounds like a genre defining game by creating a completely new video game genre.

Going back to the title of this thread, it seems like--according to the reviews at least--the game has achieved what it originally set out to with some measure of success.

Brandon

Anyone who preordered get a code yet? I just preordered at Gamestop and the dude looked to see if there was a code to give me but there wasn't...should those be showing up in stores at this point?