This thread is in response to a review for Heavy Rain on the PlayStation 3. You are encouraged to view the review in a new window before reading this thread.
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Author: zippdementia
Posted: February 18, 2010 (02:58 AM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
This all seems very much in line with the demo's created expectations and other reviews I have read. It's a good length for a review and you avoid redundancies, which is nice and very much appreciated. I would've liked to hear a little bit more about how choices (especially deaths) affect the game, but I imagine you didn't have time to go in and actually check those features out in depth.
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Author: honestgamer
Posted: February 18, 2010 (03:09 AM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
I could have commented on that in the review, but explaining those things properly would have expanded its length more than I would like and a lot of the deaths wouldn't make sense or even seem significant unless I gave examples that would then serve as unwelcome spoilers. It's a tricky game to review properly the minute you try to expand anywhere beyond a complete praise or bash.
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality |
Author: Suskie
Posted: February 18, 2010 (08:29 AM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
I don't know if this is just my natural bias against adventure games talking, or whether it's the fact that you take on a negative tone for most of the review, but you make Heavy Rain sound absolutely awful in my mind. The discussion on the controls only strengthens the (relatively common) presumption that the gameplay is just a series of quick time events, and... you have to hold R2 just to walk around? Are they afraid a more conventional control scheme will make Heavy Rain feel too much like an actual game?
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Author: zippdementia
Posted: February 18, 2010 (10:09 AM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
I agree with Suskie about the tone of the review. The story didn't really get a highlight, probably for the reasons you mention in your post here. But the story is what sounded extremely exciting from other reviews on the net. Tricky.
Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic." |
Author: zigfried
Posted: February 18, 2010 (10:23 AM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
I really liked this review. It does make the game sound horrible... to me. Heavy Rain's a divisive game, and most reviews don't get across the things that are going to be turn-offs to "core" gamers. Not in anything more than a passing mention, I mean. I've read six reviews (counting this one) and hadn't felt this kind of impact until now.
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Author: Suskie
Posted: February 18, 2010 (12:34 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
I can see what you're saying, Zig, but at the same time this kind of reminds me of my BioShock review, where I gave the game an 8/10 but was mostly negative about it -- I said at the time that I was merely providing a counterpoint to the massive amounts of praise the game received, but I later admitted that I was simply unsatisfied with the game and couldn't really admit it at the time. I'm not saying that's how Jason felt about Heavy Rain, but that's how it came across to me.
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Author: Probester
Posted: February 18, 2010 (12:46 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
So is it possible to play through the entire thing as one character? Or does it force you to balance out the characters?
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Author: honestgamer
Posted: February 18, 2010 (01:52 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
To Probester: The game has a sequence of scenes, each taking place from the perspective of a different character. Some scenes change mildly depending on what characters remain alive. You won't see some scenes, obviously, if the central character for that scene bites the dust. There's no way to play through the game entirely as one character.
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality |
Author: zippdementia
Posted: February 23, 2010 (11:23 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
I have to say... I'm playing this game and absolutely loving it. I mean, I've been expecting to LIKE it, but I didn't expect I wouldn't be able to put the controller down. After all, I figured a game trying to be cinema couldn't be that engaging but !@#$! it draws you in and holds you there.
Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic." |
Author: Lewis
Posted: March 02, 2010 (04:43 AM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
I really want to play this. Can someone lend me a PS3, please?
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Author: honestgamer
Posted: March 02, 2010 (12:25 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
You really should play it, Lewis. It strikes me as precisely the sort of game that you would write multiple reviews and essays about. I think I was imagining it, but I could swear there was a scene in the game where I saw "Made specifically for Lewis Denby" scrawled on a wall. Yeah, I was probably imagining it. My point stands, however. Seriously, get yourself a PS3. It's an interesting system to have these days.
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality |
Author: zippdementia
Posted: March 03, 2010 (12:19 AM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
It's the only game that my mother has ever asked to see all 12 hours of.
Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic." |
Author: Lewis
Posted: March 03, 2010 (12:50 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
I played a little bit of a preview version of it last October, and although it wasn't anywhere near enough to get a good feel for the game, it seemed fascinating. My interest's piqued far more since reading Phill's review over at Resolution (am I allowed to link it? I will, not as a plug, but because I think it's a really interesting take on the game which I haven't seen elsewhere). It sounds just marvellous, and even if I didn't enjoy it, I'm sure I'd have a lot to say about it.
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Author: jiggs
Posted: March 03, 2010 (03:59 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
so i hear there is a glitch that leaves one of the main female characters playable in the buff??
! |
Author: zigfried
Posted: March 03, 2010 (05:04 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
As cool as that sounds, it would probably mess with the sense of realism.
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Author: bloomer
Posted: March 03, 2010 (05:16 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
Zig said, 'If this were being judged as a person's single source of Heavy Rain information, then that would be one thing... but we don't live in a vacuum.'
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Author: honestgamer
Posted: March 03, 2010 (05:34 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
Paragraph three said as much about the story as I feel that any review for this game should, bloomer. I wondered, honestly, if it said too much! This is a case where spoilers are especially dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. My "meta" paragraph at the start would have been inappropriate if it didn't serve multiple purposes, but it did serve multiple purposes (relaying info while also explaining why the review won't read like nearly every other Heavy Rain review in existence) and I'm quite satisfied with it.
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality |
Author: bloomer
Posted: March 03, 2010 (07:26 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
Trust me Mr Frecklesworth, you absolutely did not say too much.
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Author: LowerStreetBlues
Posted: March 03, 2010 (07:47 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
There was a certain point in the review Lewis linked to (a man reaching elaborately and carelessly to impress about a subject he thought warranted it, to spare five pages) when I realized I didn't want to play Heavy Rain, and that was when I read the following:
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Author: zigfried
Posted: March 03, 2010 (08:27 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
30 years... I feel old...
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Author: zippdementia
Posted: March 03, 2010 (11:58 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
I've got my review of the game on the way. It should provide a great compliment to Jason's, since mine focuses on the other extreme: the immerssive experience of the game as it's selling point.
Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic." |
Author: bloomer
Posted: March 04, 2010 (06:07 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
This thread reminds me of black metal pioneers Celtic Frost's misguided turn to hair'n'glam metal, 'Cold Lake'!
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Author: zippdementia
Posted: March 04, 2010 (06:52 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
In what way?
Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic." |
Author: bloomer
Posted: March 04, 2010 (11:56 PM) Actions: Register for a free user account to post on the forums... |
In the same way that reviewer guy LSB quoted above found Heavy Rain reminded him of Talking Heads' magnum opus ‘Once in a Lifetime’ ;)
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