honestgamer's Heavy Rain review

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.

Nice job getting a review out pre-release.

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.

For those who are curious, death is kind of a big deal and kind of not. If a character that you like dies, you can always exit out to the main menu to reload the sequence in which the death occurred and fix things more to your liking... but then you'd be depriving yourself of one of the game's potential hooks. I can't really recommend that, but it's nice to have the option.

I did finish the game once proper before reviewing it, and also I went back through a few of the segments to try things out differently. The results that I discovered didn't lend themselves well to discussino within the review (again because of spoilers), so that's why I ultimately decided not to go into more depth in that regard. Besides, at over 1400 words, it's already longer than I would have liked.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

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?

I'm hearing a lot about how deep and interactive the storytelling is, but that really didn't come through in this review. I understand you wanted to avoid spoilers, but the most substantial piece of analysis you gave the story was the bit on the two characters kissing, which did sound awkward, and since that's the only visualization of the plot's presentation I have after reading this review, I'm wondering if I'm meant to take that as an example of how the story plays out.

Don't read too far into what I'm saying, though. Like I said, I generally hate adventure games and I've pretty much made up my mind about Heavy Rain already, so it's unlikely my views are fair and reasoned. But I could see the game being worth a play if the story is really engrossing, and I didn't pick that up from this review.

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.

Suskie, I agree about adventure games. There are a handful that are worth playing for their story or quirkiness. I would say Longest Journey, Bladerunner, and ALMOST anything by Tim Schafer (though I think he's more witty than a good story-writer).

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.

This review convincingly explains that Heavy Rain sounds like it doesn't use quick-time events merely to add interactivity to cutscenes. The enormous amount of button-pressing shows that you truly control the cinematics -- that's innovative. Some people will find that to be really cool. I find tasks such as going to the bathroom, unfastening bras, and taking showers to be absurdly pointless and trivial.

So I guess what I'm saying is, if the game sounds awful, that's the point.

This review is for:
* people who think it sounds mind-numbing or hideously bad. These are people who shouldn't even be playing the game. This review warns them away, and that's a good thing.
* people who expect the messiah to rise from within their PS3 upon booting up the game. Adding this review to others they've read, these people can approach Heavy Rain with realistic expectations.

Basically, it's a review that complements the massive coverage this game has already received on the internet. 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. I think a focused review like this is useful, especially since it comes from someone who admits to enjoying the experience.

//Zig

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.

I do disagree that a review can take on a completely inappropriate tone to contrast other reviews, though, because a review should function on its own. Again, maybe it's just my natural bias against the genre, but Jason doesn't make the game sound appealing at all, and it's hard for me to imagine anyone feeling differently unless they're already convinced it's going to be incredible. Hell, Zipp seems to feel the same way, and his excitement for this game mirrors mine for Mass Effect 2 a month ago. Which is to say, he's quite looking forward to it.

So is it possible to play through the entire thing as one character? Or does it force you to balance out the characters?

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.

I explained what makes the game work for me in pretty specific terms and I'm not prepared to hype the story any more than I did. The story was competent and interesting, but it's hardly groundbreaking. If I don't make the story sound exciting enough to make the game a must-play experience, well, that's because it isn't. The way the player engages with the story is the key point that I wanted to stress. Whether you like the story or not, your ability to enjoy it will come down to the manner in wich you interact with it. Some people are absolutely going to dislike the game mechanics for the reasons that I portrayed in the review. Some people won't mind them at all, for the reasons that I stated. So the review's goal was to paint an accurate picture of the game experience and to let the reader decide from there whether that's something that will interest him or not. Judging by the comments here, I've succeeded more than usual in that regard and that makes me happy.

Thanks for the comments, guys. I definitely will keep them under consideration, but I'm not sure how much tweaking the review needs because it seems to have accomplished its goals even for people who don't care for it. The same is ultimately true of Heavy Rain, I believe, so I guess that's appropriate. :-D

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 goddamn it draws you in and holds you there.

I really want to play this. Can someone lend me a PS3, please?

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.

It's the only game that my mother has ever asked to see all 12 hours of.

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.

Yeah, I totally need a PS3. In fact, the amount in the HG Fundraising tub should go some way to covering it. Give me a loan? ;-)

so i hear there is a glitch that leaves one of the main female characters playable in the buff??

As cool as that sounds, it would probably mess with the sense of realism.

//Zig

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.'

I came to this review from that vacuum. You can say that's my fault and I'm in the minority, but I still think there's a minimum of story or contextual info I want to see in a review for any game like this, which I didn't get here. Subsequently I found the review very weird, and often funny. If you feel you can use the whole first paragraph for meta commentary on writing the review, I think you can definitely chuck in just 2-3 lines about the whole place giving more info than is given here. I had this weirdly annoying sensation of someone trying very gingerly not to say anything about the plot or story at all. The sensation increased roughly in a straight line as I moved through to the conclusion.

I still found all that I read very interesting, but this reticence or coyness was making me laugh with frustration. That's probably a weird response, but it was my response :)

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.

Trust me Mr Frecklesworth, you absolutely did not say too much.

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:

"I can’t help but think that David Cage is a fan of Talking Heads. Or, to be specific, their magnum opus ‘Once in a Lifetime’. In case you’re in the unfortunate situation of not knowing the song, let me explain it to you. Essentially, it’s a song about life."

I can forgive honestgamer for maybe not giving full story details when others are so stupefied giving explanation they make horrible and elaborate insinuations of directorial design based on 30 year old songs of average renown. And continue on for several paragraphs trying to relate the two media by vague common themes. Oy.

30 years... I feel old...

//Zig

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.

This thread reminds me of black metal pioneers Celtic Frost's misguided turn to hair'n'glam metal, 'Cold Lake'!

In what way?

In the same way that reviewer guy LSB quoted above found Heavy Rain reminded him of Talking Heads' magnum opus ‘Once in a Lifetime’ ;)