Nightmare's Heavy Rain review

This is a killer review, Nightmare. I think it responds nicely to both the praise and the criticism of Heavy Rain and manages to keep its hands clean by remaining very personal in its prose. Nice job.

What a weird review. At times it feels like a direct rebuke against negative Heavy Rain reviews and comes off as extremely condescending (people who don't like the controls are called lazy and at one point, I believe, compared to infants), while at others, you seem incredibly unsure of yourself, constantly bringing up the fact that some people don't like it and at one point suggesting that you're delusional for enjoying it.

I think at this point I'm naturally biased against any attempts to play up on Heavy Rain's "dramatic" scenes -- OMG ASTHMA ATTACK REACH FOR THE INHALER OR THERE MAY BE CONSEQUENCES -- because I know how lame the game is in action, but at least I can read Zipp's review right now and comprehend where the average Heavy Rain fan is coming from. Even putting aside from the fact that some of the examples people are using to sell this game nowadays are pure BS (the mall scene had consequences? are you kidding me?), this review came off as whiny and melodramatic, making weak arguments and constantly bringing up opinions that aren't the writer's own.

But then I am growing increasingly less tolerant of Heavy Rain praise by the minute, so if Nightmare dismisses everything I've said here, then I don't blame him.

Edit: HEAVY RAIN PRAISE REVIEW CUE SUSKIE RAGE RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGH

guys let me just put on my csi sunglasses here and

Thanks for the feedback, Zipp. I tried to both write a review that would explain the game, but at the same time address some of the major concerns others have complained about. I think Heavy Rain is perhaps one of the most talked about games of last year, and there aren't many who haven't read some potentially negative comments on it. I'm glad you liked it.

As for Suskie, I can really only say to each their own, and the above description may have warranted you seeing the review as weird. I didn't mean to imply that doing something different in the mall, or even not reaching the inhaler in time would have had a drastic turn, but--in an effort not to reveal any spoilers--it might, and in playing the game for the first time you really have no idea, so the tension is still present, and I reacted as if the threat was very real.

I did refer to cynics as lazy because the walking argument seems to be kind of shallow. You don't hear anyone complaining about some first person shooters requiring you to push several different buttons to fire a gun, or action games demanding a specific combination to roll out of the way. I may have been more abrasive towards that because it feels like people are only looking for something to complain about there. That's why I made the reference I did to infants. I wasn't calling them children, only saying that real life was like the game. At first, walking was an odd sensation and probably required a fair amount of focus, but as you grew up--as you played the game more--it became second nature, and mid-way through I didn't even notice it.

I did refer to cynics as lazy because the walking argument seems to be kind of shallow. You don't hear anyone complaining about some first person shooters requiring you to push several different buttons to fire a gun, or action games demanding a specific combination to roll out of the way

I think the difference is that most action games use a simple button combination (often a single button press) to perform complex tasks. From the sound of it, Heavy Rain uses more elaborate combinations (or multiple button presses) to perform simple tasks. Action games that require elaborate combinations to perform simple actions are generally called "bad" and quickly forgotten. It's similar to the negative reaction many people will have after they try using Natal/Kinect.

Your review does make a case that such things are good in Heavy Rain. I'm just pointing out that your above analogy to action games could be seen as supporting their complaint.

//Zig

Yeah, that's not a good analogy simply because what Heavy Rain is doing is taking what's been established as standard in 3D games -- pushing the analog stick in a direction makes your character move in that direction -- and adding an additional complication for no discernible reason. You're right that it's not worth dwelling on (which is why I didn't dwell on it in my own review), but, for example, I could easily see someone making the argument that holding either of the PS3 controller's awful shoulder buttons for an extended period of time doesn't do the game any favors. I didn't get any noticeable cramps while playing Heavy Rain, but it's happened for me in other PS3 games (most notably Prototype), so it's not uncalled for. Just as an example.

The only three problems I had with Heavy Rain were (a) sometimes the voice acting falls off in a jarring way (b) the opening is much too long without really building any feeling and (c) I have no inclination to go back and replay it.

Having not played Heavy Rain, I had to read other reviews to find what this game was about--was it a sim, or did you just wander doing stuff without the story ending? However, on reading them, I think this review fills a niche very well, perhaps more as an essay, and given what it chose to focus on, perhaps getting back into the game would've made it long and unreadable. As it is, the length feels about right--and you shouldn't be forced to make your review wear a nicely starched shirt and a proper striped tie.