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[Stillmatic]

Quick and dirty job of the first paragraphs, probably beaten but meh.

Four main playable characters: Ethan Mars, Scott Shelby, Madison Paige and Norman Jayden. Each one featuring different exclusive scenes, character backgrounds, abilities, personality, will be witness to different events and will share his/her own views on what's going on to build the story for the player.

FBI agent Norman Jayde was shown here, his job being the making of criminal psychological profiles. He was sent to the West Coast to investigate the Origami Killer case as backup since it's been months and the police still doesn't have a friggin clue. This already adds a tense relationship between him and the police that'll impact the storyline. He's been trained in psychological studies, able to dwelve into the killers' mind. He's highly professional and organized, but obsessed to the point he'd do anything to catch his man.

Jayden uses a prototype device: the ARI (Alternate Reality Interface), comprised of a pair of glasses and a glove linked together. The glasses are capable of detecting fingerprints, ADN remnants, blood trails and such that'd normally be invisible to the human eye. The glove allows for inmediate analysis of the substances bypassing the wait for lab results.

Seems like Jayden's main weakness is his drug addiction. If he spends too long without a dose of Tryptocaine he will manifest abstinence syndrome in the form of convulsions, dizzyness, blurry vision and overall incapacitation that could be fatal in some situations. The player will have to juggle between following the killer's track and hiding this addiction.

Old interface has been discarded, now the context sensitive actions appear around the character as he moves around the environment - basically they come up as "ideas" on what to do. The speed these prompts move at, font size and such are relative to the character's emotional status. i.e: if he's calm, they'll move slowly, if he's under pressure they'll be fast and if he's drugged they'll appear blurry, nigh-unreadable. Dialogs use the same system.

Thanks for that! It sounds great so far.

 

[pseudocaesar]

Wow. It's amazing.

 

[newsguy]

Uh... super high-tech glasses and gloves? Let's hope the rest of the game stays a little more grounded than that...

 

[Kitschkraft]

Sony seems to have a habit of releasing subpar screens, saving the better looking stuff for later.

The taxidermist footage was definitely better than this, and I'm guessing that it's what the final game will look like. This stuff looks much earlier.

 

[lostxii]

Not all models are equal in games. Snake, Otacon and Ocelot have the best looking models in MGS4. Characters like Meryl and Johnny don't look nearly as good.

True, but you would expect the four main characters to be at the same quality. That said, I think it will most likely be at the same level when they release the footage tomorrow.

 

[Doubledex]

You know what I hate about this. This is like the only game I can think of where they didn't bother with bullshots. These actually look like screen grabs from a video. And people are complaining even though it still looks better than just about anything on console.

Some people can't play it (when it's released), so they have to downplay it

 

[Dobkeratops]

Could this be considered as spoilers? It's a description of what happens in the demo.

In the gameplay demo,

Spoiler

the player walks through the junkyard to face Macjack, who happens to be smashing cars with a shovel. [Praise on facial animation, texture work, lighting and script] He proceeds to interrogate the guy, who feigns ignorance, eventually assuming a hostile stance and leaving the scene. Alone now, Jayden enters storage and turns on the ARI (screen filters to a VR-like bluish tint), revealing ADN traces on the floor. Scanning reveals it to be floor and also confirms a car paint match. Further investigation takes the player to an acid pool containing human remnants. At this point a magnum revolver meets Jayden's head, music starts and QTE ensues. Successfully pulling it off lets you turn the tides agains Macjack, and the game lets you continue interrogating him in a much more direct manner. Unfortunately, right when the arrest is taking place, Hayden suffers from abstinence and needs to take a pill from his pocket (via QTE). They fail, though, so Hayden faints and awakes inside of his car right as a crane is crushing it, so he has to escape and fight the suspect to death.

Self contained scene mostly, and if they're showing it to the public it's probably not very relevant to the plot as a whole, but tagged just in case.

 

[jett]

It's not much different from the current crime investigation shows. They use a lot of technology that doesn't actually exist.

Hey, even CSI still makes use of a lab...

To be honest that thing I dislike the most about these screens is the grainy pseudo film effect.

 

[-viper-]

Dude, at first TRICO was ugly for you, now HR is ugly, too. Dude, go to bed already

o rly? Stop making shit up.

 

[jett]

BTW, November release confirmed.

 

[StuBurns]

o rly? Stop making shit up.

Considering Heavy Rain itself has never been shown till right now, it's impossible for it to be downgraded.

 

[freethought]

You know what I hate about this. This is like the only game I can think of where they didn't bother with bullshots. These actually look like screen grabs from a video. And people are complaining even though it still looks better than just about anything on console.


EDIT: Actually, his tie is clipping thru his shirt collar. Fuck this game.

:lol

 

[LiquidMetal14]

BTW, November release confirmed.

This is news I wanted to hear.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Hey, even CSI still makes use of a lab...

That's where a lot of the bullshit takes place though.

 

[Kagari]

BTW, November release confirmed.

Really? I hope that rumor about Uncharted 2 being in September is real then...

 

[SolidSnakex]

Really? I hope that rumor about Uncharted 2 being in September is real then...

September = Uncharted 2
October = Ratchet/MAG
November = Heavy Rain
December = Gran Turismo 5

 

[StuBurns]

Really? I hope that rumor about Uncharted 2 being in September is real then...

I don't know how Sony are going to fit all their games this xmas. R&CF2 is then too.

December = Gran Turismo 5

"Don't go breaking my heart"

 

[WinFonda]

September = Uncharted 2
October = Ratchet/MAG
November = Heavy Rain
December = Gran Turismo 5

Don't forget White knight chronicles. I figured an August or September release for that one.

 

[JoJo13]

September = Uncharted 2
October = Ratchet/MAG
November = Heavy Rain
December = Gran Turismo 5

Huh?

Uncharted 2 in September? Sounds a bit ridiculous if true. I can't believe they'd be able to get it out that quickly.

Then again, it already does look super polished.

MAG in October needs to happen. That game needs to release before CoD: MW2.

 

[Nirolak]

BTW, November release confirmed.

Dear Sony,

When I said "Hey, maybe you can release Heavy Rain alongside Modern Warfare 2" I was being sarcastic. What I really was trying to say was that releasing it then would be a terrible idea. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused.

Sincerely, Nirolak

 

[HK-47]

That's where a lot of the bullshit takes place though.

SUPER PHOTOSHOP!

 

[N30RYU]

Looks amazing.

I don't know if it's being said or not

The game will have in every scene two cameras with different perspectives to show all the enviromen, that we'll toogle with the L1 button.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I don't know how Sony are going to fit all their games this xmas. R&CF2 is then too.


"Don't go breaking my heart"

"Kickstart My Heart"

 

[tass0]

anythign aired yet? if so, can somebody upload to youtube?

 

[newsguy]

anythign aired yet? if so, can somebody upload to youtube?

It airs at 12:30 eastern.

 

[Dobkeratops]

There's many ways to solve those situations, and while main characters can die, fortunately it only happens if you make certain errors at certain key events rather than failing a single QTE (that'd be ridiculous according to QD,). But there's no Game Over in HR, just losses and a sudden end to the story should all four meet their demise. It's a game based on elections and emotions, and there's much more exploration involved besides what was shown here.

Last page on the feature is a Q&A with Cage where he

-Defends the use of narrative in videogames: it's not about getting closer to movies, it's about use their own way to produce emotions in the user - if no link is established with the player, all your efforts were in vain
-Talks about the choice of using QTEs: with a normal interface, HR would be played like a normal game - in example, take the fight scene: triangle to punch, circle to kick, pick items with square... they wanted something more unique that offered a varied array of actions while remaining intuitive, easy and consistent
-Speaks about the lack of a traditional Game Over: losing a character means losing everything (s)he had and could achieve, as they aren't really connected (it doesn't make sense any of the remaining three attaining the ARI). One dies and the story will continue without him, because life goes on for the rest. Lose all and that's how it ends - sad, but good doesn't always win.


That's about it, more or less. Pretty rough, but it's friggin' 4 AM in here

 

[Kagari]

Don't forget White knight chronicles. I figured an August or September release for that one.

I think August/September for that as well.

 

[SolidSnakex]

There's many ways to solve those situations, and while main characters can die, fortunately it only happens if you make certain errors at certain key events rather than failing a single QTE (that'd be ridiculous according to QD,). But there's no Game Over in HR, just losses and a sudden end to the story should all four meet their demise. It's a game based on elections and emotions, and there's much more exploration involved besides what was shown here.

-Speaks about the lack of a traditional Game Over: losing a character means losing everything (s)he had and could achieve, as they aren't really connected (it doesn't make sense any of the remaining three attaining the ARI). One dies and the story will continue without him, because life goes on for the rest. Lose all and that's how it ends - sad, but good doesn't always win.

I actually thought that they were going to end up dropping this feature, but it actually seems to be really well thought out.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

I like the sound of the game over part. It's better than making you throw away a disk if you die. You just can't find out what could have been for that character's potential/role if you hadn't died. Life continues until you start the game again, or reload your last save (hope you can't).

 

[abacab driver]

Tech wise it looks exactly the same as last years demo, just different characters and setting. Can't say I'm surprised people are crying downgrade though.

The modeling and lighting in the last demo were of a much higher level than this. No more to be said there..
On the same token, anyone crying downgrade is technically incorrect..being that the demo was just a fabricated scenario unrelated to the final game.

 

[-viper-]

September = Uncharted 2
October = Ratchet/MAG
November = Heavy Rain
December = Gran Turismo 5

Too many games.

 

[Kydd BlaZe]

is it just me or are the graphics kinda ugly? and the atmosphere from the previous gameplay footage is gone :|

Not just you.

These screens are looking utterly terrible IMO as well. With that said, though, I am a HUGE fan of Quantic Dreams' work and Indigo Prophecy is one of my favorite games of all time. I didn't play that game for it's graphics, so it'll be no different here. Heavy Rain is still one of my most anticipated titles of the year.

 

[BlueSummers]

Quantic Dreams just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about atmosphere in games (I'm an expert), but the graphics are a huge part of it. It's not like in Gears of War where you just put ultra high res textures and become successful because of pretty surfaces. If you don't create a real, lifelike world in this kind of game, you bring shame to yourself and others, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is that PS3 owners, after hearing about this, are not going to purchase Heavy Rain anymore. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but QD has alienated an entire generation of hardcore gamers with this move.

Quantic Dreams, publicly apologize and change the atmosphere in this game or you can kiss your business goodbye.

:lol :lol :lol

 

[N30RYU]

People thinking that this images aren't amazing, should wait till the next generation... 'cause this is what you can expect from the current generation.

 

[Dante]

People thinking that this images aren't amazing, should wait till the next generation... 'cause this is what you can expect from the current generation.

Even then it's still like better looking than 95% of what's out there, you may not dig the art style or whatever, but saying they are terrible is downright :lol worthy.

 

[jett]

Let's be fair though, the pictures from the previous were all bullshots, in the sense that they have unrealistic anti aliasing. These pictures are direct-feed, and are using the same grainy filter bullshit that Farenheit had, previous demo didn't have that. That dirties up the overal visual look of the game.

 

[Juice]

I'm ready to be all done with film grain

I'm sick of developers seemingly imply it's an outright improvement and not a cover up over flaws

 

[jett]

There's something just off with the lighting in this batch of screens though compared to what we were shown before...

 

[abacab driver]

older image

Now why did you have to go and do that.

 

[Kydd BlaZe]

People thinking that this images aren't amazing, should wait till the next generation... 'cause this is what you can expect from the current generation.

I'll wait for the footage then, because these screens just aren't doing it for me. I feel like im in the twilight zone here, with everybody being completely FLOORED by a game that is giving me Max Payne 2 vibes. :\

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Oh wow, I'm just now noticing the screens on the past few pages. Crazy and awesome. I thought people just hated the supernatural stuff in IP? Voodoo and flying type of stuff. This glove and glasses thing seem to be as an aid to the gameplay. Who wants to collect samples and wait for permits and such slow stuff. This is a game after all.

 

[ArjanN]

That's where a lot of the bullshit takes place though.

If it was realistic things like fingerprints and DNA samples etc, would probably take too long for the scope of the game. It was pretty much the same in Condemned, you'd scan some evidence and you'd get the results immediately. In real life that stuff often takes days.

 

[N30RYU]

There's something just off with the lighting in this batch of screens though compared to what we were shown before...

really?

 

[BlueTsunami]

Good lord, it looks worse than Tekken

 

[jett]

really?

I can barely see shit in that screen.

Oh you picked another screen. My answer is really. It looks weird. Actually that picture you edited into your post, techno-babble aside, is pretty ugly. You'd think with a cinematic game like this they would be more careful when lighting the backgrounds.

 

[Kagari]

Good lord, it looks worse than Tekken

Not really.

 

[JoJo13]

When did Heavy Rain turn into a generic 2005 PC game?

 

[Ploid 3.0]

From the 1up interview thread a while ago. Looks like this is the same area.

Maybe after the backup show or something.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

i definitely prefer the shot with Madison in it
but the difference might just be down to the setting of the particular scene, so i'll wait for footage before i come to any conclusion

Two new dudes are ugly anyway

 

[ArjanN]

"Max, you're in a video game!"