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Heavy Rain reviews

Ploid 3.0

Ploid 3.0

Member
I was pretty sure Netguy was wrong. I think he know that it was said earlier that it was a mistake, or fake and it will be out on the 11th. It seemed like he was trying to get people hoping for the demo today by how he tried to convince them so hard. "Well don't blame me when you're unprepared for the awesomeness to come" or something like that. It seemed like he was giggling under those posts.
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
I just got Pelaaja magazine (the biggest gaming mag in Finland) delivered today, and they gave the game 9/10.

The closing comments of the review:
(the reviewer) Considers forgiving Cage for the end of Fahrenheit.
Click to expand...
:D
 
G

Garjon

Member
Melchiah said:
I just got Pelaaja magazine (the biggest gaming mag in Finland) delivered today, and they gave the game 9/10.

The closing comments of the review:
:D
Click to expand...
That is indeed some level of praise ;)

Also, is your avatar an x-ray of a skeleton or two men looking down on the floor?
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
Garjon said:
Also, is your avatar an x-ray of a skeleton or two men looking down on the floor?
Click to expand...

It's an X-ray of me when I was 9 years old.

Never thought about it the way you said. :D
 
A

astroturfing

Member
Melchiah said:
I just got Pelaaja magazine (the biggest gaming mag in Finland) delivered today, and they gave the game 9/10.
Click to expand...

damn you spoiled the review for me, just got the magazine as well :D (hi fellow Finn!)

but yeah, Pelaaja's reviews and scores are usually spot-on. and they're not afraid to give lower scores to hyped games. i think they gave Far Cry 2 a 6 or 7, and same to Resistance 2... and an 8 to Assassin's Creed 2.
 
S

Shurs

Member
astroturfing said:
damn you spoiled the review for me, just got the magazine as well :D (hi fellow Finn!)

but yeah, Pelaaja's reviews and scores are usually spot-on. and they're not afraid to give lower scores to hyped games. i think they gave Far Cry 2 a 6 or 7, and same to Resistance 2... and an 8 to Assassin's Creed 2.
Click to expand...


Why so low?
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
astroturfing said:
damn you spoiled the review for me, just got the magazine as well :D (hi fellow Finn!)

but yeah, Pelaaja's reviews and scores are usually spot-on. and they're not afraid to give lower scores to hyped games. i think they gave Far Cry 2 a 6 or 7, and same to Resistance 2... and an 8 to Assassin's Creed 2.
Click to expand...

Sorry. :D

And hello back at you.


EDIT: And they also have a second opinion piece on the side, where another reviewer gives his say on the game. And he also thought highly of Heavy Rain.
 
A

astroturfing

Member
Shurs said:
Why so low?
Click to expand...

i dont remember why they rated FC2 so low, i think they hated the repetitiveness and didnt think much of the story.

also, they dont give out 10s that much, Uncharted 2 got a 9/10 and MW2 got a 9/10.

a 9/10 from Pelaaja to Heavy Rain absolutely seals the deal for me, dont need to see any other reviews. (i should actually read it though lol, i might go do that right now ->)
 
Y

YoungHav

Banned
Melchiah said:
I just got Pelaaja magazine (the biggest gaming mag in Finland) delivered today, and they gave the game 9/10.

The closing comments of the review:
:D
Click to expand...
:lol @ loving Heavy Rain but only considering forgiving DC for Fahrenheit. LOL they really fucked the latter part of that game up huh? lol I almost bought it too.
 
S

ScrabbleBanshee

Member
So I find myself still totally not getting what playing this will be like and maybe that's a good thing. Is this going to be a new Tex Murphy? I recall thinking the dark detective atmosphere in those games was pretty rad, of course, that was a long time ago.

I suppose there is zero free-roaming in heavy rain though, at least that's the impression I get. As in, I can't choose to walk back and forth from the refrigerator 10 times and spin in a circle 20 times after that and then stare at a wall.

Edit: I find myself hoping that this is going to be a new Police Quest but I know that won't be the case. We need a modern police quest! Actually I was disappointed when they started telling people "it's not an adventure game". :(
 
T

thcsquad

Member
ScrabbleBanshee said:
I suppose there is zero free-roaming in heavy rain though, at least that's the impression I get. As in, I can't choose to walk back and forth from the refrigerator 10 times and spin in a circle 20 times after that and then stare at a wall.
Click to expand...

From what I've seen, you can do simple free-roaming like that. I've seen at least one video where the player had no idea what they were doing and spent a ridiculous amount of time in a gameplay segment that clearly could have lasted one-fifth of the time. He almost advanced the story, then decided to wander around aimlessly, then went and advanced the story.

it was when norman jayden was investigating the crime scene. the video is probably floating around on youtube
 
S

SiegfriedFM

Member
ScrabbleBanshee said:
I suppose there is zero free-roaming in heavy rain though, at least that's the impression I get. As in, I can't choose to walk back and forth from the refrigerator 10 times and spin in a circle 20 times after that and then stare at a wall.
Click to expand...

There is full free-roaming within every scene. In fact, you can often choose between several different options and there won't be enough time to do everything. So yes, you can do your fridge walk all evening... but that might make you a bad father.
 
Ploid 3.0

Ploid 3.0

Member
If it's like indigo prophecy you'll be given little segments of maps to walk around in and interact with the environment. Think RPG maps, you're outside of a police precinct, you can hang out on the side of the building, try looking in the alley, or just go in to go to work (jayden). In the entrance there's a secretary, people talking to her, and other things. You can either go straight to your office on the 2nd floor, or you can look around and see if you can interact with things, maybe go out the side and enter the athletics area where they have weights, and such. You go to your office, but on the way this punk that has been asking for results on some case you're doing just blocks you and demand that you clean your act up. He mentions you're late and you're buzzing out all of a sudden. Your blood pressure is going up, then you get options on what you should do, but since you're not calm, and haven't taking any pills you can barely make out what they are. Wait too long and you just might do something stupid like punch your boss. You pick "I'm on it" and everything is going fine now, but you're still uneasy for not taking the pills. You then walk around the area with the cubicles and such before going into your office. You notice a door that's not your office is unlocked, etc etc.

What I described is all pretty much from Indigo Prophecy but some tweaks. I don't see this game pulling a FFXIII and taking a chunk of that away from it. It was shown in the opening that you can walk around and do whatever anyway. It was also shown in the Taxidermist demo that you can walk around wherever too.
 
G

"God's Beard!"

Member
SiegfriedFM said:
There is full free-roaming within every scene. In fact, you can often choose between several different options and there won't be enough time to do everything. So yes, you can do your fridge walk all evening... but that might make you a bad father.
Click to expand...

Fuck that kid. Daddy needs a drink.
 
Ploid 3.0

Ploid 3.0

Member
God's Beard said:
Fuck that kid. Daddy needs a drink.
Click to expand...

Good luck on the increased difficulty because you now think you're a horrible father and break down and cry at random times. (not a spoiler, I'm just making things up)
 
N

netguy503

Member
If you guys don't even want to prepare yourselves for the awesome that MIGHT be tomorrow just don't say I didn't warn you. You all will be scrambling to make an account when all your friends on your friend's list will be playing the demo.
Click to expand...

I definitely said a strong MIGHT in that post guys. I know I did an earlier post where I said confirmed, and that was wrong, but seriously it was a 50/50 shot. What if the demo DID come out in EU and the shoe was on the other foot and no one was prepared with an EU account? You can't say making another account put so much physical stress and mental anguish on you, can you? If it did, I'm really sorry. But everyone responding saying "Netguy fail" for just doing something that takes a second of your time are real jerks. You, as well as I, were in the same boat. No one knew what the update would be today until it actually happened. I know I said confirmed in that first post, and I apologize but I definitely changed that to a MIGHT here last night WAYYYY before this update ever happened. So back off and get a life haters.
 
S

ScrabbleBanshee

Member
SiegfriedFM said:
There is full free-roaming within every scene. In fact, you can often choose between several different options and there won't be enough time to do everything. So yes, you can do your fridge walk all evening... but that might make you a bad father.
Click to expand...

This definitely makes me a bit more excited about the game. I was picturing it being almost completely on rails with decision paths based on button presses only. I thought I read something describing the control scheme as using a trigger button to walk forward thinking the characters direction of movement was predetermined and you only got to control whether you go or not and how fast.
 
Ploid 3.0

Ploid 3.0

Member
ScrabbleBanshee said:
This definitely makes me a bit more excited about the game. I was picturing it being almost completely on rails with decision paths based on button presses only. I thought I read something describing the control scheme as using a trigger button to walk forward thinking the characters direction of movement was predetermined and you only got to control whether you go or not and how fast.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if they use the scheme where you use the trigger to walk, while using the analog to turn. I think they wanted to do it like that so it wouldn't be awkward to have to change directions of your walking when the camera angle changed. Just keep gas held down to continue walking, and turn with the left analog. I guess we'll see how the controls for walking around are with the demo next week.
 
T

thcsquad

Member
ScrabbleBanshee said:
This definitely makes me a bit more excited about the game. I was picturing it being almost completely on rails with decision paths based on button presses only. I thought I read something describing the control scheme as using a trigger button to walk forward thinking the characters direction of movement was predetermined and you only got to control whether you go or not and how fast.
Click to expand...

Unless you're on a complete media blackout, watch these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N6svw_CDAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gKUZsT7m1U&feature=related

That scene illustrates the free-roaming capabilities.
 
S

ScrabbleBanshee

Member
thcsquad said:
Unless you're on a complete media blackout, watch these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N6svw_CDAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gKUZsT7m1U&feature=related

That scene illustrates the free-roaming capabilities.
Click to expand...

I've only let myself watch very little footage of it, but I watched the first bit of the first video and I'm happy with what I saw. Looks amazing. Hopefully the game flows easily enough that even my fiancee will want to watch it. She wasn't fooled that uncharted 2 was a movie, because playing it on the harder levels results in protracted firefights and lots of deaths and repetition. I'm hoping heavy rain, to an observer, basically is perfectly good as passive entertainment.
 
D

deepbrown

Member
netguy503 said:
I definitely said a strong MIGHT in that post guys. I know I did an earlier post where I said confirmed, and that was wrong, but seriously it was a 50/50 shot. What if the demo DID come out in EU and the shoe was on the other foot and no one was prepared with an EU account? You can't say making another account put so much physical stress and mental anguish on you, can you? If it did, I'm really sorry. But everyone responding saying "Netguy fail" for just doing something that takes a second of your time are real jerks. You, as well as I, were in the same boat. No one knew what the update would be today until it actually happened. I know I said confirmed in that first post, and I apologize but I definitely changed that to a MIGHT here last night WAYYYY before this update ever happened. So back off and get a life haters.
Click to expand...

Netguy fail. They (being Sony) announced the demo for the 11th.
 
Ploid 3.0

Ploid 3.0

Member
nib95 said:
Thanks dude!
Click to expand...

Wow that's a lot of reviews, I didn't see this before. Looks like is a great game. The main part I was worried about was if the story is actually worth getting into. If these reviews are around this level it has to be a interesting story.
 
Y

Yasae

Banned
SamBishop said:
No, please don't misunderstand. People can say plenty and still accept outside viewpoints, but what I can't stand is blanket dismissal of stuff if it somehow polarizes their viewpoint. Let 'em have their say on things. Discuss, y'know? Most people in this thread are kicking up small responses to individual conversations. When there's a statement made to either extreme, it's meant with troll bait. Let 'em have their say, counter it with rational discourse or let it slide, I say.

Voice acting keeps cropping up because of a very limited snapshot of the game. Snapshots, if I'm not mistaken, that weren't officially released. They were either leaked or captured from outlets and didn't come from the folks involved in making the game. Anachronistic or no, confusing footage as advertising might be a little misguided -- particularly because it's likely not indicative of the final product.

It's that they are precisely tunnel-visioned. They have zero concept of the complete package. And that full package will have been digested and reported on in just a week's time. So, please... just wait a little.
Click to expand...
But I could say I don't like the VA in the trailers, and those are most definitely official releases.

It's a small snapshot. So? You've never chosen not to see a movie because of a trailer - a small snapshot of the finished product? I'm not talking about the entire package. I'm talking about VA only. If it's consistently poor, that will hurt the game. It is a major feature of Heavy Rain and is definitely open to expectations and interpretations, now, at this point in time.

That's only judging what we've seen. If anyone wants to assume the whole game will be awful based on a small portion of its content, then their ignorance reigns supreme. They can still express a dislike based on what they've seen and heard. That's not unfair.

I've liked this game for awhile now. I admit the VA in the demos has been lazy, and quite a few of those demos have been conducted by Quantic Dream. Why they would show anything less than average direction with a game that relies very, very heavily on presentation is beyond me.
 
S

ScrabbleBanshee

Member
Yasae said:
But I could say I don't like the VA in the trailers, and those are most definitely official releases.

It's a small snapshot. So? You've never chosen not to see a movie because of a trailer - a small snapshot of the finished product? I'm not talking about the entire package. I'm talking about VA only. If it's consistently poor, that will hurt the game. It is a major feature of Heavy Rain and is definitely open to expectations and interpretations, now, at this point in time.

That's only judging what we've seen. If anyone wants to assume the whole game will be awful based on a small portion of its content, then their ignorance reigns supreme. They can still express a dislike based on what they've seen and heard. That's not unfair.

I've liked this game for awhile now. I admit the VA in the demos has been lazy, and quite a few of those demos have been conducted by Quantic Dream. Why they would show anything less than average direction with a game that relies very, very heavily on presentation is beyond me.
Click to expand...

I plan on playing with French audio and subs, though I can understand a good deal of French as long as it's spoken slowly enough. It seems like the english audio to me will be more akin to a dub job and would you watch a dubbed movie?

The mall video: Yikes... strengthen my conviction to turn the subtitles on there. "I'd really like to have one". What kid would ever speak that way? And that kid is retarded and deserves to be lost forever. I don't think I'll even go looking for the little idiot.
 
M

milkyjay20

Member
that mall sequence at gametrailers looks amazing.

and the mini mart robbery sequence... jesus... if this game does what it sets out to do, it could take video games to the next level. indigo prophecy had a lot of potential. this potential can be realized in heavy rain.
 
Y

Yasae

Banned
ScrabbleBanshee said:
I plan on playing with French audio and subs, though I can understand a good deal of French as long as it's spoken slowly enough. It seems like the english audio to me will be more akin to a dub job and would you watch a dubbed movie?
Click to expand...
No, but I've never been tolerant of dubs or sloppy work.

I'm just a little shocked that people are actually saying voice acting isn't important to this game. No sir, no way. It's incredibly important. How much dialogue is it going to take for them to say otherwise? Reams of script? Thousands of hours of recording?

Enough already. It's important, stop trying to tapdance around it. It's one element of the presentation, but people have got to buy into it.

So I guess I'll see. I hope a few of those voices were placeholders entirely, and I'm willing to forgive spotty acting here and there. My expectations are reasonable. Let's just hope Heavy Rain doesn't pull a Taylor Swift... :D
 
indigo-cyclops

indigo-cyclops

Member
ScrabbleBanshee said:
I suppose there is zero free-roaming in heavy rain though, at least that's the impression I get. As in, I can't choose to walk back and forth from the refrigerator 10 times and spin in a circle 20 times after that and then stare at a wall.
(
Click to expand...


EDIT: Looks like you already replied, no need to repeat!

I will say that the control scheme you might have read about is summed up as follows: You use one of the triggers (RI I think?) to control your character's movement forward. You use the left analog stick which "turns the head" of the character you're controlling. This in turn will make your character turn left, or right. I'm almost positive this is a 180 degree quick turn as well, not sure how that has been implemented. I actually like how the control scheme seems to work in theory, and from the gameplay videos already out, the walking animations are both really awesome and convincing.

Also, it was posted in this thread that the QD intended for the game's audio to be set to English. Meaning, lip synching wasn't a top priority for localization. However, I have seen a video set to the German dub and it sounded ace. I'm not a native German speaker though, so this could be a case of "non native speaker impressions." I think for native English speakers, the English VA will be somewhat hard to swallow because (from what has been shown) it's not all that impressive. Will wait for the full release to judge however!
 
S

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
One of my concerns with Heavy Rain is that the controls might be frustrating. I don't like the idea of holding down a shoulder button to walk and trying to turn your character as they move. Obviously I haven't played it yet but it seems like kind of a questionable design decision. I'll most likely end up walking into many walls and stationary objects but I'm sure it won't be a big deal as long as you never have to get somewhere fast.
 
T

taoofjord

Member
My apologies if this has been asked in this thread already, but is their a version of this game dubbed in another languge but with english subs that I can import? Or, by chance, will the US release have different language options?
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
Ploid 3.0 said:
Come on guys with the mag. Give us info, what did they like, hate, think? Please
Click to expand...
RustyNails said:
Cmon guys with mags, give us the pros and cons on the game! How is the voice acting?
Click to expand...

Excuse the possible translation hiccups.

Pros
  • The scenes can be replayed.
  • The game continues eventhough the player fails.
  • The controls are logical and intuitive, and bring variety to playing.
  • It's encouraged to take the time and "live" in the game world.
  • It isn't the usual type of approach to a serial killer story. The game doesn't concentrate on looking for clues and collecting stuff, nor listening to every dialogue line. Instead it concentrates on the characters and how life treats them throughout the game.
  • The story stays mostly in the grey and mundane reality, there are no supernatural twists like in Fahrenheit.
  • Mature atmosphere, which doesn't translate to blood & tits, although they're not absent either.
  • For once, there's a proper theme music in a game. The game uses the music really well, the themes can express sadness and threat.
  • There's at least two times' worth of replayability. The player can first try to strive towards happiness, and then dive into sorrow and despair.
  • It's an exceptionally mature and touching game, where even the supporting characters are more memorable than the main characters in most games. Maybe an interactive movie isn't a curse word after all.
  • Another reviewer's opinion: It's truly a milestone in game storytelling. It dares to handle hard and painful subjects in a mature way.

Cons
  • In some scenes the player can die easily, whereas in others he can survive even if he screws up.
  • The animation does sometimes feel stiff and awkward, especially after Uncharted 2. Sometimes it breaks the illusion, and makes the characters into lifeless digital puppets, but it's commendable the illusion births in the first place.
  • The worst thing? The game tries to trick the player by presenting false clues and theories.
  • The reviewer foresees, that at least half of the readers won't like the game.
  • The game is basically an interactive movie in both good and bad sense. Sometimes the player might not know whether he's a player or a watcher.



EDIT:

Forgot one thing, which depending on a person can be a pro or a con;

The game is apparently slow-paced, the atmosphere is crafted gradually and slowly with mundane things. The reviewer thinks the game won't go well with younger players. Not only due to the pace, but also due to themes, like paternity, that younger people perhaps can't identify themselves with.

For me, it's definitely a pro.
 
B

BlazingDarkness

Member
taoofjord said:
My apologies if this has been asked in this thread already, but is their a version of this game dubbed in another languge but with english subs that I can import? Or, by chance, will the US release have different language options?
Click to expand...
I think all versions will have all dubs with english subs
 
M

mujun

Member
Kagari said:
Yeah, isn't that what mystery games are supposed to do?
Click to expand...

Surely it's better to make the clues hard to find or subtle rather than making it impossible to know whether any given clue is right or wrong.
 
H

Hypereides

Member
Trailblaster said:
All threads about PS3 exclusive games turn out this way.
Click to expand...

They evidently set their expectations to 'disappointment' wanting to see it fail since its another experimental game from Sony. And apparently they had to pre-ejaculate their hate on David Cage bearing the former into consideration.

:lol

....anyway, Im sitting here with the danish edition of Gamereactor. They are calling this "the first TRUE interactive movie experience" defining a new genre by its own. It scored 9/10.

Im pretty psyched now. It appears to be wonder in story-telling.
 
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