Heavy Rain *spoilers*

[Ancient Cheesecake]

Do you like quick time events? Me neither. How about a game based entirely around them?

For those that don't know, Heavy Rain is a game made by the same company that made Indigo Prophesy / Fahrenheit. It's a sort of adventure game that concentrates more on drama than puzzles. Basically an attempt at an interactive psychological thriller / action film. There are four playable characters, all of whom can supposedly die without the player losing the game, and the majority of the gameplay is quicktime events. It's coming out on PS3 only at the moment, though so far the only apparent reason for that is a few uses of the ability to shake the controller up and down to cause an effect.

What's weird is that it actually looks sort of cool.

http://www.gametrailers.com/game/heavy-rain/2717

[thcrock]

There's a real problem with calling them quick-time events. Primarily because you have to make choices in them, while most quick-time events are "Press X to not die" twitch tests. What they're going for in the game is the urgency of quick decisions.

The three developer walkthroughs on the Gametrailers page you linked to explain the gameplay very well.

[Ancient Cheesecake]

Your right in one regard. It's at least no longer press X to not die. instead you press X and O to not step on the potato chips, or press square to catch the falling wine bottle. You clearly didn't watch the e3 videos though wherein the developer demonstrates a QTE fight scene that's over two minutes long between a massive black stereotype and an FBI agent.

The only real choice in that scene is whether or not to intentionally fail the button presses.

[thcrock]

The choices I'm talking about are the dialogue choices - most of the time there is four choices available to you, which actually make a difference on the outcome of the scene (robber leaves without incident / robber shoots you).

The potato chips QTE was a result of the path he chose to walk. I'm sure an option is also to just go and walk over to him, without picking up a weapon. And what would have happened had he walked over those chips?

The point is that just in that very scene, there's multiple ways for various choices you make to affect not only the outcome of the scene, but also ways in which that scene plays out. Quicktime events always play out the same way.

And when it comes to the fight at the end of the Mad Jack scene, yes - any fighting segments are likely to be QTEs. But it doesn't seem like there would be that many fight scenes. A lot of the game looks to be centered around dialogue. I wouldn't be surprised if the Mad Jack scene, depending on dialogue choices, could end in something other than that fight sequence.

I will concede that, if QTE sequences like the Mad Jack fight scene constitute most of the game, and dialogue choices are more linear than I'm expecting, I will be disappointed in Heavy Rain. But even then, the lack of a Game Over should still save it, because even after failing a QTE and dying, I'll be able to play as another character.

[Oppenheimer]

I for one am very much looking forward to this game. I loved (the first 3/4 of) Indigo Prophecy. The plot was so immersive (for the first 3/4). I loved how it made me feel like I was in a murder mystery in a movie and how it showed all sides of the story.

So, I have high hopes for this next game. The quick time events didn't bother me too much. Yes, they were distracting so you couldn't want the cinematics, but except when they were rediculiously hard (I'm looking at you church scene!) they were a good mix of action to break up the dialogue. I could have just as easily gone without them and just had the immersive story (for the first 3/4) though.

Also, I hope the new game doesn't SCREW UP THE FRIGGIN LAST QUARTER! Not that I'm bitter or anything.

[Ancient Cheesecake]

The choices I'm talking about are the dialogue choices - most of the time there is four choices available to you, which actually make a difference on the outcome of the scene (robber leaves without incident / robber shoots you).

The potato chips QTE was a result of the path he chose to walk. I'm sure an option is also to just go and walk over to him, without picking up a weapon. And what would have happened had he walked over those chips?

The point is that just in that very scene, there's multiple ways for various choices you make to affect not only the outcome of the scene, but also ways in which that scene plays out. Quicktime events always play out the same way.

And when it comes to the fight at the end of the Mad Jack scene, yes - any fighting segments are likely to be QTEs. But it doesn't seem like there would be that many fight scenes. A lot of the game looks to be centered around dialogue. I wouldn't be surprised if the Mad Jack scene, depending on dialogue choices, could end in something other than that fight sequence.

I will concede that, if QTE sequences like the Mad Jack fight scene constitute most of the game, and dialogue choices are more linear than I'm expecting, I will be disappointed in Heavy Rain. But even then, the lack of a Game Over should still save it, because even after failing a QTE and dying, I'll be able to play as another character.

Well I'll give you that the store scene looked interesting, though so many devs these days promise their games will have meaningful choices or whatever buzzword they use, only for it to turn out to be a complete lie.

As for Mad Jack, what dialogue choices? You chat with him a bit then he leaves, and you can walk around and find the skull, as soon as you find the skull he points a gun at your head and you go to a QTE. Assuming you succeed there, you get some more dialogue but you quickly get thrown back into a "take your drugs" QTE and black out if you fail. When you wake up you have to deal with another QTE of trying to get out of the car, then fighting him until he gets himself killed. The dialogue just threw you into a QTE. It was the QTEs that determined everything that happened.

[thcrock]

Anybody else wondering how well this game will do in the market? For the sake of argument, lets assume Quantic Dream delivers on every piece of marketing hyperbole they've promised. Its a dramatic thrillride, scores in the 90s on Metacritic, and so forth. But how will Sony and Quantic Dream convince people to buy it?

This strikes me as a title that will sell poorly without the right marketing. Its very unorthodox, and a lot of gamers are suspicious of its gameplay system. Still, I don't see any reason why this game couldn't heavily interest people who like crime tv shows, many of whom aren't big gamers. And its gameplay systems work out very well for attracting non-gamers. There are many people who just will not take the time to learn an FPS gameplay system.

For instance, my girlfriend loves crime drama tv shows, but is not much of a gamer, outside of Mario, trivia, and stuff like Diner Dash. I've showed her gameplay previews, and she got really interested in it after she realized that you don't have to shoot stuff. And I think there's a lot of people out there whose impression of the game would be similar. Sometimes, it seems like the majority of non-reality tv programming is in this genre - Bones, CSI, etc. The American public eats up crime dramas like candy. This game is right up their alley. The problem is, it took five minutes of gameplay previews from a videogame trade show to convince my girlfriend. That is not marketing.

In my opinion, there's a large potential market for this game. Most of these people don't have PS3s, but many have a boyfriend, husband, or even son who does. How does Sony reach them? I think they could put together a good enough thirty-second spot to plaster all over prime-time tv when CSI or Numbers is on. But will they?

[daoster]

Unfortunately, I don't think this game will sell too well. The adventure genre is on life support, and while there have been some gems released...the future does not look bright.

Added to the fact that this game will be difficult for gamers with short attention span...I think non-gamers will be even less inclined to play a game like this where gameplay is meant to enhance the story, mood, and atmosphere of the game. Some of the things they've shown, I think, will turn some people off...having to manually brush one's teeth? Having to manually take a shower? Even the previews I've read mentioned that these things seemed trivial (but helped create the mood).

On that note, Kudos to Sony for taking a chance in financing and releasing this risky game.

And I think the FPS genre is one of the easiest genre to simply pick up and play. If people don't even want to learn that, I think they're not gonna care much to learn how to play that.

As far marketing...I have no hope for Playstation 3 owners, unfortunately. Uncharted 2 had a pretty strong marketing campaign, rave reviews, and they've won multiple GOTY awards, and yet they've only sold a little over a million copies. Granted 1 million is already better than how much the original Uncharted sold, but for a game that's been hyped up, both by Sony and by third parties, as much as Uncharted 2...for it to have sold only 1 million...WHATS WRONG WITH YOU PS3 OWNERS </rant>

Ah well, 1 million is still successful, by all means, but I don't think Heavy Rain (with its totally different type of gaming) will hit that range. Of course, I'd love it to reach it, but whether or not it will...

[RangerDeon]

I for one am very much looking forward to this game. I loved (the first 3/4 of) Indigo Prophecy. The plot was so immersive (for the first 3/4). I loved how it made me feel like I was in a murder mystery in a movie and how it showed all sides of the story.

Same here. I've been looking forward to it for a while.

[thcrock]

And I think the FPS genre is one of the easiest genre to simply pick up and play. If people don't even want to learn that, I think they're not gonna care much to learn how to play that.

FPS games are conceptually easy, but being good at an FPS requires lightning-fast, twitch like reflexes, and pinpoint accuracy to go along with it. I even know people who played FPSes for years, but then once they took a break, they lost most of their skill and were no longer good at the genre. This is the barrier between non-gamers and enjoyment of FPSes.

A game like Heavy Rain requires none of that.

Some of the things they've shown, I think, will turn some people off...having to manually brush one's teeth? Having to manually take a shower? Even the previews I've read mentioned that these things seemed trivial (but helped create the mood).

I certainly wouldn't put stuff like that in a commercial. Instead, I think the robbery scene would interest people more. Two events from that scene would be good candidates:

1. The dialogue choices when the robber has you at gunpoint. "Reason", "Threaten", "Calm", etc. Those have real and immediate consequences.
2. Trying to find a weapon in the store and sneak up on the robber with it. Imagine this video, starting around the two minute mark when the robbery starts. Then, imagine the player finding a weapon and sneaking up on him instead of walking around like an idiot.

I think either of those two segments could conceivably be summed up in a thirty second commercial. Ideally they would use both as separate commercials, so people would eventually see two playthroughs of that scene.

You know what else would be cool, though? Four different possible outcomes of that scene, each playing out simultaneously (the screen is split up into four boxes). That might be a lot of stuff going on for a simple TV commercial, though. I'm not exactly a marketing expert.

[Iesous]

I'm not really sure if this will contribute to anyone's understanding, but here's my take on the popularity of crime dramas. (I know nothing of this game so I really can't talk about it.)

My mom is a huge crime drama junkie. She's over 50, so like I said, this might not apply to everyone who watches the shows, but I'll bet that it fits a lot of them. When my mom watches these shows (and a lot of TV in general), she doesn't want to have to do anything. She just wants to sit and watch. So I don't see her ever wanting to play a game like this.

Also, another big part of crime dramas from my experience is watching it with a group of people. That way, if someone misses out on some clue that the writer's laid down, other people can fill them in. And my wife has pointed out many times that girls for the most part don't like watching other people play video games. She just doesn't understand at all how my brother and I can just watch the other person play and consider it fun.

So, that means we've ruled out almost all of the over 50 crowd. We've also weeded out most of the female crowd. Now, you have to consider whether you think that one quarter (pure estimate) of the viewing audience is worth prime time advertising costs. My guess would be no.

[thcrock]

Also, another big part of crime dramas from my experience is watching it with a group of people. That way, if someone misses out on some clue that the writer's laid down, other people can fill them in. And my wife has pointed out many times that girls for the most part don't like watching other people play video games. She just doesn't understand at all how my brother and I can just watch the other person play and consider it fun.

This doesn't make much sense to me. I'm not suggesting a large market for this game would be people watching other people play the video game. In fact, when I made the 'girls have boyfriends with PS3s' comment, I was assuming that the guy wouldn't be interested in playing this game to begin with (because its not enough like Call of Duty or Halo).

Depending on how the game turns out, it could be fun playing in groups. We've yet to see how much crime-solving is in the game - most of the player choices I've seen involve dialogue and other character interaction.

My mom is a huge crime drama junkie. She's over 50, so like I said, this might not apply to everyone who watches the shows, but I'll bet that it fits a lot of them. When my mom watches these shows (and a lot of TV in general), she doesn't want to have to do anything. She just wants to sit and watch. So I don't see her ever wanting to play a game like this.

Since you said at the top of your post that you know nothing of this game, I'm not sure what you meant by 'game like this'. This game doesn't seem to have a skill-based combat or gameplay 'system' to act as a barrier of entry. I'm sure there are people out there who absolutely want no interactivity in their experience. I'm not arguing with that. But I don't think that number is as large as you're arguing it is. I'm also sure most people wouldn't want to experience something like this within the traditional format of a video game; that is, 'shoot 50 bad guys, watch a two minute cutscene, shoot 30 bad guys, watch a one minute cutscene'. In that sense, Heavy Rain is nothing like a traditional videogame.

In my experience with tv shows/movies, there are often times where the viewers will think of what they would do next in that particular situation. Take the robbery scene I linked to from Youtube - if you were in a convenience store that was being held up, and the gunman hadn't seen you yet - what would you do? If you have a gun being pointed at your head, how would you try and talk your way out of it? If you're trying to get information out of an unwilling witness, how would you convince him to tell you? I think that choices like these, and the way you execute them, are presented in Heavy Rain in such a way that could attract some non-traditional gamers.

Disclaimer: Everything I'm saying about Heavy Rain could end up being false. I've obviously never played the game, and won't for at least a couple of months. For all I know, it could end up being a thinly disguised linear QTE-fest with only artificial consequences from actions. But I'll give Quantic Dream the benefit of the doubt for now.

[daoster]

The game comes out in a couple of weeks, and I honestly can't wait! Reviews have started trickling out of the European press, and they've been (for the most part) super positive!

I'm still skeptical of its appeal to non-gamers. Despite the popularity of crime dramas on television, I think even non-gamers have a pre-conceived idea of what a game should be, and this game to at least mix that formula up a bit. The reviews I've read have even mentioned that not all gamers will enjoy this game because it's so different (at least for a console game).

Though I'm expecting controversy due to the game being uncensored in all regions...so maybe that'll help sales (it certainly didn't hurt the original Mass Effect).

Once again, kudos to Sony for bankrolling this game, and kudos to Sony for releasing it uncensored in all regions.

[daoster]

After having played the demo, I have to say, I am now more psyched then possible...and with the game being ranked #7 on for Videogames on Amazon right now, despite seeing almost NO marketing for this game so far, color me surprised!

[Oppenheimer]

I have preordered it. I'm excited.

There's a demo? I haven't noticed that. On the PSN?