When Heavy Rain’s gameplay tech demo was first shown two years ago, I wasn’t impressed. The game looked like a bunch of quicktime events in scripted way. Either you press this button and Option A happens or you don’t and Option B happens. Since then with all the media that has come out and information that has been released to the public, I can admit that I was very wrong. You control your character (in terms of walking),  you have multiple choices in what you can do, and your character can die but the story goes on.
After seeing all these new trailers, all I can say is “Thank God!”. This is the type of game genre that I have been waiting for when it comes to gaming. I know to many gamers that story and choices don’t mean as much as gameplay and graphics, but to me story either makes a game AAA or just another good game. There are two problems, in my opinion, with story in games. The first is the long stretches of gameplay where there is no story, and second that many games don’t capture those ‘wow’ moments when you are still in control of your character. What I mean, is that many times when something amazing happens in a game 7 out of 10 times that is shown through a cut scene. While those cut scenes are fine in most games, what can really push games is being able to fully interact and make those wow moments yourself with your chocies.
I love video games, obviously, but sometimes I wonder if I actually like video game trailers more than the actual game itself. A perfect example of this is the upcoming title, Red Dead: Redemption. Yeah, the gameplay in this upcoming open world game looks fantastic when it comes to classic gaming standards, but go back and watch the cinematic trailers. The cinematic trailer a few weeks ago, reminds me of something like a ‘Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’ (One of the greatest movies ever). While the game looks to be great as well, I’m not sure if the game will ever capture the emotion and badassness of those trailers. Â Now what if someone made a game like Redemption with gameplay we’ve seen in Heavy Rain….
This is where ‘Heavy Rain’ comes in and why I hope this game on it’s own spawns off a new genre of gaming. Heavy Rain is cinematic gameplay at it’s finest from what we’ve seen. They took what has made BioWare games so great (choice) and taken it to the next level. Have you ever seen a movie and you wanted to see how this situation would have played out if Character A did something different, or if in games you could control some famous moments in gaming? The great thing for me, and I think many gamers like me, is that Heavy Rain can be set in any world and at any timeline.
The game allows for interactive moments at all times (you are never taken out of the game) and  no unnecessary filler since every moment affects the person and the story. How many times have you played a game and just been prompted to destory an onslaught of enemies for about an hour before you progress story wise? This happens way too much today. Or how about you need to get from Point A to Point B to talk to someone. Well, that takes about 10 mins of you just running across the map (coughFarCry2cough) doing nothing productive.
I still love games like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, God of War, etc. but there is only so much shooting and killing for no interesting reason I can take. The focus of those games are the gameplay. While it’s great to kill 500 enemies with a couple button presses, I think it would also be cool to interact with a deep story and character progression that affects real life. I don’t think the ‘Heavy Rain’ genre needs to go into games like God of War or Final Fantasy, but rather base them off things like the wild west, The Departed, or even a Godfather type game.
Share your opinions, if you see what I mean and if you think that more game developers should look into Heavy Rain as a genre  instead of just one game that Quantic Dreams is developing. I think it would really push the genre forward if we have the side of gaming that is action-fun, and the other side that is engaging and moving. We’d be one step closer to something like the movie industry if we supported this product and gameplay style.
(Preface: Yes, another one. I just wanted to say that I’ve never played Indigo Prophecy so I’m not sure how the gameplay differs or is the same as Heavy Rain.)
I also want to add a couple things I couldn’t fit into the article after I wrote it:
1. I think Red Dead: Redemption is going to be a great open world game, but I think if you watch that trailer and ignore any gameplay you’ve seen of Redemption and tried to think of ‘Heavy Rain’ gameplay with that setting that you can see we can almost 1up the movie industry. Deep, cool stories, but instead of just watching them we can make choices so they feel more personal.
2. I love open world games, but some linear games are starting to drag on nowadays. They are adding filler to say that a game is “10-20″ hours. I like side missions, but I don’t want half my game time to be side missions. I lose the connection to the game, and am reminded that I am playing a game and not getting fully sucked in by the experience.
3. Also in Heavy Rain there is no need for a Hud because if you die then you die (like in real life *shocker*) so you’ll get more attachment to your character, and honestly Huds need to become less cluddery. An example is Assassin’s Creed 2. I love the game, but the damn thing has 30 huds and it makes the game not as cool looking as the E3 demo. It’s still my 2nd choice for GOTY, but they need to tone that crap down.
I think I covered my basics, but I’ll respond to comments since I feel like I’m forgetting something I want to say.
i agree with a lot of what you had to say. a lot of gaming’s great moments as far as stories go do come during cutscenes. the thing that separates gaming from Hollywood, though, and you touched on this, is when you can have a great story moment through gameplay. the first example that comes to mind is from Metal Gear Solid 4. microwave corridor, anyone? to me, that was one of the most cinematic pieces in a videogame ever, and while you aren’t doing that much gameplay-wise, you’re still involved and it’s still better than just sitting there and watching.
right now we’re trying to reach those Uncharted 2 levels where we can play a game that almost feels like it’s a movie. where you’re not just playing gameplay, but you’re playing narrative and a story at the same time. Call of Duty 4’s campaign also excelled at this imo. and i’m sure there are other great examples.
i agree with your Bioware example as far as making choices. case in point being KOTOR and Jade Empire, two of my favorite RPGs. there was a point in Jade Empire where i had to sit my controller down and pace around the room because i had a VERY tough decision to make and it was going to have serious consequences on how my character and the rest of the game played out. it is nice when devs put things like that into a game, but it’s also nice when they slip in smaller choices that you can make. stuff that’s not necessarily deep but still give you a say in what’s going on. for example, and i’ll bring up MGS4 again, like when you could either kill or tranquilize the bosses (or all enemies for that matter) in the game. as well as in games like Splinter Cell. it might not make a difference story-wise, but it makes a difference in how you approach the game and how you can relate to your character.
i’ve never played Indigo Prophecy either, so i don’t know that much about Heavy Rain’s style other than what i’ve read and a couple videos i’ve seen, but don’t think make you make quick decisions that have a larger effect? i think that’s cool. it’s one thing to be able to set your controller down and think things through like i did with Jade Empire, but it’s quite another to have to make some game-changing decision in a matter of seconds. i bring that up because i seem to remember seeing video of Indigo Prophecy’s opening scene where you had to quickly clean up a murder scene or something.
one thing i’d like to see, though, would be devs mixing branching storylines or making character changing decisions (like Bioware or Heavy Rain does) with action or adventure games. it seems like games that usually use those aspects are either RPGs or open world games (like Infamous). i’d like to see an action/adventure game (something like Uncharted’s pace, although it doesn’t have to necessarily have its storyline) have quick decision making that can affect the story or your character’s progression. that would be cool if the story permitted and if it was incorporated well.
anyway, sorry to ramble lol. good article.
i love games with a good rich story, like the legacy of kain series for example(my favourite gaming franchise to date). heavy rain is a day 1 must buy for me, fahrenheit was great(apart from the ending) and heavy rain seems to be a much needed improved version. also, the presentation seems to be up there with the best the ps3 has to offer.
BTW, not a bad piece of work with this article mattg. and if you haven’t played the legacy of kain series, do yourself a favour and do so, it’s intricately woven story covers philosophical, religious and logical topics such as predestination and free will.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jmd749#p/f/3/dZg9-oPTsTs
i have Soul Reaver for the Dreamcast but i haven’t played it yet. you’re really making me want to now!
do yourself a favour and play all 5 parts(be warned: blood omen 1 is old school point and click adventure rpg, and long, get it for ps1, if you can, it’s a bitch to get to work on pc). you can get blood omen 1 and soul reaver 1 for the ps1, and soul reaver 2, blood omen 2 and defiance for the ps2. the gameplay may not be the series’ greatest strength, but if you like a good story it’s a must play, and try to play it sequentially. it goes BO1, SR1, SR2, BO2 then Def. amy hennig is responsible for both soul reavers and defiance, now she’s with naughty dog, that’s why uncharted kicks ass.
I personnally dislike these type of games. Direction your character in a direction and choosing a command and watching. It being acted out seems boring. The same goes for god of war with all the QuickTime stuff. The really good stuff in GoW was quick time stuff. Live action gaming is where it’s at.
I believe story and gameplay are what’s most important but from all the media I’ve seen about this game the action and important scenes are QuickTime. I may be wrong, I hope I am. I will be picking this game up not for me but for my wife who saw the videos and fell in love with the look and. Story of the game.
To each their own Six. Hope you give it a try. It might surprise you. Out of curiosity are you into turn-based RPGs?
PS3 owners have weird purchasing trends when it comes to PS3 games. Some games sell great but more times than not, at least in the U.S., you’re left wondering what happened. That trend may be changing but this is a very distinct game. How will the public react? I tend to think it’s going to struggle in the U.S. and do great overseas.
I agree it needs to do well. As a guy in his late 20’s, I can’t tell you how much I want to see a game get a mature rating for touching on a mature story, relationships, decisions, etc and not get that rating because of gratuitous violence or language. Day one purchase for me.
Meh… I’ll wait for a demo or maybe borrow from a friend before I would make a purchase. Nowadays, I need to be extra careful with what games I spend my money on.
First thing…GOOD ARTICLE
Heavy Rain is one of the reasons I picked up a PS3. Not for GT5 or GOW3 but Heavy Rain!!
Indigo prophecy had good ideas for a game and I look forward to seeing what the Devs do with there second outing with the same concept.
And as far as what I gather the game is not a simple press the button and look at it do the action.
Like there was a scene where the fed was in a car that the bad guy was puttin in a crusher. You had alot of different options. Anywhere you looked wth ur character gave u the option to do something. Like say open the glove comartment or open the left or right door etc.
You choose and it does it..once it does that yo make the next decision..all on the fly!!
I am ready for something different!!!! You can only take so much of the hack n slash shoot em up car games etc!
PSN XBL Ashby JC
Is Heavy Rain anything like Sega’s “Shenmue II” on the original Xbox?