Three Speech regular Apnomis has been looking at one of the big games of 2009…
It is clear that 2009 is going to be a vintage year for PS3 exclusives with some excellent titles on the way. I can think of at least 10 exclusives that are a must-buy for me this year, half of which are new IP’s. In fact I found it very hard to pick just one to write about.
In the end though I decided to write about Heavy Rain, a title I’ve been looking forward to since that intriguing tech demo called “Casting Call” shown at E3 2006. Yet another E3 video that had the naysayers crying foul that a game could ever look that good on PS3. Until of course they saw the gameplay demo at GC2008 and saw that a game really could look that good!
For me, a follow up title from the studio that brought us Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy in the US) commanded my attention. I’ll admit that Fahrenheit was a title that passed me by at first, sadly the case for a lot of people, but luckily I picked it up in a ‘Bargain Bucket’ a while after its original release. I have played a lot of PS2 games over the years, and few still stand out in my memory – Fahrenheit is one of the few.
It was a completely unique concept, starting with a tutorial level that featured a digital recreation of the games director teaching the lead character how to use the intuitive and unique control system; it was full of original gameplay. It was the first game I had played that truly put its story first and really gave you a sense that every decision, no matter how trivial, had an effect on how events would unfold. It was probably the closest the PS2 came to the concept of an ‘Interactive Movie’. What’s more it was done with style, from heart pumping split-screen sequences showing the game from multiple perspectives; to how you played the game as both the fugitive and the investigator; to how you would flash-back to earlier events in the characters childhood, it was full of memorable moments and brilliant concepts. It wasn’t without its faults though, the story became a little too far-fetched and crucially the PS2 lacked the power to convincingly convey the emotions that were so important to the gameplay.
This brings me on to Heavy Rain, although not a sequel it is clear this is going to be the title that Fahrenheit tried to be a console generation too early. From the limited information released at GC2008 all the key concepts that made Fahrenheit so enjoyable remain – the multiple perspectives, the interactivity of the environment, the complex branching story, and the unique control system (forget any prejudice you have towards QTE or context-sensitive controls – Fahrenheit is the only game I’ve played that really excelled in this area).
What Heavy Rain has that Fahrenheit did not however is truly outstanding graphics, from the textures to the facial animation; the environment shown at GC2008 was so visceral it could have been a scene from a big-budget movie – everything from the character’s fear as she stumbled down the stairs to escape her pursuer, down to the murky lighting and torn wallpaper and decor that gave the house such an oppressive atmosphere.
What is even more amazing though, illustrating how seriously Quantic Dream are taking the story, is that the events in the preview were created just for GC2008 – so we still have no idea of the plot or whether the characters featured will even appear in the actual game. With regard to the story, an element so often overlooked in this era of online death matches, the game is reported to use 70 actors and 40,000 words of non-linear dialogue in a 2,000 page script (to put that in perspective a script for an average Hollywood movie is nearer 100 pages)! In fact the branching story appears to be so fully realised that David Cage, Quantic Dreams Founder, was even quoted as saying it was possible to continue through the main storyline even if the lead protagonist is killed! It sounds like they are making good use of the extra Blu-ray capacity and it will hopefully provide a lot of replay value.
You can’t deny that Sony like to take risks, be it with ambitious hardware or ground-breaking new IP’s. It’s easy to be excited by the likes of KillZone 2, but ultimately those games don’t try to change the playing field. Heavy Rain looks to once again challenge people’s perception of video games as a genre.
Some people may say a game without online multiplayer or co-op isn’t worth playing; that stories don’t sell video games. But as anyone who has ever sat and watched a good film or read a good book will know, a good story, if done well, can be the most entertaining thing in the World. If any game this year is going to make people look beyond the usual First-Person Shooter or Platform games it is Heavy Rain, I just hope it lives up to my expectations…
Impressive insight, heavy rain is surly in the top 5 of most people’s wish lists. It’s a shame most games don’t have the cinematic quality and outstanding graphical content that this truly groundbreaking game has. I’m looking forward to its anticipated release.
Comment by E-ROLE — Jan 16, 2009 @ 6:47 pm
I am SO looking forward to Heavy Rain, mere words fail to describe my anticipation…
Omikron(Nomad Soul) 2 is rumoured to be in the works too…
Comment by Mr.Monkey — Jan 16, 2009 @ 6:48 pm
Still seems a bit “Dragons Lair” for me. I like my games to be more then a series of button presses.
Comment by SlapnutzUK — Jan 16, 2009 @ 7:21 pm
Haze had a 1000 page script too you know
Comment by Carl — Jan 16, 2009 @ 7:39 pm
BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT - Did you actually get to see the game running?!!?!?!??!!?!
*pbursts a vein thinking about the aesomeness of Heavy “fahrenheit2″ Rain!!
Comment by JohnSketch — Jan 16, 2009 @ 9:06 pm
@Carl
You really need to brush up on your comprehension skills. Article says 2000 page script.
Also having played Haze to the bitter end, (rental, not bought!) think the script would be pushing 150 pages tops.
Comment by Mr.Monkey — Jan 17, 2009 @ 1:34 am
is this the game thats going to make people cry like jack tretton said.
Comment by scoolc — Jan 17, 2009 @ 1:36 am
A well-written article Apnomis. I hope the gameplay turns out to be as good as the graphics and the story.
Comment by reakt — Jan 17, 2009 @ 9:55 am
Nice article. Its good to see some exclusives pushing the boundaries of the PS3. All to often I see people comparing titles where the 360 is the lead platform and as such are designed to fit on a DVD… results in dodgy cheap textures and compressed sound. Heres hoping it lifts the PS3 where it should be.
Comment by Terry G — Jan 18, 2009 @ 12:14 am
One question. If it’s raining on the chick in the pic, why isn’t her hair wet????
Comment by NeoHumpty — Jan 18, 2009 @ 4:44 am
@ Carl, the Screenplay for Haze was 90-100 pages long, according to Rob Yascombe (who by the way comes across as a complete plonker) the fully loaded script that included “everything” was near 1000 pages. Not quite sure what “everything” means (or the size of font he was using!) but having had the misfortune to play Haze from start to finish there is no chance there are 40,000 words of dialogue. The point I was making about Heavy Rain is it’s a non-linear script, whereas Haze was based on a 100 page very linear screenplay.
@ JohnSketch, sadly I didn’t get to see it in person. I was asked to write an article about a 2009 game I’m looking forward to and I picked Heavy Rain. I believe it’s a first in a series of user previews of 2009 games…
Comment by Apnomis — Jan 18, 2009 @ 2:37 pm
@ SlapnutzUK, it’s so much more than button presses, they are a relatively small part, and as stated in the preview those that have played Fahrenheit will know that they are done really well. If you had to slot it in an existing genre, it would probably be an Adventure Game.
Comment by Apnomis — Jan 18, 2009 @ 2:58 pm
pass. to me it comes across as an interactive film, and bad memories as SlapnutzUK points out of ‘Dragons Lair’. i’m not doubting the quality of the graphics but at the end of the day if i want to watch a CGI film i will watch a CGI film, having to mash buttons a-la QTE to proceed/change storyline just doesn’t do it for me.
Comment by mobiletone — Jan 18, 2009 @ 5:05 pm
ps: http:youtube.com/tv from your PS3 interwebnetbrowserthingy.
Comment by mobiletone — Jan 18, 2009 @ 5:40 pm
d’oh //
Comment by mobiletone — Jan 18, 2009 @ 5:41 pm
basicly Heavy RAin is the 2009 LBP,
everybody talks about it, nobody buys it.
did anyone see the US and Japan version of Resident evil COllectors Edition
and again the crappy EU version.
we even get a full trailer for RE-Degeneration,instead of the movie.
btw Dragon’s lair was cool,but anno 2009 we want full feature film control to incorporate this idea,the storage can handle it,the machines can handle it. so why not
Comment by t3rr0rt!m3 — Jan 18, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
Without wanting to sound cheeky I played “Fahrenheit” and quickly grew bored of it. Sure everything about it was great but there was no really game, I just interacting with it. The game never felt like a game.
Would be nice for more details / videos on the game though.
HAZE had a script? Free Radical going bristols up was karma for HAZE me thinks!
Comment by SlapnutzUK — Jan 18, 2009 @ 11:54 pm
@ SlapnutzUK - Fair enough, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. For example, I thought the demo of Valkyrie Chronicles was absolute rubbish, but some people think it’s the best game to come to PS3 so far!
That’s the beauty of the PlayStation consoles, they have enough variety to appeal to everyone, it’s why the PS2 was/is so successful. Hopefully they will release the GDC demo or similar as a playable demo on PSN nearer the time to give people a chance to try it themselves. But I’m guessing if you didn’t like the mechanics of Fahrenheit you won’t like Heavy Rain…
Comment by Apnomis — Jan 19, 2009 @ 11:01 am
What ever the case may be SONY need to do some major pulling out of the finger this year.
My fingers are crossed for a smooth Killzone 2 launch!
Comment by SlapnutzUK — Jan 19, 2009 @ 2:16 pm
@Apno..
I’de be more than happy to do a writeup!
*gets scribbling*
^_^
Comment by JohnSketch — Jan 19, 2009 @ 3:44 pm
@ JohnSketch, believe it or not the powers that be do keep tabs on peoples comments, even if they rarely reply in person, I’m sure if they realise you’re interested (and have contributed constructive comments in the past) you will get invited to contribute like I was. Failing that just send them an e-mail and ask!
Comment by Apnomis — Jan 19, 2009 @ 8:04 pm
Something I see very rarely mentioned is that the demo of Heavy Rain doesn’t really feature any non-interactive cutscenes apart from the girl arriving on the bike. All the other non-QTE stuff that looks like a cut scene is actually real gameplay with some very cool computer-controlled camera work.
Also, the QTE sequence of the girl defending herself from the guy only happens if you get caught. There’s a preview video around somewhere showing someone escaping the house without being seen at all.
Through the various preview videos around, I think I have seen that escape section done 3 completely different ways.
Comment by Rick — Jan 20, 2009 @ 12:43 am
@ Rick - very true, sadly my preview was getting too long as it was so I couldn’t really expand the talk about the demo any further!
You see a couple of clues in the video released PSN of icons near objects (like when she’s looking in the fridge), but the demo was much more involved.
You walk using the R2 button and the left analogue stick controls her head and she walks where she is looking. The right analogue stick controls her hands for when she interacts with something (interactions are chosen by the SIXAXIS which is a brave choice!) for example at the door she could ring the bell, knock or shout through the letterbox. You judge the emotion on the character’s face to see which option they are most comfortable with.
If you use the window for example, as seen in the PSN movie, you can push a barrel under the window by pushing the controller forwards, and force the window up by shaking the SIXAXIS up and down.
In the house you have to be careful not to disturb anything or the guy will get suspicious - you can interact with everything: sit on the rocking chair, open the cupboards, turn on the television. It’s all context-sensitive and you will get onscreen icons to show you what button to press to perform the relevant action. Upstairs you squeak a floorboard, and if you forget it’s there and step on it again that will trigger the action scene, otherwise you can creep past slowly and escape through the garage (assuming you went into the garage and opened the garage door slightly beforehand - also the chainsaw on the floor is never a good sign!)
None of this is scripted or pre-rendered though - in one version she may squeak a floorboard but in another play she may knock over a vase - in one version the motorbike may start, in another she may struggle to get it started - in one playthrough the guy may go to the kitchen or sit watching tv, but in another he may need the toilet and go straight upstairs to the bathroom - it’s all AI controlled.
If he does decide to go upstairs you have to hide, to do this you pick a place (under the bed or in the wardrobe etc) and you will be given some buttons to press and you have to keep them pressed and keep still until it’s safe to move - they are designed to be uncomfortable to hold as this represents how uncomfortable it is for the character to hold her pose.
As Cage said at the end of the preview:
“That was another way of playing the same scene. We could play it five, ten or 20 times and show you different versions. We could have stayed hidden in the house, found a phone and called the police, who would have turned up and arrested the man. We could have killed him, perhaps using the screwdriver or the chainsaw. Or we could have been killed by him, which would be taken onboard by the script, and the story would continue with this information… There are many different options.”
And to finish off, here are a few more numbers for those not impressed by the length of the script: The 70 actors did a 170 day mocap shoot to capture 30,000 unique animations for the characters and there are 220 members in the development team.
Comment by Apnomis — Jan 20, 2009 @ 10:54 am
I also read, one of the “many” options in that scene is to hide in a cupboard, but in-order to do so you have to hold 4 buttons down which is uncomfortable for the player. Just like it would be uncomfortable for the character on the screen… Which is just a small example of why Qte in this “interactive experience” is far more engaging than mere detached button pressing…
Comment by Mr.Monkey — Jan 20, 2009 @ 1:34 pm
Damn, see Apnomis already mentioned it…
Comment by Mr.Monkey — Jan 20, 2009 @ 1:36 pm
As much as I hope this title is a success (for the sake of the PS3 console, rather than for the development team’s vision) the use of Quick-Time Event (QTE) driven input spoiled an otherwise very enjoyable time with “Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy” for me.
And as much as you can hope for a title that can present many different routes to the final outcome (or set of outcomes), there has to be a limited number of alternate paths given the current technology on offer otherwise each actor would not be needed for any longer than one shoot to capture their body shape & movement in x, y, and z-axis planes. If the gameplay was indeed limitless then there may well never be an ending to the game at all (by definition). It would be like watching a reality TV show like “Big Brother”. Only eviction day would be much more interesting. The person dying to leave would get what they wanted. A bit like that “Doctor Who” episode with “The Weakest Link” question mistress “Anne-droid Robinson”.
The testing team for (the first) “Heavy Rain” will need to produce a set of scripted tasks to prove the various permutations of direction the in-game story can take may be reached, and/or progressed from (and to) from all the other routes throughout the game.
The fact a character can do one thing, or another, or possibly something else, gives you a branch of three routes to take, that each may branch again, and again, making a large tree-structure of possibilities of direction of the storyline. These branches are limited, and with a limited story (and actor movements) filmed & captured digitally (rather than rendered in real-time), then there may well be twenty ways a scene can be interacted with but each has a scripted outcome, no matter how extreme. All outcomes need to be catered for. This cannot be indefinite or else this game would never come to market & would never fit on any media to release it.
I know us mere mortals have had very little to see (and certainly nothing to touch) so far on this title, most likely to not spoil the plot. Everyone who has had hands-on contact will be so wrapped-up in non-disclosure terms and conditions that the first gameplay we will actually experience personally will be on the day of release.
I know I (in)famously U-turned on my judgement on “LittleBIGPlanet” (or is it “LittleBigPlanet” without the capitalisation in the middle? Well, whatever…) after having access for just the first few minutes of a Beta version, but “Heavy Rain” will have to be something exceptionally special to retain my interest if I make it to the end without some other gaming-related activity coming along & taking my attention away. Maybe I’m a fault. I have too much choice, and too little time. Maybe with the tightening of collective belts due to dwindling disposable income across the world, “Heavy Rain” will be the one title that attracts gamers (and non-gamers alike) due to the prospect of a re-playable cinematic experience. It would certainly be preferable to keep hiring “videos” & taking them back every 3 days, or a £40+ subscription to Sky TV to just watch the same two movies for seven days.
The story does sound engaging enough, but once the identity of the in-game character in “The Origami Killer” is revealed does a replay of the story, albeit from one or more different angles, seem irrelevant? As good as any ‘classic’ crime thriller movie is, once you know the ending, does a different method of how to reach it seem any more attractive? Possibly not.
If Quantic Dream are being very generous with us & paving the way for future releases, maybe how you play this title & the resultant outcome of who lives & who dies may influence how a follow-up title (“Heavy Rain: The yet to sub-titled crime project”) starts & how you then progress with the plethora (yet finite) routes to conclusion of that title, and so on until ad boredom.
It could be a very interesting journey that is either the most engaging experience on a video games console to date, or the biggest anti-climax spoiled by the first person to reveal the “whodunit”. Mind you, the “FAQ” writers must be really worried about how to approach this game. Imagine the official strategy guide? How confusing will that be?
If there is any TV/Cinema/Billboard advertising for this title, I hope it is approached like the press coverage for an upcoming movie. Use of digital representations of the actors providing interviews (much like the sample video of “Emily” in Three Speech’s blog entry titled “Image Metrics and Codemasters team up for Operation Flashpoint 2”) to recognised movie journalists/critics will be very entertaining!
But one thing I do know… the use of a controller to push, hit, or kick, is not a new concept. Perhaps, however, Mary Smith will be the “next” Lara Croft.
BFN,
fp.
Comment by fanpages — Jan 21, 2009 @ 1:22 am
@ fanpages, I don’t think anyone is suggesting the game is never ending (could you imagine when technology is available to create that?!). At the end of the day it still has a story - and the story will have to be really good for the game to work.
Cage has discribed the game as a ‘rubber-band’ - the story still has a beginning, middle and end (and lasts approx 10-12 hours) but how you get there and the outcome can be stretched and distorted in numorous ways. If the gameplay is engaging and the story is strong it will be very interesting to play it in subtly different ways.
Just look at how many people replayed scenarios in GTAIV to see what happened if you killed Dwayne instead of PlayboyX, or Derrick instead of Francis etc - these are relatively minor decisions in the context of the game - but a game based entirely on these type of decisions could be very interesting.
If it is a crime-thriller based on the Origami Killer, let’s speculate that the game always ends with his trial - it would be relatively easy to create various scenarios in the game that would mean your actions arrest different people - did you pick the right person, did you find enough evidence for a conviction, etc. A basic example would be to have 5 possible killers x 6 possible outcomes (killed,jailed,freed based on whether that person was the killer or not) that gives you 30 main endings already, added subtle changes could easily double that number. I just hope these choices are subtle and a accumulation of actions and it won’t be the type of game that has several meaningless decisions and one key decision near the end in which you could just replay the last 5 minutes to unlock all the endings!
Cage admitted he bottled it in Fahrenheit and resorted to the usual super-hero, save the world, type traditional game story - he has said this time there is none of that and it is about ordinary people living ‘real’ lives with real value for ‘life’, where traditionally in games there is a disconnect between ‘real life’ and the game and ‘life’ is nothing more than a body count. Other more established forms of entertainment have been telling ‘real life’ ordinary stories for years, but games have stuck mainly to the - alien hunter, one man war machine, superhero, ganster, type concepts - this game is certainly an interesting experiment if nothing else…
Hopefully more info will be released soon as currently a lot of opinions of the game are based on speculation…
Comment by Apnomis — Jan 21, 2009 @ 10:43 am
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