I like Quantic Dream. I was a big fan of Indigo Prophecy; although I never actually played it. My girlfriend at the time played through it while I watched. But it was a lot of fun talking about the game and discussing what she should do next, etc... Tonight, I took the opportunity to download and play Quantic Dream's demo for it's latest offering, Heavy Rain. After seeing another friend play through the demo, I thought perhaps I would make different choices and perhaps get some different stuff. Besides, I needed to feel how the game handled.
The basic premise of Heavy Rain is that you are trying to catch a serial killer and you go about this through the eyes of different characters within the game. In the demo, you get to see two of the many characters you meet throughout the game. Also, even in the demo, the choices you make in conversations and who you decide to converse with, will make a some difference as to what you find out about the story.
The problem was, I hadn't seen the game played on a large screen until I played it myself. I was watching it on a computer monitor the first time. Some of the textures in both the environment and the people are a little off. This is a demo after all, but I was expecting a little more. Also, the whole game is REALLY dark, not in grim Gears of War way. No, more like you can't see half of the environment because the game won't let you. Considering the whole crux of the game is making you care about and believe in the world; the combination of dark environments and invisible walls don't exactly help matters.
The voice acting is pretty descent but Uncharted 2 was a lot better. Which, considering again, that the game hinges on conversations and story; this seems a little odd. Perhaps it's due to the fact that the game wasn't made in America and it is trying to match a place in a fictional America. This is certainly not evident everywhere in the demo, but there IS a distinct European feel to both the character models and the dialogue. The faces of most of the people in the game seem strange in a way I can't put my finger on. They are definitely realistic but not the MOST realistic I've ever seen, just the pretty good. Better than average for sure, but not the best. As bad as it is to say, Final Fantasy XIII has more "realistic" looking people. This is probably uncanny valley territory which is why I can't exactly explain what I find so imperfect about the characters. Also, they all wander around too much, normal people don't do that. Mass Effect 2 had this as well, people generally stand in one place while they are talking or explaining something; or they walk around VERY SLOWLY. Which just isn't there, in either game. Again, this wouldn't be that important, it wasn't in Mass Effect 2. Except that Heavy Rain is trying to mirror reality or at the very least a movie type world. Which makes this little details more important than it normally would be.
The gameplay in the demo, if you want to call it that; consists of many quicktime events. Another words a symbol pops on the screen of a control button or gesture and you do that gesture or button press before the action disappears or fills up with white highlight. This doesn't happen all the time and when it does, it has a 50% chance of being completely unexpected and seemly pointless. Like ducking under police tap, or opening a car door. This game seems more interested in you babysitting your character than committing to some actual game play. Also, at least so far, there is very little reason for you to have control over the character's movements. It just seems annoying rather than realistic or immersive. In fact, the controls in the game are what really taking the player out of the experience. I would have liked to JUST do the quicktime events. It would have been more seamless and it would remove some of the horribly gamey moments like running into a solid wall made of police tape.
There are certainly some great moments in the demo; but they don't seem to pay off, perhaps in the end there will be a more general payoff and I'm guessing that's why the game is taking baby steps in the demo. But if the game is a 10-20 hour experience and there is only one real payoff at the end; that might be too little.
I was a little put off by the concept of the game when I first heard about it. But I did think there would have been a much larger leap in technology and story telling than is all ready evident from the demo. Which while impressive from the standpoint that I didn't shoot anyone or cause anyone's demise. Unimpressive because what I did do was rather unsatisfying. I will, of course, reserve final judgement for the full game. You should certainly download the demo for yourself. Cause you don't need to take my word for it.
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