Heavy Rain - PS3

[tubaros]

Whats this 4 day challenge? Have I missed the chance of playing the demo now?

[raithrover]

A concern was the lack of freedom or effect to find clues. Simply press a button to scan the area which doesn't take much effort. Disappointing really, a big fan of their work but from this evidence they have focused on characters, environments and overlooked the game. A story can overcome much...

[seaempty]

Whats this 4 day challenge? Have I missed the chance of playing the demo now?

It's like an alternative reality game, where you have to find key pieces of evidence. If you go to http://www.precinct52.com/case1117_briefing/ you can pick the four pieces of evidence.

If you played the rest of the game, you received the clues, and had to question this guy, who was a witness. He tells you what clues are the important ones.

If you can't be bothered with all that, the four bits of evidence you need are the origami bird, the coffee shop with a pharoah logo (bottom one), the cigarette butt without lipstick, and the tyre tracks from the import car.

That gives you a demo code.

[raithrover]

Whats this 4 day challenge? Have I missed the chance of playing the demo now?

No just register on the site then look online for the answers our friends at sixth axis has them and the site you need. Took a while for the registration email to arrive. The demo will be on the store next week and I do recommend trying before buying.

[seaempty]

A concern was the lack of freedom or effect to find clues. Simply press a button to scan the area which doesn't take much effort. Disappointing really, a big fan of their work but from this evidence they have focused on characters, environments and overlooked the game. A story can overcome much...

That didn't bug me so much as the pointless activities that made you interact - like drinking a cup of coffee, or starting a car. It'll be interesting to see how many hours it'll take to complete - it best be in the 20s, seeing as it takes so long to do simple tasks (it took me about 5 minutes to climb up the slope in the crime scene! )

[tubaros]

Thanks for the tips, just did it and am getting the demo now.

[iknowgungfu]

Me too.  just played through it.  I am quite intrigued by this.  Not so sure I can call it a game though..and in reference to one of my earlier posts I think it is very similar to Dragon's Lair.  However, the atmosphere seems pretty good and it left me wanting more.

It is probably quite linear really (like a modern day D&D adventure book).  Not necessarily a bad thing IMHO.  This is something I will probably buy.  TBH I quite like the idea of seeing more games like this - it is probably the most efficient way to create one of those intelligent and "mature" games that magazines like Edge and GamesTM have been pining for for years.  I imagine this will get some very divisive reviews.  I think Edge may criticise it for being a massive QTE experiment, although I would personally argue that the controls are secondary to the story.  Who knows......? 

[iknowgungfu]

Some online reviews are in.  1up gave it A-, IGNUK gave it 9 i think.

So far so good.

[Sprite Machine]

Demo's available to all now, 1.7GB.
Downloaded but haven't tried it yet.

[AdamGS]

The QTE fight is amazing. Something I never thought I'd say.

Really looking forward to this now.

[MikeFTD]

Just downloaded and played it through, its amazing, the fight sequence is brilliant, Cant wait for this to be released 

[Sprite Machine]

The QTE fight is amazing. Something I never thought I'd say.

Yeah, it seems to be adaptive, so rather than failing you for making one mistake, the fight continues on but you get a few more bruises. I'll have to try it again to see if you can get out of the fight unscathed, or even if you can lose it entirely.

It's a bit early to say if the game will offer a range of choices and consequences outside of superficial differences, but if it can, it'll be worth a go. A few goes, even.

On a more basic level, there doesn't seems to be much minute-to-minute freedom. Someone should tell the developers that following the only on-screen prompt available to you is not 'gameplay'. I tried several times to break the flow of the narrative, walking away from the crime scene (can't leave), walking into the busy road (invisible wall) and so on. So it's a strict narrative, fair enough. But it needs to be a really good one. So far, the acting is moderate to poor.

Still, intrigued. I'll see how it turns out, but I'll try to avoid spoilers!

[seaempty]

Yeah, it seems to be adaptive, so rather than failing you for making one mistake, the fight continues on but you get a few more bruises. I'll have to try it again to see if you can get out of the fight unscathed, or even if you can lose it entirely.

My friend played the demo, and lost the fight (the eejit), and I was disappointed to see that the outcome is pretty much the same. The guy walks out after knocking you down, and you soon end up on the same path.

I hope this is just because it's an early demo, and the consequences will be more severe later in the game. I have read that the main characters can die in the game, so I guess this is the case.

[iknowgungfu]

TBH......I think this will be a nice change.  Potentially the next think for fans of point and click.

[Sprite Machine]

Point-and-clicks tend to have far more moment-to-moment choice (ie. gameplay) and better voice acting. It'll be disappointing if the whole 'consequences' thing doesn't amount to much, because it doesn't appear to have much else going for it.

[iknowgungfu]

Although, many point and clicks (for me anyways ) end up being a random click this item on this item and see if this is what I am supposed to do. 

The edge preview mentions something about how prescribed the environments are with little scope to digress and explore e.g. in the house before wifey comes home I think.  However, I am not so sure I want an open world game like this.  Sometimes I just want to play a game I can enjoy without having to explore every nook and cranny to find some random token or collectable.  I want the game to take me by the hand and tell me a story.

Granted, I wouldn't want every game to be like this as games like MW2 wouldn't be very enjoyable would it?  I said it before and I am not so sure I would class this as a video game...guess I'll have to wait and see.  I may end up eating my words.

[SurfEd]

hhmmm, I was underwhelmed by the demo. It didn't live up to the hype and I hate fight sequences where you have to press the right button at the right time.

[iknowgungfu]

hhmmm, I was underwhelmed by the demo. It didn't live up to the hype and I hate fight sequences where you have to press the right button at the right time.

I know I am being an arse when I say this but.....don all fight sequences, or in fact nearly all game sequences require us to press the right button at the right time?  i.e. Must hold this button to block/parry, must pull this triger to fire, must press start to erm...start.

/sarcasm

[SurfEd]

lolz, you know what I mean! it flashes up square, or triangle and you have to press that button. Proper fighting is where you have to use l33t skills n tactics to work out how to defeat an opponent. find out what punch and kick combos work etc.

[iknowgungfu]

I know.  Couldn't resist though....