After all the hype I couldn’t wait to try the demo for Heavy Rain. Your presented with a short walk through the lives of an FBI Agent and a Private Investigator. Lasting maybe 30 minutes your taken through a typical series of dialogue, NPC interactions and crime scene investigations.
I found the controls clumsy, having to hold buttons and directions to walk adds unnecessary effort to an otherwise simple action. Also interacting with the environment and other people leaves much to be desired. Action buttons that are to small to read or are spinning rapidly around the characters head can lead to missed opportunities or discussion points that seamed to be times with some responses.
Where this game leaves everything behind is the graphics – Talk about life like characters, you can actually see the pores on their faces. These look like people you would see in a movie, a really well done CGI movie. The sound effects and the voice acting are also top notch.
All in all I think this game will appeal to many, but not this gamer. Let us know what you thought of the Demo.
Available: February 23, 2010
Developer: Quantic Dream
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
I played the demo last night – it seemed formulaic and linear – there didn’t seem many (any) ways to stray of the beaten path of the narrative. I was looking forward to getting it on launch day but now I will wait and pick one up cheap later on.
I liked the demo even though the characters controlled like decommissioned mechs and the actions were sometimes obscure.
I have to say that I’m pretty excited for this game if only for the 1 time play through. I love a good well put together story/murder mystery. You can bet your ass I’ll be all over this next week…After I study for my exam of course.
I had no issues or qualms with the controls (though I did notice that some of the voice acting was…Off?)and I really liked the presentation. I suspect that some of the points I’ll be making in my reivew will garner some form of discussion..