The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

Heavy Rain has its heart in the right place, but the brain is yet to be discovered.

I haven't actually played the game (I'm a 360), but from what I've read and heard the story is absolutely bland and generic. It sounds like a bad episode of Law & Order from what I can tell. And here's the other thing: While the game tries to advocate it's the first real "mature" game in the gaming world, it's really not. An example is with the two shower scenes. The guy shower scene is in & out with a brief butt shot, nothing terrible. The woman's shower scene can be dragged on forever if the user does so wish and there are also plenty of nude shots to go around. You can even choose to have her prance around the house nude after she towels off simply by ignoring the QTE. Mature? Not really.

The story also has so many plotholes even Modern Warfare 2 is laughing. An example is getting into another person's apartment without a key, and that's just one that's easily within reach. I would think that someone who has apparently played through the game as much as you have would have picked up on this, no offense. I've also heard movement is frustratingly slow, and that ends up having an impact on the story. A friend of mine told me that his entire storyline was thrown off when he was arrested by the police for not crossing the street fast enough, when in reality his character was walking so slow to the point where you'd think there's a loading problem.

Now even though the story is pretty bad, the game will be nothing short of revolutionary in the future. Heavy Rain is probably the first step in a long journey of QTE-Movie games to come. Some movies are more suited for shooters, like Live Free or Die Hard, while others like The Shawshank Redemption or The Dark Knight would be more suited for a Heavy Rain layout. I ultimately think that the movie industry will be replaced by video games (that's what happens in Assassins Creed if you remember the news feed Vidic receives) and I think Heavy Rain is the first step on this road. With better stories and some tweaking here and there, movie-style games will ultimately replace movies themselves. I think the idea of being able to choose your own adventure in the style of a movie is very appealing, and if I can do it all from my 360, even better.

Here's the bottom line: Heavy Rain is like Karl Marx. No one will care right now, but 20-30 years later what it stood for is gonna matter a lot in terms of progression for society. I can't predict the future, and maybe my theory has more holes in it than Heavy Rain's plot, but it's a very realistic conclusion and I think more games like these are going to turn up very soon. Which is good, because the majority of movie games are absolutely terrible, and if more began to turn up in a QTE-Heavy-Rain style, I would definitely consider buying them.

I picked it up at midnight on its release date, but I've only played it for about 20 minutes. I'm sure I'll love it, but I just haven't had much time lately. I'm waiting until I have a good chunk of time to just sit down and get totally wrapped up in it.

If you talk about it with anyone on here, make sure to use spoiler tags. This is one of those games that would be completely ruined by spoilers.

@FLAE:
You're like the first person I've seen feel that way. Nearly all of the game's reviews are glowing, both reader and press. They all basically say the story is quite excellent and would have done quite well if it had come out as a movie instead.

Check out GameRankings.com to see what I mean about the scores.

I agree with Asaic, I've played a bit at friend's, and I was enthralled. I can't wait to get my own hands on a copy. Honestly, I haven't heard a single friend who owns it (and trust me, I have many that do) that so far expressed any dislike. Ugh, I want the game so bad. The hype's been building since 2006: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCClcsD3GcU
It's just a tech demo, but remember, this was 2006. That was 4 years ago.

i really didn't see that many flaws in the storyline its self bar one particular part ...

Although i did think that the way they set the ending out was a bit of a let down with flashes between each character in a rather rough fashion.

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I didn't find this a problem personally as i managed to get across every time bar the time i purposefully got arrested for the Hands Up! trophy and in my opinion the fact they are walking so slow makes it more realistic as...

But what makes Heavy Rain so great is the fact that you can carry on without a game over screen and the game takes the story on from there, or if you are really bothered about a perfect run you can replay that chapter.

Just read this, you'll see what I mean. Us over at gr are pretty separated on this issue. The review pretty much sums up my and many others beliefs.

http://www.gamesradar.com/f/heavy-rains-big-plot-holes/a-201002241054369...

i don't know much about the game, i've never played it. but i just wanna say this.

i absolutely hate Quick Time Events in games.
i do not like it in cutscenes and i'm certain i would not like it in a whole game

Fly Like an Eagle - Without sounding rude, but I stopped reading your post when you said "I haven't actually played the game (I'm a 360)" It really annoys me that people complain about a game which they have never played and it's a shame because I think no one should miss out on a gem like this.

My feelings of the game are "absolutely brilliant." The game is brilliantly done when it comes to emotion, there were bits of the game I could not do such as killing the drug dealer. I could not do this trial first time because it made me feel guilty something no game has never made me feel. I loved every second of it and know there's still so much more to see.

Overall.
You just really need to play it.

"Big plot holes" my ass xD

My opinions.

1: Agree to an extent however seeing as you don't know what is whispered it may be more than simply the name said to Madison.

2: Some of them wouldn't have thought of it as key evidence until it was too late. Shop owner is the only one that is the most questionable. It's not a plothole, just human stupidity.

3: Not seen so no comment.

4: Evidence is a farce? Evidence is pretty damning and the guy has been running from the cops anyway. It's their best lead and they need to catch him to question him. Also I can recall numerous police cases where the evidence is a farce yet they still make the chase.

5: I agree why Ethan does what he does during the blackouts makes no sense and it needs to be explained. All I can think is subliminal messaging whilst he was in his coma but I doubt that's it.

6: Why would the police have the address? The FBI definitely would though (which is what Jayden is in).
Considering he's been told to pack his things and go and there's only about an hour left to catch the killer going on his instincts would be the best thing he could do.

It is hardly convenient the location is where Jayden thinks it is... he's a profiler for christ sake, he narrowed it down to a small area and then goes on the smallest of leads and hopes it's right.

7: Not witnessed this but how long is she in the fridge for? Air would be in the fridge. However it would get very hot in there... still, Indiana Jones did it and survived a nuclear blast, lol. Will have to see for self to judge it properly but I don't think it's THAT far fetched and it's not a plothole.

8: It's easy to cheat drug tests and Jayden handles himself well in all the parts where he is around other officers. Not a plothole but a good point raised but easily shot down.

9: Why would the cops want their only lead to finding a missing child dead? If they shoot Ethan he will die, if he dies they'll never find him.
Shelby should have used his gun though I agree with that. However I ended up killing off a two suspects rather than saving them, proof that gunfire does do something.

10: Yes Mad Jack seems like an extremely smart gentleman... the guy is a freaking psycho which is obvious from moment you see him. We don't know how sooner the other police officer was at the garage but seeing as blood can still be found fairly easily I'm guessing a maximum of a day. Also his place of business has nobody else there, and if someone else was to stumble in he'd probably kill them too.

11: We know the killer has friends, we see his friends. Would it be that far fetched for him to pay people off to litter a place with glass? Not really.

12: Ethan thinks he's a schizophrenic... he's fairly convinced he is thus he's still blaming himself.

13: By the time investigations would have been looked into we'd already be at the end of the game anyway. Also what would Kramer say to the cops when asked "why Shelby would kill him" (couple this with the fact he confessed his son killed a boy).
Shelby and Lauren were nearly drowned because of Kramer, Kramer would have unneeded attention and a big powerful man obviously doesn't want that.
I do agree that something should have probably been done, although we don't know if the guards actually died or were just wounded (guessing most died).

14: Being a corrupt officer? Payment from his dead brother? Investments? Inheritance from dead fosters?
Having money isn't that far fetched, especially considering the type of character he obviously is.

15: the killer knows the officers and they know him.
He knows full well that even if he gets called in he can trick them... this isn't far fetched considering there's no reason to believe he would be a witness. Keep in mind there'd have been someone else there to confirm that the killer didn't kill him (despite the fact he did obviously).

Also it's not a plothole, just inept policing which isn't that shocking considering the world is full of inept policing.

Well then before you judge maybe you should go back an read that post, because you assumed too quickly. I don't have a problem with the game, in fact I go on to say the game will be very important in the future. I just have a problem with the plot, and I've already explained why and included backup (although I did also hint at the false maturity it tries to pass off). Even so, I know plenty enough about QTEs and the plot in Heavy Rain to be able to draw a conclusion about it, because those are really the only two factors in the game at all.

What you're also saying is that I need to experience something to generate an opinion on it, which is true to an extent, but not entirely. For example, I absolutely hate MTV, but I've never watched a minute of their programming. Can I have an opinion on it? Yes, because I know what it broadcasts. With crap-spewing shows such as The Hills and Jersey Shore, I can conclude that MTV is a hell hole that doesn't deserve to be in my television. In the case of Heavy Rain, it works like a movie with QTEs. I know how QTEs work, and I know what the plot is to the point where I recognize its holes, so therefore I can actually have an opinion on it regardless of whether I've played it or not, and if my opinion is negative, than oh well, we all think differently.

And I apologize for owning a 360 and not a PS3

There's no need to apologize for owning a 360 instead of a PS3, however I still think it's stupid to judge a game such as this without having played it.

Especially as it seems that most of the gripes towards HR is about the story. It might be worthy to point out that the people I've heard complaining about the plot-holes and inconsistencies throught it are those that have never played it. From the general consensus of players who OWN the game, they either didn't notice them when playing or don't consider them to be plot-holes at all, rather nitpicking by sites such as Destructoid, who's job it is to write articles of that nature.

When you say the gave has tried to advocate itself as the first "mature" game, it's more to do with the themes of the game rather than the nude scenes. When you play them it never feels gratuitous or silly and I also certinally don't recall being able to "prance around the house naked" at any part of the story.

With your reference to QTEs, the use of QTE to describe the gameplay is a poor way to describe it, but is the closest the gaming press has to describe it. By a traditional QTE, I think of the ones you get in Resident Evil or Tomb Raider, the traditional Zero Punctuation hated "PRESS X TO NOT DIE". The way HR plays, it's more like a point and click style gameplay from the old PC days. If you fail, you don't die and get taken back to the start, it just progresses in a slightly different way.

Your comparison with MTV is also illogical, you can't possibly have an informed opinion on MTV when you haven't watched "one minute of it's programming". Agreed, shows like The Hills and Jersey Shore look terrible but you can't say for certain until you watch it for yourself. To literally use the phrase "judge a book by its cover", I did that with the first Harry Potter novel and wrote it off after reading the blurb. How wrong I was, so I stand by my point that to have an informed opinion on it you need to play the game.

Of course as a 360 owner, which as I've said is nothing to apologise for I own one myself, I can't encourage you to go and play the game, but I can ask that you don't blindly follow the opinions of others and take that as your own. I do agree with you however, on the point of HR setting a precedent for other games to learn from. As you said, movie tie-ins in particular could benefit greatly from this style of game, but it all depends on the context of the movie in question.

The base of a story and how a story is told are completely different things.

On paper, put down in front of me, I doubt I would be impressed by Heavy Rain.

However, the way the story is told and directed is fantastic. It grips the audience for the most part and comes together beautifully.

The game is far more than QTE's, the better comparison being (imo) "point and click with button prompt fight sequences". The game has a lot in common with the old adventure games and could pfinally help push a genre that, for the most part, has become stagnant into the future, reminiscent of what Half Life did to the FPS genre.

Getting into a persons apartment without a key is not a plothole.

It pops up once in the game and at that point the lock is picked. It pops up in the Taxidermist and that's because of an unlocked window.

If your friend couldn't cross the street quickly enough then that's a fault of his and he obviously walked into a dead end in the traffic gridlock and couldn't escape.
Let me put this scene into context.
You are Madison Paige, a fairly slim woman that hardly has a lot of physical strength and you are helping to support the weight of a fully grown male.
You flee as quickly as possible and manoeuvre your way through a traffic jam into a crowded subway station.
The lead male has a phobia of crowds, thus finds its harder to keep his conciousness, you push through, to the subway, onto the tracks and escape on the other side.

I did not fail this, I was shocked to find out you could. I played this game expecting there to be moments that would make me think and use my gut instincts and that was one situation I didn't.

Walking is, for the most part, walking pace. The type you walk in real life. IN terms of panic for the character they will walk faster or run. In times of pain or cautiousness, slower. Things that would be expected.

I think Heavy Rain is far more comparable to Fight Club (and will not stop the comparison). It's something that is actually quite brilliant but requires you to step back and think about it for a bit rather than expect everything spoon fed.

The plot holes are not as gaping as scaremongers try to make out. There's one moment of dodgy acting (Mad's reaction) and one thing that remains (at the moment) unanswered which is Ethan's blackouts. If they were normal blackouts it'd be fine but there's a bit too much in them that needs answering imo.