Adventure Game Studio

All right, I'm surprised this hasn't popped up yet but here goes.

Heavy Rain. Opinions? Is this the first great adventure game of the new decade or just a throw back to the Interactive Fiction games of the nineties?

I'm personally loving it, but I'd like to see what the hardcore AGS crowd think.  :)

I really want to play this game as I enjoyed Fahrenheit.  Now I just have to get my hands on a PS3 to play it.

I am so excited about this game!
As an owner of PS3 I put a lot of faith in this title.

I've pre-ordered it. Just few more hours and I can pick it up from the shop!!! Yeah!!!

- no ps3
- hate quick time events, seriously feeling tense during cutscenes, just don't need that kind of stress. seems the whole game is quicktime events
- watched a few minutes of let's play (Benzaie's, while he is a bit too harsh at times, I kinda got what he was trying to say)) video and "shake your controller to dry your hair"? think that kind of stuff needs getting used to

I'm currently watching Benzaie's "Let's play" of Heavy Rain. And it looks reeeeeeaaaally boring... The only thing that keeps me watching those videos is Benzaie filling in Ethan's lines and acting like a complete asshole :P

Of course, he has only played for like an hour or so, but still. It seems like such a downer.

I played the demo this past weekend. I thought the graphics looked good, but I had a hard time getting used to the walking.

I really didn't like Indigo Prophecy, so I don't know if I would really enjoy this game.

I had some fun playing the Demo, until it crashed big time.  Down the line I might pick it up, but for now I will pass.

geez, how many times did I say I??  ;)

I watched a gameplay video which consisted wholly of quicktime events. No thank you.

It seems like this thread turns into Heavy Rain bashing...:) I'm surprised with so many negative comments. After all, it's an adventure game, only a bit different. I might change my mind after I've played it tomorrow though:)

Is this another Simon simulator like Fahrenheit?  If so, whoever developed it needs to bite down on a lit stick of TNT.

Quote from: ProgZmax on Fri 26/02/2010 01:20:20
Is this another Simon simulator like Fahrenheit?  If so, whoever developed it needs to bite down on a lit stick of TNT.

http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/bt/benzaie/blp/17531-lets-play-heavy-rain-01
Short anwser - yes, yes it is. Perhaps even worse cause you have the motion sensitive controller and boy does the game make you use it.

Apparently first 30 minutes of gameplay (which is just an intro) is a tv movie...not a very good one. Only everything is 3d rendered. It seems to me that somewhere along the way the "fun" part got completly replaced by the "art" part. But it seems the art part isn't so good to take the wieght of it all.
I mean, there's less actions to take in Sims than in this and in Sims the "simulation of real life" is the whole point. Yes, it's cool to interact and to be able to do lots of stuff...but you don't always want to.

Sorry Michalski, hope you enjoy the game.  :)

p.s. yeah, the graphics look good

Spoiler

One of the characters in the demo has asthma, so when he has an attack you have to do the proper button responses so he can use his inhaler.

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Is that what we call fun.

Spoiler

Also having to hold R2 and using the left analog stick to walk really sucks.

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But like I said, Graphics were good, until my Demo crashed.

Thank goodness they don't  masterbate in this game.  :) I'd be shaking the controller for hours....

I think it looks great. Fahrenheit had some truly visionary ideas in it, even if the gameplay was padded with repetitive elements, and this seems to expand on all the stuff I loved about that game (e.g. the way it was able to make banal activities fun, like just going to the fridge and drinking some milk). Complaining about quicktime events seems besides the point; it's just like how in adventure games every single meaningful action you take is specially scripted (slowtime events, if you will).

I wish I had a PS3 so I could play this.

I'm picking it up tomorrow.

I liked Fahrenheit, too.

Go me.

Finished it last night.

First impressions: intense, stressful (I had trouble sleeping last night because of it), emotionally draining.

Story was good, not ridiculous like Fahrenheit, and while there were a couple of plot holes, overall it was enjoyable.

The QTEs were much better implemented than Fahrenheit, letting you focus on the action and feel like you actually had some control, not like watching a cutscene and pressing buttons on Simon pretending you have control.

I'm looking forward to replays to see how much control over the story you really have.

I've got mixed feelings. I don't own a PS3, don't need one for anything anyway, so I will probably never play this game.

What I find that I like about it after watching a handful of videos on YouTube is that it's different. I've never actually seen anything like it before.
The graphics are good, but, whatever. I'm finding out more as days go by (or I should say, as games go by) that the graphics in games today piss me off. It seems that's the main focus of the industry today. But that's a whole other topic.
I hated how it boasted "cutting-edge" graphics, but yet, the animation of the lip syncing sucked. I actually felt oddly wierd and uncomfortable watching it (and distracted from what they were saying). It was no different from watching the people in RE2 & RE3 CGI cutscenes speaking. It worked just fine in Resident Evil, but here, I guess it's different because of the graphics being very life-like.
Like most of you have already mentioned, I don't like it being mainly QTE driven. Maybe for a few specific scenes where it would work out well, but not an entire game.
I also got the impression that it is very depressing. Another reason I would stay away from it. I was depressed for many years and it's not a good feeling - I don't need a game brewing up old emotions that don't exist anymore.

So anyway, I'm sorry if this adds to the "bashing", I really am not trying to. I was curious about what this game was, it looked interesting, I checked it out and here I am with my two cents.

I really enjoyed The Nomad Soul, but completely disliked Fahrenheit's random button tapping and very quickly got too bored to keep playing it.

So in general I don't like the direction in which David Cage is going, but I did like some of the Heavy Rain trailers and wouldn't mind giving it a go if only it was for the PC.

Played it for a few hours now and....

It's probably the best game ever made...

You have to play it, to be able to feel the strange satisfaction pressing those buttons gives you. It's hard to explain. When you watch a youtube trailer with dropped framerate and low resolution it just doesn't cut it. When you play it, you actually participate.You might not believe me, but Heavy Rain provides more interaction than most other games I've played....just in a different way.

It looks good! I want to play it! I loved Condemened for the 360, this looks like it follows suit to a degree. But alas, I agree - PC version is the only way I'd be able to.

*Leaps in on the pro-Heavy Rain side*

I've just spent the last 12 hours going through it. Granted, it only took 8 on the first playthrough, but the sheer permutations of endings, and experimenting with who survives is something that's going to keep me going through until tomorrow.

I'm surprised at AGS people being so vehemently opposed to it though! It seems like it'd be right up this place's street. It certainly doesn't feel like a choreto play, the way the "unconventional" controls are built into the flow of the game feels somewhat natural, helping to keep the story going in an unobtrusive way. It may look oddly arbitrary, and seem when you're watching it to look like "quicktime" events, but it feels more like an unconscious influence on the scene when you're in it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to replay it with him as a terrible terrible father.

Quote from: Michalski on Fri 26/02/2010 22:48:48
You have to play it, to be able to feel the strange satisfaction pressing those buttons gives you. It's hard to explain.

I agree, there's something oddly hypnotizing about the constant tiny interactions that you're doing.

I'm a few hours in, and as has been said, it takes a toll on your emotions. The scenes with Ethan (his kid died) are some of the most uncomfortable and heart-wrenching I've seen in a game. The part in the mall is very well done in making you feel some genuine panic.

And the part

Spoiler

in the police station after Shaun is taken, where you have to answer the questions about what he was wearing and what time it was, I was like "oh shit, I didn't pay attention to any of that!"

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I felt like a bad father.

The walking is indeed a bit of a downside, because the camera is semi-fixed most of the time so I keep bumping into walls and table edges.

But even just those augmented reality glasses the FBI agent has are reason enough to play this game. They are seriously awesome. You could build an entire game around those.

[EDIT] Man, I just played some more, and the part where

Spoiler

the FBI agent has the religious nut at gunpoint

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is maybe the coolest thing I've ever done in a videogame.

My brother and I have both had separate playthroughs, and both come up with a different storyline all the way through - it's not just a matter of the endings changing!

Spoiler

I ended up getting Jayden killed in the junkyard - there's no quickload to bring him back from the dead, and felt like a much more tangible loss. Similarly, it felt a lot more like a horrific blunder when he shot the fanatic (I was confused, I tells ya!)

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Still, managed to get to the end. Now I'm going to see if I can do it without

Spoiler

losing a finger.

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I first heard about this game through Ars Technica, and decided to take a look for myself when the demo came out.

Oh. My. God.  :D

The controls definitely take getting used to, and there were some parts where I felt that I hadn't quite gotten used to them. (Namely, the fight scene in the first part of the demo, climbing up a muddy hill in the second bit)

It has an absolutely fascinating setup though. Being able to walk around during the interrogation scene was fascinating. You could peer through the windows as you were talking, lean against the dresser and look at her, sit next to her on the bed, etc. It all feels oddly fluid.

The plot also seems fascinating, and I've heard some good things about it. I plan on getting the game with my next paycheck. In my opinion, this does seem to be a "revival" of sorts for the adventure game genre. It's just nice to see games that focus heavily on plot take the mainstream once more, rather than Call of Duty 37 and the like.

I won't sing it's praises despite the fact I think it's one of the best games I've played in a long time. It's really the kind of thing you have to experience and although I wouldn't tell anyone to go out and buy a PS3 just for this game, if you do own a PS3, don't disregard it until you've tried it. It's definitely a game that can be rented for cheap as you can pretty much complete it in one sitting. I think it probably took me about 8 hours of playtime and I was really going in depth exploring every area and most actions.

Despite the games countless flaws (It crashed for me repeatedly, I lost sound, I kept getting stuck in scenery, the movement controls felt awkward) I managed to overcome all of that because of the sheer level of depth that you feel you are experiencing. Knowing that every action will quite probably have a significant consequence that you can't foresee and must deal with at some point of the game. The character's and their facial emotions reminded me a lot of Foxy Roxxxy (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6963383/Foxy-Roxxxy-worlds-first-sex-robot-can-talk-about-football.html) in the sense that they are not really very emotive and the voice acting was weak in a lot of places.

I think the story was definitely a fun one to participate in, knowing that you can complete the game regardless of whether you get your characters killed off, if you manage to even find out who the killer is or solve the crime. There was a point where I was too slow in one of the events and got caught and arrested. What happens if you instead manage to get away? There was a part (as shown in the trailer) where I decided to take a leap of faith from a building rather than get caught by my persuers, what happens instead in this situation should I get caught?

The replay value is definitely there, and now that I'm speaking of it I think I might go and start up a second game to see what different impacts I can make on the world should I choose to neglect my child, treat everyone with aggression and succumb to my drug urges.

I nearly completed it... and then my saved game got corrupted and I couldn't load it!

That didn't discourage me though and I'm on my second playthrough trying to do things the same way I did before. One thing really shocked me:

Spoiler

When at the gunpoint with the religious nut guy I nearly talked him into giving his gun away. Then he suddenly jumped and looked like he was going to pull another weapon to shoot Blake... so instinctively I pulled the trigger in a split of a second and killed him...just to find out he wasn't holding a gun but a...crucifix...  I honestly can't describe how i felt.

Does anyone know if you can drive the car in that first trial without crashing and landing upside down on the side of the road?

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Game releases like this always make me laugh, simply because this type of game has been around for decades but because there's been a massive gap since the early 90's, Heavy Rain is hailed a ground-breaking experience. I'm still happy though, at least the genre's making a come back.

Finished the game.

It really cannot be judged unless you play it. Not sure it's a revolution, but it definitely feels like an evolution. At first I thought it might have adventure game elements but to be honest, it doesn't really. There is no inventory and very few "puzzles", rather a series of interactive scenes. The only relevance I can see to adventure games as a genre is that the popularity of a title like this may encourage other developers to try out different things with more of a "classic" adventure game mechanic.

This was thoroughly enjoyable though, I am looking forward to going back and seeing what other paths can be taken. The only problem I had with it was the identity of the killer, which I found a little contrived, but that may have been a personal preference.

Quote from: veryweirdguy on Tue 02/03/2010 14:06:34
The only problem I had with it was the identity of the killer, which I found a little contrived, but that may have been a personal preference.

Yeah this bugged me too...

SPOILERSSPOILER
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Spoiler

It was only because it was the only character who I actually really played "nicely." The only character who I played in a way that seemed to give him redeeming qualities. The other character's had those qualities built in some but this was the only character who I said "Okay... This guy is nice, no matter what despicable things the others do." and then BAM game over.

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PS if you intend to play this, please don't read any spoilers before you do so. I think it will be a much better experience without any knowledge and without the temptation to metagame.

Quote from: Michalski on Mon 01/03/2010 19:48:15

Spoiler

Does anyone know if you can drive the car in that first trial without crashing and landing upside down on the side of the road?

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Spoiler

That always happens, but there's a difference between crashing successfully, and crashing failurely. Storywise, it gives an excuse for Madison to fix him up at the hotel!

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Quote from: Technocrat on Wed 03/03/2010 20:13:41

Quote from: Michalski on Mon 01/03/2010 19:48:15

Spoiler

Does anyone know if you can drive the car in that first trial without crashing and landing upside down on the side of the road?

[close]

Spoiler

That always happens, but there's a difference between crashing successfully, and crashing failurely. Storywise, it gives an excuse for Madison to fix him up at the hotel!

[close]

aaaaaaa..... I see...

Finished it now and all I can say is : wow. I think I'm gonna email David Cage....

Just to spoil things for everyone, Madison is the Ori....

I bought it, and always liking games that feel cinematic like the Kojima stuff, making Metal Gear (Solid) my favourite games of all time, and also including games that feel more like actionmovies like Uncharted - it was a really exciting experience for me.

But it is something you cant really judge from game standards. It could loose horrible from that point of view, but as an interactive movie experience - it is nothing less then awesome. I mean it gets really emotional some times, the music supports that in a good way, the story is emotional on itself, and you have to make difficult decisions, and the action sequences are exciting.
It is really like you are drawn into a movie that you can influence.

I have to say the story has some flaws in not explaining everything. Some of that is minor and takes a second to figure out, and some of that just isnt explained, but not completely illogical, so it still works.

But beside those flaws, it was the most emotional involving experience i ever had from a game or a movie. There is one specific scene, i still get wet eyes by just remembering it. I am not kidding. And i think i always will get wet eyes when i think back of that scene.

MAJOR SPOILERS!

Spoiler

In my first playthrough, Ethan took the poison, he was a good guy, not killing the dealer, but doing everything to save his son. He then broke down because he couldnt find him - making the move of taking the poison useless. Madison then called with the adress. Ethan saved his son, told him that he loves him, ready to die, and then the music kicks in and he didnt die.

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I already played through it three times, and there are still some things i want to try out. But that is just me being a huge fan of such cinematic experiences.

I went and bought this game, even though I said I might not like it. Glad I did even though not far into it.

Spoiler

The part in the mall when you are trying to find your son Jason after getting the red balloon and he runs off on you, i was really feeling some tension. Then to finally exit the mall and he runs across the street and gets killed, made me feel depressed. Now I am at the part where I lost Shaun after playing in the park. Ethan blacked out, and i came back to the park and to the apartment, and Shaun was nowhere to be found.

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I will play more tomorrow.