So way back in the day when I was innocent and video games were made of magic instead of subliminal soft-drink ads, I played a game called Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit for all you Europeans out there). At the time, many critics hailed it for its cinematic approach to game presentation. It seemingly married film and game with little falter bringing the best of both worlds: a stunning aesthetic and engaging action.
Fast forward to ten minutes after you, the consumers, open the box and you realize that all of those critics must have been on drugs or playing a totally different game, because it ended up being a horrible mess of bad controls with a a quarry truck full of quick time events and a story worthy of M. Night Shyamalan (thats an insult) . To top that off it was pretentious enough to make you sit through a monologue by the games director David Cage who makes sure that you are aware that this game is special.
I've now gone off track, but this game is worthy of rant. In an industry starved for something unique, Indigo Prophecy promises a breath of fresh air, but then deliberately passes gas in your face. Crude, I know, but this is going somewhere, trust me. So when I say I want something thats different, something that has a unique flavor, I don't mean that I'm willing accept the sacrifice of everything that makes a game good in the favor of "immersion." What the hell is immersion when you die seventy times in the first twenty minutes of the game because you failed to cover up all of the blood left over in your apartment. That doesn't remind me of the fact that this is a game at all. No I'm still totally engrossed. Now, I suppose all of those hard-core I.P. fans out there would respond with something along the lines of "well you're just bad at the game" which sadly is true, but its not easy to care when there is nothing making me want to grind through to the next scene. Ultimately what I'm trying to say here is that when its dinner time and I'm bored of eating rodeo burgers every day, I don't join my dog in rummaging through garbage for some moldy barf... crap..., I don't know.. whatever dogs eat when they get into the garbage.. fill in the blank. you get the point.
OK so now that thats over with, the newest trailer for quantum dream's Heavy Rain has arrived and, from what I can tell, they've broken the mold again...in the same exact way...but this time EVEN MORE. So the trailer promises game-play footage, but that assertion is more than a little bit disturbing as you'll see that all that gets shown is a massive quick time event. Here it is:
(For all of you that aren't up on the lingo a quick time event is essentially a cut scene who's progress depends on your ability to tap particular buttons in succession when commanded. Its the absolute bane of my existance.)
So the question I would like to pose to quantum dream is this: You consider this to be gameplay? If so then I think we have a problem. Sure...you're occasionally tapping buttons...I suppose that means something, but I can also save myself fifty dollars and go buy an electric simon-says and have virtually the same experience, only this time with the events playing out in my own home and success and failure both concluding with me eating something delicious. Now THAT is what I call immersion. In conclusion I think that this game needs to exist if only to show people that there absolutely has to be a dividing line between games and movies. Blurring the line doesn't make for an engrossing experience. It makes for an essential sacrifice of what makes both media good and unique.
Narrative-focused first person shooters like Half-Life or Bioshock provide a brilliant example of how different movies and games are and always should be. These, being two of the most immersive games, no, experiences in the past decade, take place fully from a single, player controlled, perspective. Meanwhile the 1947 film Lady in the Lake, based on the Ramond Chandler novel of the same name, is widely considered to be a cinematic failure though its story unfolds from the same exact perspective. The observers actual inclusion in the action is a huge component in marking that difference.
So I've been mulling over this post for a few days hoping that some new information would come along dispelling the cold dark facts about this highly anticipated game. Sadly my fears of this game's ultimate failure are continuously affirmed. From what I've heard, the moments where you ACTUALLY control your character are played out in a cinematic style with different angles. What used to be a crutch of primitive game design has now become an aesthetic choice. To the credit of Heavy Rain, there have been some great titles in the past that have been created in a similar manner: Parasite Eve, Resident Evil 1-3, and a whole slew of other ps1 titles. However, these games typically have major faults(directly as a result of this type of camera system) that can only be overlooked due to other outstanding aspects be they bowel failure inducing zombie dogs, zombie horses, zombie polar bears, or truck sized, yet questionably zombified, spiders.
Furthermore, I've always had issues with Quantum Dream's brand of story-telling. They hit hard about the fact that they're delivering a mature game meant for adults yet, contrary to their allegedly grown-up approach, the game plays out in the manner of a children's choose your own adventure book. While on paper that may sound interesting, the branching of events based on the players decisions and actions, it makes me feel like less love went into the core story as a result.
So thats what I've got. As with any game it would be great if this succeeds and is actually good, but I don't quite feel that. Then again, pretty much any game that looks this good graphically is going to sell even if it really is complete rubbish. Just look at Crysis. (Sorry Crytek, but its true. Hey, I'm really looking forward to Far Cry 2 though so wash away those tears...oh yeah...about that...)
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