zerogstudios

I should probably start out by saying Quantic Dream, developers of Heavy Rain, should be commended for trying something new and innovative. Sadly their efforts comes up short. I wanted to like this game but I couldn’t ignore it’s flawed control scheme and game design.

Problems
1) The voice acting is rubbish.
2) The fixed camera is a fucking annoyance. It’s 2010 for pete’s sake.
3) The controls are rubbish.
A) I understand Quantic Dream was trying something different but for all the “innovation” it’s still employing a quick time event-driven control scheme.

B) Forcing me to hold the controller in odd ways to create a sense of urgency, panic or difficulty isn’t innovation it is poor game design. When 99% of the games on a system use a certain control scheme forcing users to use a different and unnatural control scheme is ridiculous. It’s like asking a person to drive a car only using his feet. Sure it can be done but that doesn’t make it a good idea.

Imagine playing DDR or Guitar Hero with a controller? Sure you could but instead developers opted for a controller that felt natural and more importantly complemented / heightened the game experience. Now I’m not suggesting Quantic Dream bundle a new controller but maybe they should have opted for a different control scheme or perhaps a different platform. Cough cough, Wii?

4) The dialog system is silly.
For over twenty years games have employed a dialog tree and the simple act of making them spin around the screen on a 3D plane to simulate thoughts flying around a characters mind is a novelty. All you accomplish is frustrating the user.

The Critics
I know this game has gotten a ton of critical acclaim but this is an example of game critics failing to be objective. I think it is safe to say we all want the medium to experiment and try new things but rewarding / praising broken games doesn’t foster that so much as encourage bad game design.

Conclusion
Heavy Rain isn’t entirely bad. It has some fun moments but so did Dragons Lair. The many quarters lost at the arcade serve as proof that quick time events are fun and addictive.