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.
A few days ago Sony decided to make flOw available for FREE on PSN. My initial reaction was to hate the control scheme but after a few minutes of getting acclimated I found it deceptively simple and beautiful.
What is flOw?
Created by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark. The game involves the player guiding an aquatic microorganism through various depths of the ocean to consume other organisms and to evolve their organism as the player advances.
After years of neglect I finally decided to try God of War. So far I’m unimpressed. It’s your standard 3rd person action game. Released around the same time as Ninja Gaiden I cant fathom why it was so popular. Wait that’s right, Sony fanboys. Now before I get accused of being a game snob or Microsoft fanboy, I admit to enjoying God of War’s brainless button mashing fun.
Santa was so good to me this year. He got me everything I wanted including: Terminator 2 Skynet Edition on Blu-ray, God of War Collection for the PS3 and the most amazing laptop bag from Cole Haan.
Last year I decided to try streaming video content from Netflix on to my Xbox 360 and hated it due to the following:
- Quality was comparable to a DVD which I found disappointing
- The movie selection was terrible
- You have to setup everything up on your computer, BOOO!!!
A full year later and they finally worked out the kinks and I can now say I’m in love.
Sadly, the PS3 integration is an utter train wreck from a usability standpoint.
Met the gang for some hugs, kisses and Secret Santa gift giving. This year I asked Santa for the geekiest gift ever, a Playstation 3 Energizer Power & Play Charging System. Thanks Panda!
Part of the coolness factor with owning an Xbox 360 and PS3 are the media capabilities they posses. Both can stream media from any PC running the Windows operating system but not OS X. Since I’ve made the switch to my MacBook Pro I’ve begun to miss the streaming capabilities.
Determined to stream my movies, music and pictures I decided to pick up copies of
Your Xbox 360 is capable of playing back your music and videos and viewing your digital photos. With Connect360, your Mac’s ready to share.
Connect360 automatically indexes your iTunes and iPhoto libraries and shares them to your Xbox 360. You can then use the Xbox 360 Dashboard to browse and play your media, organized in the exact same way that it is on your Mac.
Your PlayStation 3 has been craving the media on your Mac. Finally, complete Macintosh and Playstation 3 integration is upon us.
Enjoying your media through the PlayStation 3 has never been this easy, on any platform — and the Mac isn’t just any platform. Its our favorite platform, so we’ve taken great care to create a seamless solution.
George came over before heading off to work and helped me finish hooking up my media center. I had gotten all the cables necessary for hooking up all my components but still needed a little help running the last few cables behind the wall.
At eleven o’clock we both witnessed the true beauty of Gran Turismo on the PS3 running at 1080p on a 46′ Sony Bravia. If you’re nerd you probably just wet yourself with envy.
Angela later called an informed me she was heading back to Taiwan forever.
We decided to hit Queens Center Mall so I could replace my defective cable box and pick up an HDMI cable for my PS3.
While on the train I called Amy to try and smooth over last night. She caught attitude and got her self “taken off the list.” Al told me not to sweat it considering she wasn’t what I usually date.
Lastly, Nice took me to Max Brenner. It’s been a while since I’ve been invited to dinner.
Note: I finally got my 360 back and it only took a month. Fucking dicks!
I got home after work and was really looking forward to watching Paprika but my 360 died. I’ve had this happen to me three times and each time it has been for different reasons. The first was a disc drive issue. The second is still a mystery and now I’ve finally have gotten the dreaded red ring of death.
Normally I would be going ape shit but I have my shiny new PS3. I would also like to add that I got my 360 for free.
Many of my friends always ask me which is the best system and my answer is the 360. That being said the PS3 is starting to win me over. In no way am I saying its better (it isn’t) but it does have its strengths and one of those is Blu-ray. I never believed the hype but I popped in Bladerunner Final Cut on Blu-ray and then the DVD version to compare them. I was floored.
It was like the first time you saw a DVD and compared it to VHS, mind blowing. The clarity was nuts. On top of that this is a re-mastered old movie. I can’t wait to see a modern movie or a Pixar movie that is all digital.
