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thejobloshow · 03-20-2010, 11:54 PM

When I think of what makes an adventure game... I think in examples before I get to a definition...

I think of having stopped playing Sam and Max Hit the Road for about a month because I had absolutely no idea that you could find

Spoiler:
money

in some hard to see

Spoiler:
mouse hole

.

I think of spending a year just to figure out how to get all 1,000 points in Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail plus find all the Where's Waldo sausages and this is before I even knew the game had Easter eggs.

I think of clicking every inventory object I owned on every possible prop in Discworld II because I had no idea how the logic worked in that game.

And I think of sneaking a peek on a cheats and walkthrough CD or calling a game helpline whenever I was stuck in Larry 6 or The Dig because some of the puzzles proved too confusing for my prepubescent mind.

However, when I try to think what makes an adventure game - I do not think about timed button mashing. I just don't...

And what I also don't get is how Heavy Rain is reminding game reviewers from Destructoid, Gamespot and gamecritics.com, to name a few, of point-and-click adventures right before they go into detailing the game's plotholes or saying 'oh the intro is booooring, boohoo'. I do not see one challenge in Heavy Rain that relates to the 'adventure genre' and it is important to proclaim this...

The game is great, don't get me wrong - but I feel this is one of those things that's going to pain us to no end like the gaming magazines saying 'adventure is dead' - from now on they'll say 'Oh, Heavy Rain will revive/revived/failed to revive the adventure genre!'

So unless we're making tenuous links to the adventure genre, Heavy Rain is an 'interactive movie'. It is a sophisticated version of Dragon's Lair, Braindead 13, Mad Dog McCree or Time Gal. Phantasmagoria, Spycraft or Gabe Knight 2 were not interactive movies... There are no puzzles in Heavy Rain... or from the puzzles that are in the game, I feel that they are of little to no relevance. The

Spoiler:
orchid and origami in the hospital scene towards the end

is a no brainer and the investigations by Jayden don't change the way his story unfolds in any meaningful way. I would think adventure gamers would be offended to have the game reviewed on this website remembering the apprehension users had when the site considered reviewing Magna Cum Laude several years ago. Are we giving this game a pass because it's awesome? And if we do that - will it come back to bite us in the keister as the high end adventures move away from the core challenges they used to offer?

03-20-2010, 11:54 PM	#1
thejobloshow Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 303	Heavy Rain is not an adventure game. When I think of what makes an adventure game... I think in examples before I get to a definition... I think of having stopped playing Sam and Max Hit the Road for about a month because I had absolutely no idea that you could find Spoiler: money in some hard to see Spoiler: mouse hole . I think of spending a year just to figure out how to get all 1,000 points in Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail plus find all the Where's Waldo sausages and this is before I even knew the game had Easter eggs. I think of clicking every inventory object I owned on every possible prop in Discworld II because I had no idea how the logic worked in that game. And I think of sneaking a peek on a cheats and walkthrough CD or calling a game helpline whenever I was stuck in Larry 6 or The Dig because some of the puzzles proved too confusing for my prepubescent mind. However, when I try to think what makes an adventure game - I do not think about timed button mashing. I just don't... And what I also don't get is how Heavy Rain is reminding game reviewers from Destructoid, Gamespot and gamecritics.com, to name a few, of point-and-click adventures right before they go into detailing the game's plotholes or saying 'oh the intro is booooring, boohoo'. I do not see one challenge in Heavy Rain that relates to the 'adventure genre' and it is important to proclaim this... The game is great, don't get me wrong - but I feel this is one of those things that's going to pain us to no end like the gaming magazines saying 'adventure is dead' - from now on they'll say 'Oh, Heavy Rain will revive/revived/failed to revive the adventure genre!' So unless we're making tenuous links to the adventure genre, Heavy Rain is an 'interactive movie'. It is a sophisticated version of Dragon's Lair, Braindead 13, Mad Dog McCree or Time Gal. Phantasmagoria, Spycraft or Gabe Knight 2 were not interactive movies... There are no puzzles in Heavy Rain... or from the puzzles that are in the game, I feel that they are of little to no relevance. The Spoiler: orchid and origami in the hospital scene towards the end is a no brainer and the investigations by Jayden don't change the way his story unfolds in any meaningful way. I would think adventure gamers would be offended to have the game reviewed on this website remembering the apprehension users had when the site considered reviewing Magna Cum Laude several years ago. Are we giving this game a pass because it's awesome? And if we do that - will it come back to bite us in the keister as the high end adventures move away from the core challenges they used to offer? Last edited by thejobloshow; 03-21-2010 at 01:35 AM.