[QDream]

PS3 Heavy Rain details pour in!

Wednesday 12-Mar-2008 4:18 PM Ultra-realistic looking adventure emerges from hibernation

You might not even remember Quantic Dreams' Heavy Rain - that's because it's been in hiding since a tech demo appearance at E3 2006, but new details have finally slipped out.

Quantic Dreams boss, David Cage, has snuck out of hiding to talk about the PS3 exclusive, which impressed anyone who saw it at E3.

The Fahrenheit dev wants to expand on the innovations in brought with that game. "With the release of Fahrenheit, we gave the adventure genre a new grammar. We brought new ways into the genre, new words if you want to see it like that, a new vocabulaire. With Heavy Rain, where going to expand on that same grammar," he said.

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Cage said, quite wisely we think, that he doesn't want to make a GTA clone. "I don't want to do a big free-roaming city like GTA, because the flow of the story will then be hard to control.

"Nevertheless, I do want to incorporate big sets, with a crowd, heavy populated areas like a mall and a subway are going to be in there. Of course, the gameplay has got to make use of that aspect too," he explained.

The team aims to make Heavy Rain a technical marvel on PS3. "People will be surprised. Internal (Sony's) feedback on graphics has been great. This is going to be a truly next-gen game. But still, we want to do something unique with the graphics, going beyond just making the most photorealistic world we can."

[b]On the game's plot, Cage described: "Heavy Rain is about normal people that have landed in extraordinary situations. I wanted a much more personal story.

"The main story will revolve around four different characters, and we're putting the spotlight on their perceptions. The question 'what is good and what is evil' is the key here, that will be just a matter of viewpoint ... They're not about being good or bad, but about finding the right balance," he told Dutch magazine Chief.

The main theme will be about a father's love for his son, which ties in with the "much more personal" approach studio boss David Cage is after.

You will also see and interpret the world through each character and their perceptions of what is right and wrong.

"I believe heavily in moral choices. I'm going to use them a lot," Cage promised. "They're not about being good or bad, but about finding the right balance."

Heavy Rain will be set in a city, but Cage is reluctant to make it free-roaming in a similar vein to something like Grand Theft Auto. The key is to control the story, apparently, although he wants "big sets" and heavily populated areas to play a part.

There are no concrete details on gameplay, but he suggests Heavy Rain will expand upon the ideas used in previous project Fahrenheit.

David Cage said in interviews around the time that Heavy Rain would be a film noire-style thriller with mature themes, and no supernatural nonsense.

Dates of autumn 2008 were bandied around back then, but nothing has been heard since.

Wow, sounds like awesome character driven adventure game.. I simply can't wait

FIRST 2 SCREENSHOTS: (wow)

[usman]

WOW Cool but sad it will be PS3 exclusive Adventure Gamers for PC have more fan following.

[kadji-kun]

Awesome....oh wait....ps3? Nevermind.

[Keregioz]

yeah.... ps3 exclusive is definitely a bad move for an adventure game.

[Drunken Irishman]

Oh my god! It's just too awesome! This might be the revenge of adventure games we've been waiting for. As in the late 80's/early 90's when adventure games had the best graphics, Heavy Rain looks to top everything else in any genre. I also liked the "no supernatural nonsense" part.

Though, can you you give links to places where you got your information?

[tastebud]

Yeah that's pretty lame. I don't even have any next gen consoles. People who play Adventure games are usually somewhat intellectual. And intellectuals usually play on the PC. Bad move.

[Beacon]

I'm ashamed. This is why Adventure Games will never improve and grow. People are too narrow-minded.

[usman]

There should be a PC port of the game.

[SoccerDude28]

Originally Posted by tastebud

Yeah that's pretty lame. I don't even have any next gen consoles. People who play Adventure games are usually somewhat intellectual. And intellectuals usually play on the PC. Bad move.

Just for your information, a lot of the "intellectual" people you talk about, have abandoned PC gaming for console gaming.

[Squinky]

Duuude. Real intellectuals don't even play games at all. They, like, read books and stuff. What a bunch of plebs.

[tastebud]

Originally Posted by Squinky

Duuude. Real intellectuals don't even play games at all. They, like, read books and stuff. What a bunch of plebs.

lol alright alright... "intellectual gamers" then

[cwapitm]

An adventure game on the ps3? Well I do have a ps3 (actually it's my brother's, but he won't mind if I borrow it.) Pity it isn't on the Wii because it's obviously a better platform for adventure games.

[buddi]

Can't you rent consoles anymore? Or am I showing my age? I'm looking forward to this, if David cage is half as good as his own press, it should be a treat

[Terramax]

PS3 exclusive? I don't think this game is likely to set the world on fire and make everyone rush out and buy a PS3. Games like MGS anf FF sell PS3s because they have fantastic stories (Quantic Dreams have Fahrenheit... wowie...), Something I doubt this game has if they're focusing so much on amazingly detailed eyes. Reminds me of the expensive hair for FF the movie.

[Gamegirl]

Well, if they can port Mass Effect to the PC maybe they'll do the same for Heavy Rain as well. I may end up buying a PS3 in the long run, though, because I love the Final Fantasy series and FFXIII looks amazing. I wish they would port that game to the PC.

Lol, ps3. There won't be enough rocket blasters, grenades, and mindless amounts of headshots and limb tearing action for the average console gamer.

[Nelza]

If you can play Guitar Hero III on the PC I'm sure that you'll also be able to play 'Heavy Rain' on the PC.

[TiAgUh]

Go Ps3 !

Originally Posted by Roman5

Lol, ps3. There won't be enough rocket blasters, grenades, and mindless amounts of headshots and limb tearing action for the average console gamer.

Yeah, im sick of GT5: Prologue

[Drunken Irishman]

I can't believe you people being so negative. You don't have to play it to enjoy it's success. You see, the great idea behind Heavy Rain is that those graphics are the real graphics. No game in any genre has had such realistic skin textures or real-time tears.

It will sell because it has pretty graphics, and once you have awesome graphics no one cares about the actual content. And Quantic Dreams have got Sony excited and Sony is powerful enough to buy all those IGN's and Gamespot's to give 10/10 for this game. When has an adventure game ever got that high score from gaming journalists. Even if it sucks badly, it's bound to be hailed as the greatest innovation in storytelling in games anyway.

Just like Bioshock, which itself was a weaker version of System Shock 2. David Cage will be called to all those conventions and stuff and asked a lot of stupid questions like "Heavy Rain was a important step-up to games as a storytelling mature medium. How does your next project compare to it?" And that's a good thing. This gives much needed monetary vitality back to adventure games.

Or are you all happy playing games like Next Life?

[kadji-kun]

Originally Posted by Drunken Irishman

I can't believe you people being so negative. You don't have to play it to enjoy it's success. You see, the great idea behind Heavy Rain is that those graphics are the real graphics. No game in any genre has had such realistic skin textures or real-time tears. It will sell because it has pretty graphics, and once you have awesome graphics no one cares about the actual content. And Quantic Dreams have got Sony excited and Sony is powerful enough to buy all those IGN's and Gamespot's to give 10/10 for this game. When has an adventure game ever got that high score from gaming journalists. Even if it sucks badly, it's bound to be hailed as the greatest innovation in storytelling in games anyway. Just like Bioshock, which itself was a weaker version of System Shock 2. David Cage will be called to all those conventions and stuff and asked a lot of stupid questions like "Heavy Rain was a important step-up to games as a storytelling mature medium. How does your next project compare to it?" And that's a good thing. This gives much needed monetary vitality back to adventure games. Or are you all happy playing games like Next Life?

Sounds more like the Graphics are the seling point instead of the story, which considerably goes against adventure gaming.

You point out Bioshock, but in reality it still offered awesome gameplay and a wholesome story. The selling point was still the gameplay and has always been the gameplay when it came to Shock stuff.

I haven't seen anything from Chocolate Rain (lo) that said says its nothing more than a flash real time movie. The reason why its going to be popular is because of the graphics and nothing more. Go outside, talk to someone who knows about Heavy Rain. They will only talk about the graphics.

You have a bad argument. We are adventure gamers...not sellouts.

By far the only console that deserves honor is the DS and Wii. Nothing else is capable of true adventure games... Unless you consider Mass Effect an adventure game....which in reality is nothing more than an RPG.

(Note: Please form paragraphs instead of one huge block. It makes it almost unbearable to read in a PS3 type thread)