The Guildmasters

Hi all,
I’ve played Heavy Rain for the last couple of nights, it’s a surprisingly short game, you can complete it in a day but don’t get disheartened by that as it does have plenty of play time hours if you want to get all the trophies.

It is quite addictive in a way that it really grabs your interest and by the time your a couple of hours into the game you just can’t seem to put it down as you want to know what is going to happen next.

Playing four different characters I thought it I would lose interest but switching from one character to the next is exactly what this game calls for and it’s done in such a way that you look forward to playing the next characters part. They are all linked in some kind of way and without revealing any of the story or putting spoilers in I would just like to say that you could easily play through this game several times as there are many different endings.

If you want to get all the trophies you will probably find you will have to play through it at least 3 times, i’m on my second time around and already there have been many changes from the first time due to my different selections of what I say and do, and it has a surprising ending too which made it all the more enjoyable, at least for me anyway.

Thinking of buying Heavy Rain? Probably worth it since the price has dropped but I would rent it first to see if it’s the kind of game you want to play, it’s fairly easy but it’s more like a movie that allows you to interact with it in a totally different way that other games don’t allow.

The multiple choices of what to say and do mean you can see up to around 20 or so different endings.

The one downside for me for this game was having to use R2 to walk,even after completing the game it was still a bit annoying especially if you went from one game back to this, i’m so used to using analogue parts to walk it just constantly feels weird using R2 to walk around.

Overall i’d give this game a 8 out of 10 because it really is unique, enjoyable and keeps you wanting more, a little disappointing at the length but then that’s typical with a lot of really good movies too.

If anyone wants any help on this game just post in the forum or drop me a line here and i’ll see if I can help you out.

Tony:)

It’s been a long few days searching for another decent new release but I think i’ve found one in Heavy Rain, actually i’m downloading this demo as I type.

I’ve just finished watching the trailer and what i’ve seen so far looks promising, there is a lot of hype about this game but I don’t usually take much notice of that, I like to see things for myself and the trailer led me to download the demo to see if it turns out to be as good as promised.

The pre-order price at amazon at the moment is $54.96 which is a saving of over $5 on the list price and there is a pre-order bonus if you order before the release date, this is Heavy Rain Chronicles: Chaper 1 – The Taxidermist which is a downloadable episode,but first lets see what the story is about:

Game Description:A serial killer stalks the city and four characters have only four days to find him before he strikes again. Spend 96 hours living on the edge in this cinematic psychological thriller. In a game that evolves like a living movie, you’ll step into the shoes of four different individuals. Each has their own leads and motives, and each desperately wants to find the Origami Killer. Little is known about your target, other than the folded paper found in the hand of each of his victims. Explore a deep and dark storyline that forces you to decide how far you’ll go to save someone you love.

I will add to this post once i’ve tried the demo, this is a PS3 Exclusive and the reason i’ve posted it early is purely because of the pre-order bonus, the trailer reminded me of Uncharted and from what i’ve read so far plays like a movie, pretty cool graphics so it good be a big hit.

Will update tomorrow after playing tonight.

Tony 🙂

Update:Well this game is a definite buy, by the time i’d walked to the end of the alley I made up my mind I was going to get this game. When Uncharted 2 came out they said it was a game which played like a movie, I wasn’t exactly sure how they would go about that until playing the demo of Heavy Rain last night, it is like an actual movie only you get to perform the moves, scenarios and dialect which takes it one way or another.

The games graphics are pretty realistic, expressions, actions, gestures all make for a real life feel to the game, just the tutorial is a basic walk down an alley but i’ve never before seen such advancement in any other game.

Halfway down the alley your confronted by a dumpster or garbage skip, the only way around it is to press a sequence of button which actually allow you to turn sideways and navigate between the wall and the dumpster, once you pass the dumpster, a small way forward and the rain starts playing with your characters asthma, by hitting one of the front buttons you can actually hear what your character is thinking, at this point it’s about how the rain makes it difficult for him to breathe, this in turn encourages you to use the analogue button to retrieve your inhaler from your right pocket, then with a shake of the sixaxis controller he shakes the inhaler before using it, using the right analogue to lift it to your mouth and pressing R1 to push on the inhaler and saving yoiurself from the unpleasantness of an asthma attack.

That was just the tutorial to get you used to the controls, the way the characters move and behave are very realistic, I played it in front of my 3 eldest sons and they was mesmerized by it’s movie like behaviour, they didn’t know if I was controlling the character or if it was a cut scene, it’s really that good.

The story line is excellent and you really get into it in a big way, I played the whole demo which is free to download on playstation store and it’s really worth the wait.

I actually played the demo 3 times and there is a scene where you have to fight a guy who likes to beat up on women, all three occasions I fought this guy it was different each time, I even ended up in 3 different areas of the apartment when the fight was over.

The controls are really put to use in this game, R2 to walk and lots of use on the analogue buttons to perform many different actions sounds difficult but after just a few minutes feels almost natural.

That’s my update on Heavy Rain for now but don’t take my word for it, download the demo free on playstaton store and see for yourself, you won’t have seen anything like this before, this is going to be the way forward in games and I expect to see many more games in the future playing like this, it’s really amazing.

Tony:)