According to the New York Times review, the new Playstation 3 game Heavy Rain offers “a glimpse of the future of interactive entertainment, a future when characterization, writing and emotional connection are more important than combat mechanics.”
Another tidbit from the Times review: the script for Heavy Rain was over 2,000 pages long.
As a storyteller I’m less interested in the skill and coordination aspect of videogames, and more interested in the choices one has to make as a player/participant in interactive movies. The rest of the reviews of the game/movie are also overwhelmingly positive, and I look forward to playing/watching (I guess I should I just say “experiencing”) it.
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Interesting. I’ll refrain from reading the whole article due to “spoilers,” but I think the important thing to look at is the vision rather than the execution. Regardless of whether Heavy Rain’s reach exceeds its grasp, imagine the same tech with a GREAT story — not just by videogame standards, but by film standards — combined with a truly branching storyline dependent upon a player’s choices (instead of smaller interactions along a linear timeline). Not just different endings, but different paths entirely. Kind of like, you know, life.
Thanks for the link.
“Heavy Rain was supposed to change things. It was supposed to elevate video game story-telling above the badly-written, poorly-acted dirges we currently put up with, and give us a groundbreakingly mature, gritty, intelligent and cleverly constructed, branching storyline. It absolutely didn’t. In fact sweep aside the surface gloss of stunning looks and moving score and Heavy Rain’s plot is a shambles.”
http://www.gamesradar.com/f/heavy-rains-big-plot-holes/a-20100224105436979020