HEAVY RAIN

[Eradicator30]

http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/900/900602/heavy-rain-the-origami-killer-20080820095827396_640w.jpg

About This Game
An advanced new project for next-gen systems by Quantic Dream, the developer of Fahrenheit.
Genre: Adventure

Exclusively on PlayStation 3
Release Date: December 31, 2009

38636

[Le Goat]

Tech Demo from 2 years ago... (http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/adventure/heavyrain/video/6151598/heavy-rain-working-title-official-movie-1?tag=videos;title;4)

it's stirring.

[Ocelot]

Something about this kinda reminds me of Indigo Prophecy, which I actually loved despite the ending getting all crazy.

I'm a big fan of really story driven games and this looks very promising.

Edit: Didn't realize this is indeed being made by the same folks who brought us Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy.

[Mr. Brown]

There's big chance for something that's gonna change interactive games forever or EPIC Failure.

I'm keeping my hopes high for this one.

[Le Goat]

At E3 in 2006, Quantic Dream president and CEO (and Heavy Rain (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3150340) writer and director) David Cage showed a tech demo (http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/3745) of an actress auditioning for a role with quick dramatic emotional shifts. It wasn't from any particular game, according to Cage, but designed to show how an in-game character could look and act -- and many associated it with the title "Heavy Rain," in part because E3 kiosks labeled it as such. But it wasn't. So fans of Quantic Dream's previous adventure game, Indigo Prophecy (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3169905), had to wait to see what the developer had in the works. Fast-forward to this year's Leipzig Games Convention: Cage ran through press meetings to formally unveil the title (http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3169463). Sort of, anyway. He showed a live gameplay sequence that revealed many of Heavy Rain's planned features, but did so using a just-for-tradeshows scenario and story -- which, by dictionary rules, makes it tech demo No. 2.
Between those two showings, he created extremely positive buzz for the game -- in my Games Convention preview, I found myself "as excited for the game as I have been for any in recent memory" -- and did so without actually showing the game itself. Is Cage a genius, and the media a bunch of suckers? (He does have four job titles, after all.) Perhaps it'd be more accurate to say that his ideas have generated a ton of excitement -- but to date, they've been demonstrated in highly controlled circumstances.
Which, of course, makes me want to know more.

http://www.1up.com/media?id=3655307&type=lg (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3150340&sec=IMAGES) SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Heavy Rain screens.

1UP: I heard you mention at Games Convention that Heavy Rain is "everything we learned and did right on [Indigo Prophecy] done 10 times better, less everything we've done wrong." What are some examples of things you did wrong in Indigo Prophecy that you're staying away from this time?
David Cage: After , we spent a lot of time reading reviews and players' feedback on forums. We also had our own ideas about what worked and what didn't. First and foremost, I think we have a much stronger script in Heavy Rain. Although it was more complex to write, I think the characters have real substance, and the story should be emotionally involving. I also tried to evoke themes rarely used in games, which should be one of the challenges of the game, but also one of its more interesting aspects. It's an important test for me to see if we can tell more subtle stories and trigger more complex emotions in a game or not -- something we already started to experiment with in [our] The Casting (http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/3745) demo.
We also continued to develop our concept of "bending stories," allowing players' actions to have consequences on the story. We pushed this idea further, in a more constant, fluid, and effective way. We also entirely redesigned the way action scenes work, something that was one of the weak aspects of [Indigo Prophecy].
We also spent a lot of time and energy in developing a solid engine, graphics tools, and pipelines. I think gamers can already judge the graphic quality from the first playable demo we presented. Many people seemed to think that this pre-teaser was prerendered and not interactive, but it's entirely real time and fully playable.

http://www.1up.com/media?id=3655310&type=lg (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3150340&sec=IMAGES) SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Heavy Rain screens.

We really improved the experience at all levels, with more interactivity, new gameplay mechanics and interfaces, high-quality sets and virtual actors, a new technology of facial motion capture, better animations, and many, many other surprises I cannot reveal now. But, believe me, what we've shown so far is nothing compared to what we're currently working on for the full game.
1UP: You also mentioned at Games Convention that the taxidermist scene you showed won't be part of the game's main story. Will it still appear in the game, and if so, in the exact same way we saw it? Or perhaps with changes, such as how Konami showed Metal Gear Solid 2 scenes in their marketing with Snake as the main character -- even though he never appeared in those scenes in the real game -- to avoid spoilers?
DC: Not showing a part of the game was really important to us. We believe story is a key component of the experience, and we didn't want to spoil it. We haven't decided yet how this first playable will be used. Maybe as a bonus scene that players will unlock in the game, or maybe as extra downloadable content.
1UP: You warned against reading too much into the taxidermist scene, but does that scene suggest Heavy Rain's themes might be more rooted in reality than Indigo Prophecy's?
DC: Definitely. We tend to believe in our industry that we need to tell simplistic or spectacular stories, where the hero saves the world, destroys evil, or has supernatural powers. This is because the videogame, as a medium, has been too immature to tell complex and subtle stories. I made this mistake myself at the end of [Indigo Prophecy], where I felt my story needed something spectacular because all I had so far was normal people leading a normal life. I realized that the "normal" part was the one that worked the best, and that it wasn't necessary to save the world to tell something exciting anymore. Heavy Rain will be about normal people in real life, and I believe it'll be much more emotionally involving, as gamers will easily relate to the situations and characters. This is a new approach. In Heavy Rain, you won't be a superhero or a gangster. You'll just be someone real.
1UP: How have the button-pressing minigames in Heavy Rain evolved from those in Indigo Prophecy?
DC: Of course, we were not satisfied with the way PAR (this is what we call these sequences) were implemented in [Indigo Prophecy]. We bet on the peripheral vision of the player, and it didn't really work. Having said that, we didn't want to throw away everything just because we did it wrong. There are some very interesting aspects to PAR: There's no limit to the types of actions, animations, and cameras you can offer, which makes every single action and scene unique. These scenes are very spectacular, fully contextual, and easy to understand and play. They're also more and more common, as they've been used in games like Shenmue (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3130415), Tomb Raider (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3139416), and God of War (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2018842).
So I started again from a blank page and tried to keep what I liked about PAR while getting rid of what I didn't like. I think we found an interesting new solution by integrating symbols in 3D in the set and in animating them with the character or object they relate to. It's much less disruptive for the visuals, better integrated -- and, if well tuned, can be interesting to play. We also changed the pacing of the action, asking for fewer symbols but on a fast pace. PAR segments are just used in certain sequences for certain actions, of course; they don't constitute the main component of the experience.
I know there's always a strong reluctance from some hardcore gamers for this type of sequence, but we hope to convince them by the way we're going to implement them and by how we'll make these sequences really enjoyable and spectacular.

http://www.1up.com/media?id=3655308&type=lg (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3150340&sec=IMAGES) SCREENS: One of Heavy Rain's biggest mysteries is how the game handles death. Cage has said that it's possible for the game to continue after you die, but he's stopped short of saying how that works. In our interview, he more or less confirmed part of one theory, however. When asked if there would be multiple playable characters in the game, he said, "I cannot answer this question at this stage...but if you know a little bit about my previous games, you can probably guess."

1UP: How do you determine which actions players will perform with the right analog stick and which they'll perform with physical controller movements?
DC: We use the Sixaxis motion controller for violent actions requiring you to push, hit, or kick in general. Our approach to interface is really based on emulating the character's moves on the controller. We want to make the player feel the same way as his character onscreen.
1UP: Will players use the PS3 controller's face buttons for anything?
DC: We don't use them for the moment, apart from action sequences. We don't feel we need them for the moment.
1UP: In a recent interview with [I]Develop magazine (http://www.developmag.com/interviews/216/Meet-the-new-Boss), Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said, "One focus that has been, and will be, key is how we use the online technology and PlayStation Network to involve more consumers in participating.... That's the major common theme that we are trying to enforce with all our projects." Might we see any online features in Heavy Rain?
DC: Heavy Rain's an experience about interactive narrative and emotion, and we really wanted to focus on making these core elements right. The game will support the Trophy system and may offer some kind of extra content online, but Heavy Rain is a single-player experience.

http://www.1up.com/media?id=3655309&type=lg (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3150340&sec=IMAGES) SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all Heavy Rain screens.

1UP: What's the biggest development challenge you're currently facing?
DC: The biggest challenge is probably about the overall level of detail and quality we need to reach in all areas of the game. Any detail may break the illusion and stop the suspension of disbelief. In most action games, the player can accept that dead bodies disappear after a while; this kind of thing would break the experience in Heavy Rain. All characters have to move and behave right, all elements in the environment that the player may want to interact with must be interactive, and the story must behave in a logical way, always offering the player possibilities that they'd reasonably expect. Maintaining this level of quality and consistency through the full game is definitely a challenge, especially because each scene is unique, and most of the time offers a specific [type of] gameplay.
1UP: Is Heavy Rain the only project in development at Quantic Dream, or is the company a multiple-game studio at the moment?
DC: Quantic Dream's been a single-project company for years. We put a lot of energy and attention in our projects, and we never wanted to compromise the quality. The company has now reached another stage where we're ready to have two and soon three projects at the same time, with the same desire of ambition and originality. We want to continue to pioneer emotion and narrative in games in the future, but also apply what we've learned to different formats and different genres. Online is definitely going to be one of our next steps. This industry changes quickly, and online is going to be a key component of not only gameplay, but also of distribution in the near future. What gets me excited is to work on new ideas and new challenges, and I think we have some very unique concepts in the pipeline.

[Cracker]

This is one game that I'd actually get a PS3 for. Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy was awesome.

[Le Goat]

Gaming geezers have been eulogizing the venerated adventure genre ever since Tim Schafer's appropriately funereal Grim Fandango (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2010485) failed to set sales charts ablaze. Even though titles such as King's Quest (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2011161), Maniac Mansion (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2011609), and Myst (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2012003) were tremendous PC blockbusters way back in the day, publishers have largely abandoned story-heavy, action-deprived fare during the last decade in favor of shooters, RPGs, and racing games. Dedicated fans can still uncover a trickle of lower-profile indie offerings on the PC side, but console gamers seeking "interactive fiction" experiences are usually left with bitter, nostalgia-souring dregs (Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=2019292), anyone?). But shockingly, an upcoming adventure game has emerged that even has the jaded console community taking notice: Quantic Dream's PS3 exclusive, Heavy Rain (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3150340). Although the previous two games to spawn from Paris-based Quantic Dream -- Omikron: The Nomad Soul (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3130373) (Dreamcast) and Indigo Prophecy (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3140069) (PS2/XB) -- were hardly mainstream hits, both pushed the routinely-overlooked adventure genre into daring new frontiers. Surprisingly, QD's third effort, a gritty, film-noir thriller titled Heavy Rain, has already amassed plenty of buzz thanks to a stunning 2006 teaser trailer known as "The Casting." Solely based on that clip's eerily realistic virtual starlet and her unabashedly emotional performance, many gamers who've rarely considered narrative-based gaming are already enraptured.

[/URL][URL="http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/20929"]Heavy Rain 'Games Con 2008' trailer (http://gamevideos.1up.com/swf/gamevideos11.swf?embedded=1&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&src=http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/videoListXML%3Fid%3D20929%26adPlay%3Dtrue)
We recently had the opportunity to get a fleeting glimpse of the game's development in Paris and came away stunned...and confused by what we saw. The title's 100-person team has forged an unbelievably gorgeous graphical engine, yet it's tough to grasp the big picture because QD is keeping nearly every aspect of the game's story line and gameplay tightly under wraps. But hey, who really wants spoilers at this point, anyway?
Heavy Rain's eerily realistic visuals edge ever closer to that fabled "uncanny valley," and it's not simply because QD has thrown plenty of polygons around. In order to capture a believable performance, over 70 different actors have had their faces scanned, motion capture sessions captured, and voice work recorded. The developers believe that it's imperative for a complete performance to be captured from each individual actor, and QD has spent over 170 days creating all the crucial elements of Heavy Rain in its own in-house motion capture facility. Because the team knew that the project would be such a massive undertaking, it purposefully avoided casting big-name stars that would be unable to commit to such a massive, daunting project. Even the game's supporting cast sparkle with believability, as random passersby in Paris were invited to have their face scanned for inclusion in the game.

http://www.1up.com/media?id=3659452&type=lg (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3150340&sec=IMAGES) Click the image above to check out all Heavy Rain screens.

But as compelling as Heavy Rain's characters may be, we were perhaps even more amazed by its immaculately detailed environments. Rather than approach the settings as levels in a game, QD hired both a renowned movie set designer and an architect to create realistic, lived-in sets for its virtual actors to inhabit. Since nothing shatters the illusion of exploration like a flat, 2D object that you can't interact with, QD demanded that every single element in the game world must be rendered in full 3D. This astonishing level of detail wasn't easy to accomplish, and the team realized that it couldn't do it'itself. Instead, the team would build rough areas, collect all the pertinent real-world texture samples, and then outsource the heavy-lifting to various Asian development houses. Once QD got these reworked versions back, developers would go back for a final pass of artistic polish. We were shown several realtime environments that looked breathtakingly real, including a rain-soaked crime scene at the side of the highway, a stylish Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired abode packed with whimsical furniture, a cozy, cluttered apartment belonging to a young lady, a musty antique shop stuffed with ornate clocks, and a dusty, sunbeam-filled train station. We immediately wanted to wander through these areas ourselves, opening drawers, and searching for clues.

http://www.1up.com/media?id=3659453&type=lg (http://www.1up.com/do/media?cId=3150340&sec=IMAGES) Click the image above to check out all Heavy Rain screens.

One glance at the game's phenomenally lifelike real-time visuals will have you second-guessing your own reality's graphical prowess, but ultimately, the quality of Heavy Rain's story line will determine whether or not it's worth the price of admission. Luckily, its grisly serial-killer plot shows incredible promise. "Most publishers are still busy making games for 12-year olds," explains Quantic Dream CEO and founder David Cage. "Heavy Rain is for an adult audience who want to be emotionally engaged." Cage places immense value on depth and meaning -- two narrative tenets generally absent from even the best games' story lines. Cage even tried to pare the game's thousand-plus page script down to the size of a standard film script, but found it a fruitless exercise -- Heavy Rain's interlocking "nonlinear fractal structure" simply couldn't be contained by the antiquated medium. And you shouldn't expect to sit through oodles of talky, non-interactive cut-scenes either. Cage says that he'll resort to standard cinemas only when absolutely necessary, and he hopes to make Heavy Rain a game that can be enjoyed in short, episodic bursts. He believes that the savvy, adult audience he's courting don't necessarily have the time to sit down and plow through ten hours of gameplay -- instead, he hopes that it's an ongoing mystery that you'll keep returning to over the course of a few weeks.
True crime aficionados will surely be hooked: The game's premise has you investigating a series of unexplained slayings in a dreary, east coast American town, but the unique nonlinear "bending" narrative structure allows for greater freedom than you'd expect from the genre. Here, you're not constricted by a set path, but rather given freedom to make significant moral decisions that lead to a diverse network of interlocking story possibilities. Your dialogue choices (and contextual interactions, performed via simple, Shenmue (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3130415)-style button presses) will determine which ending you'll reach, and it's even possible for major protagonists to bite the dust along the way. Plus, Cage guarantees that we won't be witnessing an absurd, Indigo Prophecy-style deus ex machina moment in Heavy Rain's fifth act. "I'm trying to avoid adding yellow monsters from the Internet this time around -- Heavy Rain doesn't need supernatural elements to make an impact."

[Ocelot]

Hopefully they'll solidify a release date on this sometime soon. The more I read about it the more interesting it sounds. Seems like so far they're doing everything right.

[Le Goat]

a lil 'teaser' site that has something new every day. Friday is has new Videos and story details


htp://ww.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3174272



I can't wait for this game

[White Rhino]

This is one game that I'd actually get a PS3 for. .

[Le Goat]

Watch the interview embed in the text.

It looks so damn sexy

ww.gamespot.com/ps3/adventure/heavyrain/news.html?sid=6210173&tag=topslot;img;2

*excerpt from article

The only details we have regarding the story of Heavy Rain is that there is a deranged serial killer, labeled the "origami killer" by the media because the victims are always found with a piece of origami placed in their hand. Considering that the game is focused primarily on its powerful cinematic storytelling, Quantic Dream is keeping the story tightly under wraps. But what they did divulge is that there are four main characters in the game, and you'll take turns controlling them from one scene to another. Each character has their own detailed history and individual destiny, but their respective stories will be intertwined.
Our time with Heavy Rain began with an engaging presentation in which Cage and his colleague walked through one possible scenario in a scene titled "Mad Jack." Cage described this scene as a "classic dark thriller" and then introduced us to one of the main stars, Norman Jayden, a young FBI agent who has been called in to investigate the case of this peculiar murderer. Jayden is described as an organized and methodical man, with degrees in psychology and forensics. His particular background is most likely the reason that he has been asked to look into the case, given that he spent the last two years talking to serial killers in prison. Although he may look like a stellar candidate on paper, what the FBI doesn't know is that he has a substance-abuse problem. Regardless, they've armed him with an ARI (added reality interface) prototype, which consists of a pair of Matrix-like glasses and a black glove that can detect and analyze DNA, footprints, and pheromones in the environment--enhancing his CSI skills considerably.
The scene takes place in a typical crummy junkyard that Jayden decides to scope out because the man running it, Mad Jack, might have ties to the killer. As the rain poured down, we watched as our main character pulled up in the dismal-looking place, opened the car door, and stepped outside. The suspenseful atmosphere is what stands out the most in Heavy Rain, and it's enhanced by the details in the environment, such as the dreary weather, eerie music and a gloomy color palette. Everything was happening in real time, and we were struck by the actor's motion-captured face, specifically his incredibly lifelike eyes and subtle movements. But before he stepped out of the car, we noticed that the interface had changed. Last year, when an action was available, icons would appear at the bottom right corner of the screen. Now, a box with a small white arrow was prominently displayed on the side of the car to indicate that you could open the door by pressing the right analog stick. Symbols will appear onscreen when there is an action available, so it's worthwhile to carefully explore your surroundings. Our rain-drenched FBI agent then walked over to a mean-looking, burly man, presumably Mad Jack, who was operating a junkyard crane and seemed to have no interest in having a meaningful conversation. After a brief and unhelpful exchange, Jayden headed toward the hangar to inspect things more closely.



This was when we got to see the ARI in action. A curved arrow by Jayden's shoulder indicated that he could put his special specs on by pushing the right analog stick in a half-circle motion. Once he donned the slick shades, color faded from his vision until everything was tinged with a greenish hue. Data will appear onscreen by pressing the R1 button to indicate points of interest such as footprints, blood, and even orchid pollen. This handy gadget also spits out pertinent information after an area has been examined with the glove. Scattered clues eventually led Jayden to an acid bath with a human skull in it, but before he could get a closer look, Mad Jack appeared out of nowhere with a gun pressed to the back of his head. Through a series of intense quick-time events, we watched as Jayden deftly dodged out of harm's way and used his surroundings to distract Mad Jack long enough to disarm him. A series of well-choreographed punches were exchanged, and while the fast-paced action unfolded onscreen, the demonstrator was mashing the buttons that appeared as quickly as he could. There are three difficulty levels in the game, and it adjusts according to your performance. You generally have a few chances before you lose, which most likely results in death, but there are several ways to escape as well. Heavy Rain's appeal is that there are many ways in which a particular scene can play out; this demo was just one of them.

[Kerjack]

The new take on Quick Time Events does look kinda sexy.

[Le Goat]

neg

[Le Goat]

A different interview with the same guy. Shows the 'shades' in action. I dig it a lot

ww.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3174347

[Le Goat]

and I really hope that chick in her underwear gets naked. imma masturbate to this game tooooo!!!!!